back to school marketing ideas Archives

These creative Back to School marketing ideas will help your small business get a jump on things, as promotion always starts as early as late July.

If you sell home décor items:

Move all affordable decor items (typically under $50), such as art, pillows, bedding, etc., up to the forefront for the college crowd looking for dorm décor.
If you sell art, a “College Wall Collage Kit” is essential.
Create a “Dorm Room Decor” shop section.
Offer a “Dorm Decor Bundle” to sell more at one time.
Create bundle categories, like “Dorm Laundry Bundle“, etc.
Create a special banner for your landing page that links right to the products (as shown below)

Dorm Laundry Bundle from Bed Bath & Beyond

Searches peak August 18th to 24th, and most popular searches are for wall decor, lighting, storage/organization and dorm essentials.

Shop banner at Target

If you sell kids clothing:

Create special back to school outfits, including shirts for little ones that say, “My First Day of School” (great for photos).
Move these items to the forefront of your shop.
Add a banner on the product photo that says, “Great for Back to School”.
Add flyers for any fall, Halloween and Thanksgiving clothing into the package.

Click to download on Etsy

If you sell bags/purses:

Move all backpacks and cosmetics packs to your featured products.
Make a special offer, “Buy 1 backpack, get a second of equal or lesser value for 50% off”.
Offering personalization of any of these items (i.e. adding name, initials) is always a good value-add.
See my post, “August Marketing Ideas” to see what the hottest backpack is for 2022.

If you sell beauty products:

Put together your own “Teen Pack” of items for the college or high school crowd and focus on acne products, skincare and shower products.

If you sell gadget accessories:

Phone cases, iPad holders, charging stations and even laptop stickers all need to be at the forefront of your shop.
Again, offering personalization of any of these items is always a good value-add.

If you sell kitchen/housewares:

Kids always need a new lunch boxes and food containers.
Post a reel to Instagram showing one of your lunch boxes getting packed, like this one.
New college kids want an entire kitchen supplies kit.
A great add-on to sell with any of these products is personalized labels.

If you sell printables or courseware:

Teachers are looking for lesson plans, but also calendars, coloring pages, worksheets, classroom signs and decorations.
Offer a special discount for teachers just until the end of August.
Ask them for a shoutout on social media to get a special discount on a future order.

If you sell party supplies:

Teachers and parents are looking for ways to celebrate the first day of school with banners, balloons, and yard signs.
Parents also like to throw a neighborhood party for themselves.
Always make sure to add the current school year i.e. Back to School 2024!

If you live near an outlet mall, this is one of their busiest times of the year, so leave flyers or cards for your store on windshields in the parking lot (if allowed).
Create back to school categories for every type of budget.
In all packages, always include flyers for any early Black Friday specials in your store.
Optimize your SEO by always including the current year in your keywords i.e. Back to School 2024.
On your social media, promote all opportunities for free back to school supplies in your area, a top search this time of year.

I hope you will benefit from these back to school marketing ideas!

If you need more creative and affordable ways to promote your small business, try one of my Personal Phone Consultations or check out my 12-Month Marketing Plans.