5 Ways For Brands To Boost Their Back-To-School Marketing

Rodney Mason is Head of Marketing Brand Partnerships at LTK with extensive creator, marketing and research experience for leading brands.

What makes back-to-school shoppers tick, and how can brands increase their reach? Back-to-school shopping just a few years ago consisted of massive big box and department store displays and heavy rotation linear TV spots. What we see today paints a much different picture made possible by technology and updated tactics.

Based on my experience as Head of Marketing Brand Partnerships at a company that unites Creators with brands to increase sales, as well as takeaways from our 2024 Back-to-School Shopper Study, which gleans how consumers plan to shop for the upcoming school year, I’d love to share some important insights on how brands can better reach back-to-school shoppers.

First and foremost, omnichannel marketing is vital because back-to-school shoppers diversify their shopping to include:

• In-store.

• Online.

• Large retailers.

• Buy online, pick up in-store.

• Club stores.

• Office stores.

• Department stores.

Several key trends point to the value of an omnichannel approach. Furthermore, the National Retail Federation (NRF) 2024 Back to School Survey found that 22% of shoppers had started shopping as early as June for the 2024/2025 school year.

Harness Creator recommendations to influence purchases.

Brick-and-mortar shopping is back post-Covid, but the share of online sales continues to expand, and brick-and-mortar is still heavily influenced by online activity. We have seen purchases driven by Creators jump 69% year over year. Shoppers rely on guidance to inform purchases across all categories, with beauty and personal care, food, home, fashion, and electronics leading the pack.

Leverage Creator content across more touchpoints.

Creator collaborations don’t need to be limited to social media and video. In fact, we find that consumers are begging for more ways to engage. Brands have opportunities to leverage TV (including connected TV), in-store experiences and search in equal measure, gaining more exposure and driving sales.

Back-To-School Marketing Ideas For This Season

Omnichannel marketing helps brands reach parents, teachers and students throughout the entire funnel. You have a whole host of tactics you can choose from and even combine to reach audiences at every touchpoint during back-to-school shopping.

Run boosting on back-to-school social posts.

Getting your content in front of the right audiences—especially on social media—can be a guessing game. If you’ve ever wondered why your feeds seem to rotate through the same content or same accounts, you’re not alone. Constantly changing social algorithms determine who and what gets priority, but boosting can provide another way in.

Boosting original Creator content scales the right audience during a fast-paced shopping season, managing the strategy for your brand. It’s just one way Creator collaborations scale a brand’s reach and generate brand awareness.

Entertain and engage with more video.

Audiences increasingly favor quick and engaging content to answer their needs in a flash—and back-to-school shopping season flies by. Gen Zers are a prime example; they’re hungry for short-form video content. Brands can respond by leveraging social media that is tailored to this group and offers robust video support, including TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Instagram.

By doing so, you can facilitate the buyer’s journey, carving a path from awareness to consideration with videos such as product demos that offer guidance on everything from tween fashion to the best school supplies.

Scale connected TV.

Consumers are actively anticipating more Creator content. In-store or connected TV? Brands don’t have to pick and choose where to be active. We found that nearly half of our users and 34% of the general population want to see Creator content in these places. This creates a prime opportunity to promote customer service, loyalty programs and back-to-school deals while driving retention.

A few strategies to consider:

• Increase cross-platform visibility with connected TV by testing new creative during peak consumer moments, such as back-to-school season.

• Incorporate in-store moments, such as in-store reels for dorm room essentials.

Activate social media.

Consider what your brand could do beyond sharing simple posts on social media platforms. Why not make them more interactive? Shoppable posts—where your brand can offer recommendations and consumers can buy right on the platform—make this possible. During the back-to-school shopping season, partner with Creators to craft campaigns that drive purchases through the convenience of social media.

Tap your biggest fans.

Enable those to post about you and champion your brand during this key shopping season.

A few ideas:

• Encourage testimonial/review posts showing off your products.

• Create how-to use/how-to style videos to inspire consumers.

These advocates share what your brand is doing well, encouraging other users to interact, buy and share their own experiences.

Move To The Head Of The Class

Your brand’s back-to-school shopping potential is bigger than you realize. Think outside the box to leverage omnichannel marketing ranging from social media to in-store experiences to connected TV—and don’t forget to amplify your fiercest brand advocates along the way.

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