Students aren’t slackers, they’re goldmines

Eye-watering tuition fees. University funding in crisis. Meaningless degrees. You’d think young adults would be turning their backs on university. But with Higher Education Student Statistics from 2021/22 indicating there are 2.8 million students in the UK and almost 40% of 18-year-olds pursuing a university education, the student cohort shouldn’t be ignored. What’s more, their open mindsets and predictable lifestyles turn students into an absolute gift for brands that want to target youth audiences.

Malleable minds

Students, especially first-timers, are at a pivotal life stage. Hungry for new experiences and opportunities, finding independence and forming new lifelong habits, there’s opportunity aplenty to build lifelong affinity. And with campus culture creating formulaic patterns and habits, marketers can hone their strategies around a relatively static target. From real life to digital, student campaigns offer an ROI to die for. There’s no place like uni to offer a condensed target market in one place with minimal audience wastage.

Back-to-school billions

According to the UniDays Back to Campus Q4 2024 report, the projected spending for university students during the ‘back to school’ period is £4.3 billion. This comes at a time when freshers – eager to start making their own decisions, free from familial habits and dictates – are primed to form new brand preferences. Even those still living at home are busy establishing their own adult identity and making decisions for the first time.

Meanwhile, returning students are transitioning from halls to shared accommodations, setting up new living environments and becoming more serious about studying. Savvy brands land on campus during freshers’ because meeting these evolving needs is a way to build strong, lasting relationships between students and brands.

Term-by-term behaviours

Students’ gloriously predictable behaviour means brands can approach them with both term-specific tactics and longer-term strategies. With over 66% of students buying into a new brand within the first three months of university, Freshers’ is a pivotal moment, one that’s perfect for acquisition. Then, as the year rolls on, students’ habits, relationships and routines become even more established. This is why term two is ripe for developing retention and engagement by leveraging the peer-to-peer trust that stems from friends’ recommendations. And it’s an insight that Adobe has embraced very effectively. Last year, following a freshers tour in term one, the brand encouraged deeper engagement on the Adobe Express platform by handing the reins to students for mini experiential activations that played into their passions and needs.

By term three, when students face their biggest pressures, brands can cement true affinity, love and loyalty. During exam season, who wouldn’t want relief in the form of an activation that supports and rewards with instant gratification? The key here is providing value – perhaps a euphoric experience to celebrate the final exam – without asking for something in return.

Supporting passions and goals

Forget ye olde stereotype of the hungover slacker. Today’s students are driven, determined and constantly looking to enhance their future prospects. University is more than a degree, it’s a melting pot of opportunities. And students are eager to make the most of everything on offer. So now is the time to invest in students’ futures, not just through internships, but by supporting their passions and goals. Jack Daniels, for example, aced this approach by establishing a partnership with club night Cirque Du Sol and championing rising student DJ talent.

The enduring love of freebies

One of the biggest drivers in cash-strapped students trying new brands is freebies and discounts. Food and drink, useful items like water bottles or tote bags, or low-commitment rewards and free trials are all meaningful, but only when enjoyment is balanced against practical value. Amazon lands on campus with a coffee truck and gifts a free beverage to students in exchange for signing up for their Prime Student subscription — a small yet effective instant gratification value exchange.

The power of peer

Campus life is abuzz with conversation, which is why students rely heavily on peer recommendations when making purchasing decisions. A whopping 78% of Seed’s student network cited friend recommendations as the top influencing factor in recent purchases. That’s why forming brand communities with the right campus personalities is critical. But brands that think they can simply ride on the coattails of campus heroes are in for a surprise. It’s only by handing them some power in how they spread the message, by investing in their existing communities or building teams from the ground up, that brands can align their messaging. Only then will the brand become an integral part of the student experience.

Individual students may not have enormous budgets, but together they form a valuable cohort that can pay dividends for any youth-focused brands. For any marketers that still can’t see this potential, it’s back to school for you.