Source: Danlok
Any brand requires customers who will buy their products or services. A brand needs to recognize its target customers to market its products. Most brands find it hard to decide which target audience they wish to target. In this article, we discuss why your brand should target students? But first, let us understand:
What is a target audience?
A target audience is a group of people who share similar demographic traits such as gender, age, education, location, and so forth. The people are most likely to become your customers in the future. Once you identify your target audience, it becomes easier to craft marketing campaigns catering to them.
Every brand or business has a budget dedicated to advertising and marketing. Determining the target audience will help you in creating effective and result-oriented campaigns. This will strike a chord within the particular target audience building personal connection and trust.
Students as Target Audience
Students are considered to be the economic force of the future. They are at a transitional time in their lives finding independence and making purchase decisions. Your brand can establish consumer buying trends from their college years. This will create a loyal customer base over the years. Some reasons why students are the perfect target segment for you and your brand.
1. Demographic Segment: College students consist of a huge demographic segment in India. A report by the Annual Status of Higher Education (ASHE) was released in October 2021. It informed that more than 35 million students enrolled in higher education in 2021.
These young students of ages 18 to 25 have a huge spending income. More than 90% of students say that an exclusive offer would get them to shop at a brand more frequently. Brands can introduce exclusive offers and discounts for college students to increase sales.
2. Stagnant: A college student is usually geographically stagnant for a couple of years. Brands can develop marketing strategies specifically for these students in the time frame. This can help in identifying the correct tactics and methods of advertising and marketing.
3. College Image: College students have an idealized image of life in college or on campus. That drives them to consume various products that identify with the collage image. Some common products are designer clothes, alcohol, electronic gadgets, fast foods like pizza, burgers, cold drinks, coffee, and energy drinks. Brands offering these products can create campaigns surrounding colleges and students. The market is there. Your brand needs to attract them.
Source: Whitebarstudio
4. Gen Z: Gen Z, the new tech-savvy generation is constantly online. They are consuming content, engaging with their peers, and shopping on the internet. They understand the advertising industry better than the previous generations. Genuine and innovative campaigns are the road toward Gen Z loyalty. They are developing critical thinking skills. They don’t take the commercial ads at face value.
5. Graduates: Around 30 million students graduated in 2021. Most of them will soon get
their first professional job. It will provide them with the most disposable income they have ever had. This makes the college students eager and relatively affluent consumers. Brands still looking to establish their brand loyalty have a massive potential market.
6. Social Class: More than half of the students come from the middle or upper-middle class. These students have a certain disposable income with them. Also, most college students work part-time to earn a living. Brands can market their products and services to this target segment.
7. Technology: After Covid-19 there has been a rapid increase in digitalization. Technology has evolved. Statistics show that students spend more than 14 hours interacting with technology. A majority of students use three or more electronic devices daily. 87% do not leave their smartphones. Thus, technological companies will have no problem marketing themselves to digitally dependent students.
Source: Decentralized News
8. Peer-to-Peer Marketing: Brands can use peer-to-peer marketing to reach the elusive college market. Using student agents will create real-life conversations with potential customers. Students are more likely to believe their peers than the brands themselves.
9. Campus: College events are a great way to make students aware of your brand. Making the students a part of your campaign will become a memorable experience for them. It will also help them in retaining knowledge about your brand. On-campus, advertising is essential to penetrate students’ space. College posters and flyers are the two easiest ways to attract on-campus students.
Conclusion
College students have a strong influence over others. If they like your products they will share them on social media along with others. Brands reaching students during their college have more chances of gaining lifetime consumers.
Written by Garima Jain
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