A back-to-school promo is about reaching out to students, parents, and even educators. The promo campaign marks the start of a new school year. So, businesses in school supplies, clothing, and other school-related products attract customers by offering discounts.
So, a back-to-school promotion is a marketing campaign. Businesses use the campaign to boost their sales during the season.
Businesses offer attractive discounts on all back-to-school items. They create special packages for consumers and offer freebies with a certain number of purchases. Then, to attract more customers, businesses provide early bird discounts to those who shop at the start of the season.
Why take up back-to-school promotions?
Many businesses use back-to-back promotions as their strategy to reach a wider audience with their products. Here are some key reasons:
Generate brand awareness
One of the significant advantages of back-to-back promotion is raising awareness of your brand. New and smaller businesses, in particular, benefit from increased visibility. For instance, by launching your custom stickers marketing strategy, you can generate awareness amongst your target audience for your new products.
Increased sales
Your sales of school-related items will increase manifold during the back-to-school campaign. It will also help drive more traffic to your websites.
Back-to-school has become a trend among shoppers, with sales in 2024 reaching around $40 billion for school-related supplies. Experts have suggested that sales will increase even further in 2025, as consumers await the arrival of seasonal discounts.
Customer loyalty
When you offer back-to-school products at discounts, it results in more students, teachers, and parents buying from you again. That fosters customer loyalty, driving business growth.
Community engagement
Businesses can establish partnerships with multiple educational organizations to supply them with school-related products on a regular basis. That is a great way to engage the community with your brand.
Helpful tips to shop for the back-to-school season:
Start early
Find out when the back-to-school season starts in your region. Start early and research when the back-to-school season starts in your market region. Even in the US, the first day of school varies from state to state. Generally, the season starts in July, although in some areas, it begins in early August.
Therefore, it would be advisable to start your back-to-school marketing campaign in early July, allowing you to reach a larger number of potential customers.
Additionally, note that the back-to-school season in Australia and New Zealand typically begins in late January or early February. In Canada, it usually starts in early September, while in Europe, it occurs between mid-August and mid-September.
Research and define your target audience.
Your back-to-school marketing campaign will gain momentum if it is based on thorough research and targets its audience precisely.
So, when selling your products to students, focus on items such as apparel and backpacks.
When targeting parents, focus on selling by highlighting the affordability of the products and using social media for a promotional campaign.
If you are targeting teachers, give them special discounts on items such as personalized gear, classroom decor, and planners.
Similarly, when selling your school-related items to relatives, focus on selling custom notebooks and other giftable items, such as tote bags.
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Here is your ultimate back-to-school promotional item checklist for 2025:
While there are plenty of products that you can offer to students at attractive prices, some products are popular amongst students and parents alike. Here are the products you can explore to launch your back-to-school promotional campaign:
T-shirts
T-shirts are among the most popular pieces of clothing that people of all ages enjoy wearing and moving around in with ease. Most students wear t-shirts during their school time and while playing sports.
Considering the popularity of t-shirts for students, marketers can use custom t-shirts to promote educational products. You can simply print encouraging and inspirational quotes on t-shirts and sell them.
Besides t-shirts, consider using other clothing items, such as custom socks, to take your brand to students and parents.
Backpacks
Backpacks are also the school items that children love to carry. They can have their books inside a trendy backpack without feeling the burden. Backpacks are among the most visible items when it comes to using back-to-school promotional materials.
You have a wide variety of backpacks to choose from for promoting your products. Visit online sites to access backpacks such as the Under Armour Custom Backpack, All-Over Print Minimalist Backpack, and All-Over Print Backpack.
Since backpacks have a lot of space on the backside, businesses can print their advertisements as part of their promotional campaign for better visibility.
Stationery
Students who will be joining their school shortly will also be thinking about buying stationery for the next session. The school’s custom stationery includes notebooks, envelopes, registers, staplers, tapes, paper clips, pens, pencils, boxes, folders, and printing paper.
Your brand’s products related to students can appear on various stationery items. Since students will be using different stationery items daily, your brand visibility is enhanced manifold. So, ensure that your notebooks have your logo prominently printed on them for quick visibility.
Drinkware
Students carry their water bottles to quench their thirst safely and securely. Drikware can be an effective part of your promotional campaign. You can print your brand logo and other images on various custom water bottles for students to enhance your brand visibility.
Try drinkware options such as the Custom Stainless Steel Water Bottle with a Straw Lid, the CamelBak Thrive Flip Straw Custom Water Bottle, and the Double Wall Clear Plastic Tumbler.
Tech accessories
Students use a wide variety of tech accessories today. Businesses can explore these accessories to promote their products amongst target students. Custom tech accessories for students include phone cases, earbud cases, laptop cases, and mouse pads. Business owners can explore these items to promote their products amongst students.
So, these are the popular back-to-school promo terms that students check in 2025. These are also the items that businesses can use to promote their brands. Your business can explore all of these items to capture students’ attention and showcase your brand and its offerings.
You can find out more about such products at PrintShop by Designhill, a leading creative marketplace featuring hundreds of unique promotional items. Simply visit the site, select your preferred products, and design them using the online tools right there and then. You can also use this platform to sell your products.
Wrapping Up
When students return from their vacation and resume school, it is also an opportunity to promote your brand. There are many products, such as T-shirts, backpacks, stationery, drinkware, and tech accessories, that you can explore to promote your brand amongst students.
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