It is a common knowledge that campus marketing solutions are ideal for early product adopters and thus, they only have short term value. However, given the recent boom in digital marketing, a campus is also a perfect place to establish long term contacts. Digital initiatives can help to leverage in-person campus initiatives. The fact that this mode is cheap and easy to execute is just an added bonus. As 2014 nears its end and 2015 awaits a new phase in campus marketing, the following are a few trends that campus marketing specialists believe might make an appearance –
Content Marketing Innovations – In the years to come, content marketing is going to focus more on visuals. This means that typography is going to be bigger, images are going to increase in size and webgraphics plus infographics will be the new mantras. The biggest reason for this is increased bandwidth in internet connections allowing improved content marketing tools to survive. Plus, content marketing specialists are realizing that audience retention improves when the cues are visual. Campus marketing experts are set to use this to their advantage. Mobile banner advertising will be focused on because mobile devices generate about 35% of total search engine related traffic.
In-person Recommendations – While 2015 would definitely focus on digital solutions, it should not be forgotten that traditional in-person recommendations lead to quality targeted traffic. Because of college campus networks, word of mouth can travel faster than tweets. According to a survey, 94.6% of campus goers share opinions about latest products in person instead of social media. Also, statistics reveal that almost 59% campus students base their purchase decisions on their friends. The best way to go about campus marketing is to convert students into storytellers – give them a story and watch brand awareness rise.
Traditional Email Marketing – Email marketing has recently experienced resurgence and campus marketing plans that include email marketing would be successful. As far as push marketing goes, email plus campus marketing could be great tools that are, so far, underutilized.
Social Media Marketing – For the college students of today, there is no greater awareness tool than social media. According to statistics, social media is used by 52% businesses for relationship building. Combining social media with email marketing has led to an increase in email’s click and open rates by 150% as well. 33% of buyers reveal that they learn about latest innovations and products through social media. So, it isn’t news that social media is an important driving force in the world of today’s youth.
It is a fact that brand ambassador programs fail because students don’t believe in the product they are promoting. On the other hand, the results are astounding for brands that use the interests of campus goers and keep them in the equation. This, combined with market automation, is the main area where 2015 would be different from the years of campus marketing gone by.
The author has researched on campus marketing solutions and has written several articles about the emerging trends in the field. She also frequently writes about campus marketing specialists and notable changes in campus marketing.