It is easy to make assumptions about what’s effective when marketing to students. Some companies get it right, and sadly, a lot tend to fail miserably! Loads of companies want to successfully market and promote their products to students, but they don’t know how to because students don’t really bother with traditional media like newspapers and TV. There are so many big companies out there like Olympus, Sony, and Apple which students think highly of, and as a result, own many of their products such as laptops, mp3 gadgets and other audio-visual goods.

One great way of getting students interested is to actually set-up a stand somewhere central on campus and give away freebies! Students love freebies! The stall must of course be trendy and visually appealing in order to attract attention, but most students are willing to stop and ask for information. You could even advertise to pay student to promote your products for you; even perhaps offer them discounts and make it possible for them to save money online/in-store.

The fresher’s fairs are a great way of communicating with new university students, who are out to get involved in as much as they can. Held on-campus, these events have rows and rows of stalls and stands, set up by local businesses who wish to capitalise on the population of students new to the area at that time of year. A good idea is to take e-mails on the day for students to sign up to newsletters. Flyers and leaflets are light and easy to carry, and a student at an event like this will find these easy to slip into their carrier bag of goodies.

Most students spend the vast majority of their time in front of computers, and sites such as Facebook and Twitter are a great means of distraction! They are now essential in the world of communication, and students respond positively to Facebook groups and pages. Also, word gets round faster than you realise amongst a campus full of gossiping students, so why not create a buzz and have a strong impact all at once.

Most modern universities produce their own media by which to communicate to attending students. Bournemouth University, for example, has their own in-house magazine publication, ‘Nerve Magazine’, which will largely be produced and distributed for free by the students themselves in conjunction with the student union. This would be a great way of marketing to students, contact the student union directly for information on how to achieve this.