As parents get ready to send their kids back to school, there are important advertising trends that you should be aware of.

Despite the effects of lockdown and the pandemic, there is still plenty of momentum brewing up ahead of the school season. The truth is that this year is going to see a high level of dollars spent on school supplies, equipment and materials.

Back to School Advertising Bounce Expected

There is great news out there for advertisers as the school season approaches. Parents and students are expected to be spending more this year in preparation for a return to in-person classes.

As Madara Zalcmane writes:

“The back-to-school shopping season is huge because it involves everyone from back-to-kindergarten to back-to-college. And let’s not forget that it’s also back-to-school for parents and caregivers and back-to-teaching for educators.”

1. Focus on Retail and Apparel

As business writer Adrianne Pasquarelli notes, this year’s back-to-school period is expected to result in record sales (Source: AdAge).

“According to a forecast by Mastercard SpendingPulse, back-to-school sales in the United States are expected to increase by 6.7% from 2019 and 5.5% from 2020.

One sector where there will be a noticeable increase is the sales retail sector. Apparel is especially expected to rise about 78% in comparison to the 2020 back-to-school season.,” notes OnCampusAdvertising. 

In particular, this bounce in retail will affect clothing, school supplies and dorm room decorations and gear. Generation Z tends to shop much more online, which means that digital marketing should be your top priority. E-commerce should be a focus of any advertising you do, since more and more students will be looking to buy what they want and need with the click of a button.

2. Get Location Specific

At the same time as you want to target customers online, you also want to reach them where they’re at. Using local SEO and making sure that you show up when they search for your business category “near me” is important.

One way to do this is to ensure that any local branches or locations in  your business show up in local searches on Google through its My Business profile feature.

As Paul Bobnak advises for Mailing.com:

“If your local business has a free Google My Business profile, it can increase your relevance in search results over organic and paid results,” (Source: Mailing.com)

3. Make Discounts School-Specific

With spending on the rise, people are still looking for good deals. This includes teens, young adult college students and adults. As Zalcmane says:

“The expected back-to-school spending per household in the US has gradually increased over the last 2 years to reach $789.49 dollars in 2020. It’s worth adding that it’s not just adults doing the shopping—in 2020, the average US teen spent $45.35 of their own money on back-to-school goodies,” (Source: Printful).”

This increase can be pure gold if you know how to tap into it. Offering discounts that still leave you a decent profit margin is one of the best ways to do that.

“Many consumers are hunting for good deals this back to school season,” advises Francesca Nicasio at Vend. “You can cater to these customers by giving them special back to school discounts.”