With classes fully in session, it’s time to see if your back to school content made the grade.
It’s no secret that the back to school season is a big money maker. According to the National Retail Federation, the average family spent an average of $669 this year on clothes and supplies. Millennials even shelled out their own money to make sure they had the latest school gadgets in hand.
What did your brand do to capitalize on the financially-infused fervor that is back to school? Let’s take a look at some brands that aced the test this year.
Walmart offers online tools
Like many brands, Walmart created several blog posts, including one that explains how the retail giant can save customers money, to promote the back to school season. However, the company went one step further with an online tool to help parents find their children’s school supply list. With the Walmart Classrooms tool, parents could enter their child’s school and get a print out of the necessary supplies.
Apple makes shopping easy
One of the most popular back to school marketing trends is to create a shopping guide. Apple, for example, put together this guide to inspire college students to buy electronics. At a glance, customers see a variety of products along with pricing information, the latter of which may make parents shudder.
Casetify cross-promotes content
Brands that used a diversified content strategy scored high marks this season. Casetify, a company that helps customers create smartphone and tablet cases from social media pictures, used a variety of channels to reach its youthful audience this fall. The company focused on email and social media marketing to maximize exposure this year, Jennie Yoon, business development specialist for Casetify, says.
The company used additional incentives in concert with their marketing campaign. “This season more players in the eCommerce industry worked to earn back-to-school dollars,” Yoon says. “More people are shopping online and when companies like ours offer free shipping, customers realize that it’s never been easier to shop from home.”
Crayola giveaway generates social media buzz
How many of your friends posted a picture of their kids on the first day of school on Facebook? A ton, right? Well, Crayola decided to encourage this picture-posting frenzy by asking parents to share photos as part of a back to school giveaway. Parents love taking pictures of their kids, so it’s no surprise that this marketing tactic blew up Crayola’s social channels. The company even made a collage of social entries on its website. 
IntelliResponse uses infographics to reach millennials
IntelliResponse, a company that offers virtual question and answer support to college students, created an infographic as part of its back to school marketing plan. 
“The millennial infographic provides crucial insight into how today’s college students are looking to interact with organizations,” Tim Peters, Director of Marketing at IntelliResponse, explains. “They don’t always want to have a face-to-face conversation anymore. Millennials want quick and easy answers to their questions across digital channels.”
Rating your content
While the examples above highlight some of the latest marketing trends, you’re probably wondering how to tell if your efforts were successful. Here is a quick list of questions to run through to explore your return on investment.
What do the metrics say?
From page visits to Facebook likes, get your hands on the numbers to see just how well your back to school campaigns did.
Was it engaging?
One of the great things about content marketing is that you can encourage interaction. Were readers commenting on your posts and sharing it on social media? Engagement is another barometer of success.
Did you use more than one channel?
Some of the most successful back to school efforts used not one, but several modes of communication. From emails to blogs; infographics to social posts, did you promote your content on several channels? If not, prepare to make adjustments next year.
Was the content creative and useful?
It’s one thing to write creative content, but it’s another to write creative and useful content. All of the examples above went beyond the basic blog post and gave readers something of value.
Do you have another great example of back to school content? Share it with us!
