Colleges and schools generally hold graduations in May and June.
As one of life’s major milestones, it’s the time of the year when the younger demographic goes through a period of change, with many leaving their family homes to live alone, hustling for jobs and internships.
With their earning power in its nascent stage, this segment of your target audience can hold major repercussions for your brand in a few years. You would want to catch them early.
So, the question emerges: how do you use their graduation to your marketing advantage?
Here, we offer 5 methods to grab their attention as they start out their independent lives.
#1 Post Self-Help Information for Graduates
You do not have to hard sell products to make an impression. Informational content is almost as useful as a physical product in today’s world of inbound digital marketing. And what type of information content does a graduate like to consume?
The answer is simple.
Graduates, being of an explorative type, many of whom will now live alone, will want to read information that helps them fulfil various aspects of their new lives.
- Housekeeping Ideas: As part of your digital marketing campaign, you can schedule several online self-help guides and blog posts. Put together a housekeeping guide, outlining how graduates will now have to maintain their own residences.
- Graduation Season: For the season itself, create blog posts about fashion for graduation parties or farewell gifts for friends and family.
- Graduate Personae: Brands can even put together guides that focus on a distinctive type of graduate. There can be graduates who are going for higher education in another city, ones who are taking a gap year, and ones who are entering the workforce.
There is great potential in the topics that a graduate would be interested in, including tax tips, cooking hacks, car maintenance, and more.
#2 Offer Discounts & Free Samples to Fresh Graduates
One of the best ways to ensure customer loyalty in the long run is to offer them help when they are in need. Discounts and free offers accomplish this.
How does this apply to graduates? Graduates are at the bottom of the earning hierarchy, and will want to save all the money they can on any purchase. Offer them samples of your product, and then make life easier for them by giving them discounts based on their age status. This can easily be achieved through KYC documents in the online sphere.
#3 Leverage Social Media Platforms
You do not need to spend a lot of money on social media ads if you have an industrious social media platform with managers who know how to target the younger demographic. Social media is still largely an environment for the millennials and zillennials, so you need to leverage this channel.
You can link the aforementioned self-help guides and blog posts to your Instagram and Facebook business accounts, as well as post creative content—especially video—themed on topics that graduates are interested in. Product releases and discounts can also be announced through these channels.
The most important part of social media is user-generated content—you can encourage your customers to create content based on your brand, to hold “Post a Picture” contests, or to tag your products in their posts. To support this, your account managers can comment and like customers’ posts, to increase familiarity. This will also prompt the social media feed algorithms to show your account to more potential customers.
#4 Give Away Promotional Products
There are several promotional product ideas that gel well with the graduate demographic.
#1 Backpacks
Given that many graduates will soon frequent offices, a modern, multi-functional backpack is the perfect promotional gift. Backpacks of stylish 100% polyester and padded, PEVA-lined computer backpacks are slightly expensive, and if you are giving these out for free or at a discount, customer loyalty is sure to follow. These bags offer the gamut of product features needed for work life, including dual-zipped main compartments, padded laptop sleeves, insulated side pockets, and more. For more affordable options, you can order polycanvas versions in greater bulk!
#2 Desk Accessories
Desk accessories are a staple of work life. Employees like being supremely functional and these tools make their job that much easier. This battery-powered clock-cum-organizer tells time on an LCD display and also has a countdown clock and thermometer. You can also give away stationery kits, calculators, and paperweight awards.
#3 Insulated Tumbler
With new 9-to-5 lifestyles, and possibly long commutes, the graduate-turned-employee will want to stay sharp and alert for most of those hours. A vacuum-insulated tumbler achieves just that, with its ability to keep beverages at suitable temperatures for hours after they were prepared. Allow your customers and employees to keep their coffees steaming hot as they take the morning train. Converself, allow them to keep their iced tea cold in summers!
#4 Tech Accessories
In the modern workplace, technology reigns. Smartphones, chargers, earphones, mics, they all have an important function in the professional sphere. Your brand will want to support your freshly graduated customers and employees by giving them a perfect tech set, with a USB hub, charging cable, wireless earbuds, and a powerbank. You can also give them this classy multi-purpose product which includes a journal, a powerbank, a charging cable, and a front pocket which wirelessly charges.
In the end, reaching out to this specific segment of your target audience can ensure loyalty for many years to come. Do not take them for granted. Make sure they are satisfied with the information, services, and products you are offering them, and the way to do so is to attune your brand to their unique needs and desires.
For more ideas on what promotional products that can entice graduates to stay loyal to your brand, contact an established promo company like Promo Direct. We offer ideas in multiples!