Reaching students with outdoor advertising

When it comes to student advertising, Out of Home (OOH) advertising offers a powerful way to connect with prospects in their daily lives. Highly visible and engaging, OOH has the unique ability to cut through the noise and leave lasting impressions. Marketing to students can be a difficult task, because the target audience often spans a wide range of demographics. Whether you’re a university looking to boost enrolments, a brand targeting the student market, or a learning platform offering courses, OOH advertising provides a dynamic way to forge connections with this valuable and varied audience.

The unique aspects of advertising to students

There is no easy way to define a student. From school children deciding where and how to take their next steps, to adult professionals looking for the tools to enable them to change careers - we’re all students, in some way or another. This means marketing to students requires a tailored approach that reflects their many lifestyles, preferences and habits.

Why students are an essential market

• Students are both current and future consumers, depending on their age and living situations, and make significant purchasing decisions.

• Students are often highly connected and active across multiple platforms, from LinkedIn to gaming networks.

• College and university-age students are often trendsetters, with their fingers on the pulse, and have a huge amount of influence on broader markets.

Common challenges in student engagement

Many of the things that make students an essential market can also make them a challenge to engage.

• They have short attention spans, often because of the amount of things they have to juggle at any one time.

• They’re likely to be more sceptical, and wary over overly corporate or insincere messaging.

• They’re often dealing with budget constraints in some form or another.

Why OOH works for student advertising

OOH advertising remains one of the most effective ways to reach students, thanks to its bold visuals and high visibility in everyday settings.

High visibility and impact

OOH advertising is impossible to miss. The average person is exposed to more OOH advertising in a single day than they realise, thanks to strategically placed billboards, posters and transit ads. Large formats and vibrant designs ensure your message is noticed and remembered, even by busy students on the go.

Reaching students in the real world

Students spend a significant amount of time with their heads in books or behind their laptops - this means they value the time spent outside of their homes, whether on campus or in city centres. Using OOH for student advertising allows you to engage them in these real-world spaces where digital distractions are minimised, creating a direct and memorable connection. 

Key strategies to capture student attention

Combine creativity and strategic planning to succeed in student engagement with outdoor advertising.

Leveraging digital billboards

Digital billboards, a staple of Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising, allow you to create dynamic, attention-grabbing content that resonates with students. Animations, countdowns, and other interactive features can make your message stand out, and their programmatic capabilities mean that you can target your audience with valuable precision.

Creative design and messaging

With the amount of ads you see in a day, utilising creative visuals and relatable messaging will help you to stand out from the crowd, especially for student advertising. Humour, pop culture references and striking graphics can align your message with their interests - but don’t get too bogged down by in-jokes. Keep text concise and focus on a single compelling call to action to keep their attention.

Timing and placement

When it comes to timing your student advertising, key dates and events throughout the academic year are readily available. These include:

• Freshers’ week

• Exam periods

• Graduation season

• Back-to-school prep

Placing ads in high-traffic student areas, such as campuses, train stations, or accommodation ensures maximum visibility.

Combining OOH with digital and social media for greater reach

While OOH is powerful on its own, using it alongside your digital and social media strategies can only improve your reach. 

Creating a unified message

Make sure that the messaging is consistent across your campaigns. Use the same branding, visuals and sentiment to reinforce your selling points and personality. 

Encouraging online engagement through OOH

Use OOH to prompt students to share, comment, and engage with your brand or institution. Using OOH to support your digital campaign can ensure that students know where to find you across all platforms, and offering incentives for engagement can help to create a bridge between the physical and digital worlds.

Lessons learned through case studies

Every day is a school day. Here are some tips for scoring top marks in student advertising.

University and college promotions

When it comes to promoting universities and colleges, it’s important to reach students in the places where they spend their time, and when they’ll have the brainspace to really notice your efforts. Aston University chose our Malls Live platform to place ads in shopping centres, to spark inspiration among students who are enjoying leisurely browsing. This friendly approach in a relaxed environment can help to spark interest.

Brand campaigns targeting students

It isn’t only education providers that can benefit from targeting students. Capitalising on the common pain points of students (for example, not enough money and not enough free time) can be a great way for brands to appeal directly to student audiences.

Essential tips for maximising campaign success

Here are some of the key things to keep in mind when marketing to students.

Engaging students with interactive content

Think of the ways in which you can make your content interactive. Whether it’s through gamification (think quizzes, puzzles, ways to earn “points”), or user-generated content (competitions, asking for students to share pictures on specific platforms), upping the level of interactivity is a guaranteed way to unlock more student engagement.

Monitoring and measuring success

Track your campaign’s performance to ensure you’re meeting your goals - and if you don’t have specific goals, set some. Footfall in the area surrounding your ads, website traffic and social media interactions can provide you with valuable insights into how well your campaign is resonating with students. This arms you with the data you need to make engagement-driving tweaks and changes.

Outdoor advertising with Clear Channel

Students might be a broad market, but if you can tap into their common needs and struggles, you’ll be able to connect with them on behalf of whatever it is you’re advertising. And if you’re looking to speak to lots of students at once, going big with OOH might be the answer. Whether you’re using student advertising to promote a university course, targeting students with FMCGs, or encouraging people to come back to the classroom later in life, Clear Channel can help you to capture attention and provide measurable success.