Back-to-school time is just around the corner, which means that brands and retailers need to start ramping up their advertising to parents. It is a period when a typical family will spend hundreds of dollars on goods and companies are given a huge opportunity to increase sales.
Shoppers are opening up their wallets and spending big on back-to-school necessities in 2017. According to Statista, the average U.S. family plan to allocate $687 for their items, which is the highest that back-to-school spending has been since 2013. Families with children going to college will earmark $970 for school supplies, according to National Retail Federation. Overall, U.S. back-to-school retail sales are going to climb to $857 billion, which is a 4% uptick from last year, according to eMarketer.
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If retailers and brands want to reach parents and students and encourage them to purchase, they need to advertise to them through the relevant channels. It's not too late: In fact, 21% of back-to-school parents are planning on doing their shopping a week before school starts.
How do you reach them? This year, it’s all about mobile.
More than half of retailers are going to change their marketing approach to parents this back-to-school season by focusing on mobile. In addition, 89% of marketers plan to boost their investment in mobile advertising, according to Retailmenot.com.
Though most parents and students already know where they are going to spend their money, 20% of shoppers are unsure whether they will buy online or in-store, according to Deloitte. This means that $5.4 billion of spend is currently undecided, and that retailers still have a chance to capture consumers’ attention.
One effective method for connecting with these ambivalent shoppers is through mobile video advertising. In a time when more than half of video content is viewed on mobile devices, according to WordStream, retailers and brands are placing more emphasis on mobile video advertising.
One survey by IAB revealed that 62% of advertising decision makers are going to boost their mobile video spend. To keep up with the competition, companies in the back-to-school space need to be doing the same.
When it comes to mobile video advertising, retailers and brands will likely focus on showcasing three different offers: In-app promotions, single use promotion codes and free shipping.
This is because 65% of marketers will advertise in-app back-to-school promotions and 60% will offer one-time use promotion codes to increase purchases, according to Retailmenot. More than 90% of shoppers will plan on taking advantage of free shipping, according to National Retail Federation.
Mobile video advertising is going to enable retailers and brands to sync up with consumers this year and sell more goods than ever before. By connecting with consumers on their level, retailers have the opportunity to promote their back-to-school products and boost their bottom line.
