Freshers marketing: is freshers the best time to run a student marketing campaign?

Image: Gareth.D.Jones

It’s that time of year when brands that are interested in students are busy preparing for their freshers marketing activity.

Summer planning, leading to September and October activity, represent the busiest periods in the student marketing calendar.

Brands want to engage with a student audience newly independent, making lots of purchasing decisions for the first time and receptive to their attention – or at least more receptive than they will be by year three.

This is a lively, exciting time to be on campus and brands want to be a part of the buzz. Freshers fairs, websites, welcome events, goody bags, handbooks and emails: there is a vast array of media to chose from.

But how relevant is this tradition today? Is freshers still the best time to reach students, or should we revisit the reasoning behind freshers-focussed marketing?

I asked some experienced industry specialists.

James Eder, Co-founder and Commercial Director, studentbeans.com
Freshers week is a rite of passage for every student – the friends they make, the hobbies they take up and the experiences they gain can stick with them for life. So why shouldn’t it be any different for brands?

Freshers is an important touch point for brands – it is a time where students expect to interact with brands and local companies and they are willing to try new things. Through freshers fairs, events and marketing campaigns, brands can generate awareness and make a strong first impression on new students.

However, to convert this into return on investment and gain the loyalty of a long-term consumer, it is important that brands follow up on their involvement in any Freshers activity. Too many brands think that a freshers fair ‘covers’ the student market for the year, when in fact it only works with sustained follow-up that keeps the brand fresh and front of mind. Results from our Youth Insight survey found that 69% of students remembered fewer than three companies that attended their freshers fair – the ‘noise’ from other brands and the hectic nature of the start of the university year can make it harder to reach students at this time.

It is important to remember that ‘students are for life, not just for Freshers’ – it is not just about generating first impressions, but an opportunity to build loyal consumers who will choose a brand at university and stick with it for life.

John Abell, MD at Membership Solutions
Absolutely not. What do you remember about your Freshers? Nothing? Exactly.

The new student has so much visual noise over the first two weeks of term it is a bonus if they can work out which modules they are taking and how they get to them from their accommodation. The best time to reach them is when they have time in front of a computer and they are looking for distractions (before exams) or excited (two weeks before they arrive on campus).

Nick Cambden, Director at Big Choice Group
If the objective is to be the first to capture a student then, yes, freshers is a great time to deploy a marketing campaign. For banking, insurance, electronic and annual contract clients it is often the case that a student will only ever purchase one then maintain it for the entirety of their university career.

However, whilst freshers week is exciting for some it is also a daunting time for many. It is the first time many young people truly discover independence by experiencing life in a new city away from home. They learning to make friends, shop, cook, clean, sort out their own finances and make their own way through education and life without the traditional support network many are used to growing up with.

During freshers week undergraduates will be bombarded by sports teams, societies, academic tutors and companies all trying to grab attention and sell themselves. If you do not stand out or differentiate yourself it is all too easy for marketing campaigns to get lost. This year we have seen a focus by a number of our brands on new technologies. Integrating Facebook community growth into campaigns is very popular as are QR codes and the next generation image readers.

We work with a number of brands in the weeks after freshers when undergraduates have settled down into their student life and we often find that the students feel more confident in committing to pay for services.

Marion Cronin, Commercial Manager at Itchy Promotions
It’s always seemed odd to me that brands are so focused on reaching students in the freshers period, at the exact same time that all their competitors are doing the exact same thing, and the new students are being bombarded with brand messages and flyers everywhere they turn, most of which are likely to go straight over their heads or into a bin.

But if clients feel it’s imperative to have activity at this time then I think it’s really important they go all out to stand out on campus – be bigger, bolder and more engaging – or risk being lost in the crowd.

Freshers will always be the busiest time of year for students – and advertisers wishing to reach them. Experiential activity, supported by cross campus media has been proven to deliver substantially higher results, where standout can be achieved far more successfully.

Inam Mahmood, Senior Account Manager at Big Choice Group
I believe alternative campaign creatives are what really make a brand stand out, not the time of year. We have deployed projection advertising, clean graffiti, QR codes and flash mobs on behalf of our clients. Whilst these are all immediately strong in getting attention in the market place, we have found that they can also take on a viral aspect with students taking photos and videos of the campaigns and posting them on social media.

Chris Davies, Director at GraduateCoach
Freshers week presents a great opportunity to market to students before they become too distracted with essays, coursework and deadlines. During this time, as they begin to prepare to settle into learning, they tend to be less distracted and more open to making choices. We simply need to ensure that what’s on offer fits with the student’s current needs or concerns; for example, students will be equipping themselves with the books, tools and gadgets they need to complete their course, or if they have recently moved into halls of residence, they will need help with finding their way around the local area. Target your marketing to focus on a relevant need or areas and you are more likely both to capture and hold their attention.

Daniel Murray, Account Manager at Big Choice Group
From our perspective, aside from the obvious, if a brand wants to truly communicate a message to the students that will stick with them, and hopefully attract them into entering into a brand loyalty agreement, then the best time for this is any other week of the year. This is done by using specialist companies in the marketplace who understand by their own research exactly what students want to see, and what they will react to.

A brand needs a sense of one-to-one passion and a personal approach; this can’t be conveyed during freshers. If the message is delivered effectively and tastefully, they might find themselves a client for life. Posters and flyers are all very well and good around this time but what about providing students with something they can take away and use time and again? Like Deal 52 – new players we have been impressed with. They have been providing playing cards to students free of charge in London; these include QR readers on each card for advertisers to update their message. It’s an old school medium with a new school twist that we feel will do very well because students will engage with it.

Approaching a student at a stand and signing them up is a very cheap thrill. For the brand this represents much less value than communicating at a time of greater tranquillity when they can convey a message sincerely and thoroughly to what they are claiming to be a target market, and certainly the consumer of tomorrow.

So what do you think? I’d love to hear the views of others working in student marketing. Post your comments below and answer the poll.