Marketing to College Students
A look at some of the top ways to tap into young adults' buying patterns

Tomorrow’s decision-makers are the college students of today. There are more than 15 million young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 ready to spend their parents’ and their own hard-earned money. Studies show that young adults possess a discretionary spending power of more than $100 billion annually, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics. For business owners marketing to young adults, it is better to design a marketing plan that also targets college students than to wait until they are older and have already established brand loyalty.

While a variety of media reach college students, they are not all of equal value. Direct mail isn’t usually the best option due to the mobility of college students. In fact, mainstream T.V., print and radio are also proving to be less and less effective. However, most colleges and universities publish student newspapers and operate campus radio stations – both with ad space for sale.

Advertising in college newspapers is simple and extremely effective. Research indicates that as much as 95 percent of a college campus (students, educators, administrative staff) reads student newspapers. On large campuses – like the University of Kentucky, where The Kentucky Kernel is published every weekday – an advertiser’s message can be delivered to students five times a week.

When using other options, such as promotions or flyers, advertising materials must be displayed in high-traffic pedestrian areas. Some of the best display areas on campus include classrooms, hallways, student centers, dorms, cafeterias, gyms and fraternity/sorority houses.

It is also effective to look beyond the fact that these young adults are collegians and approach them demographically – by age and by gender. Advertisers must survey the people they are trying to reach, which means asking questions. Do you know their physical whereabouts during the school year? Where do they eat their meals? What do they eat? How do they get around? Where do they shop? What styles are in demand? How do they pay for products? What do they like to do for fun?

Answering these basic questions will help to effectively and successfully sell your product or service. It’s worth investing your time to learn everything you can about the college students before spending your dollars trying to get them to spend theirs.

Meredith Lane is a journalism major at the University of Kentucky.
editorial@lanereport.com

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