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Five Strategies to Enhance Your Back-to-School Campaigns

Buyers
4
minutes
Technical Level
November 18, 2023
4
minutes
August 19, 2022
Technical Level
Cassie Tabert
Senior Sales Enablement Manager
Planning and launching Back-To-School campaigns could result in many benefits for advertisers, including a potential increase in traffic and viewability, better targeting, and, ultimately, new potential leads for the business. This is especially true if brands go about their campaigns strategically.

With Back-to-School and Back-to-College season approaching fast, and with the pandemic under control looking promising for in-person classes, we expect a potential boost in Back-to-School campaigns next month. The average consumer is expected to spend $849 per household this Back-to-School season, and $1200 on Back-to-College items. To help you get started, we listed five strategies brands can use to enhance their Back-to-School and Back-to-College campaigns.

1. Adding Captions To Your Video Ads

Unfortunately for most brands, watching videos on mute is the new normal. In 2021, it was found that 75% of mobile users keep their mobile devices on mute when a video plays, and 49% of desktop users do the same. This spells trouble for brands looking to reach their target audience with video content. The good news is, with video captions, brands can effectively get their message across with no hassle, and as recent research has found, consumers actually prefer videos with captions! In fact, 72% of people are more likely to watch a mobile video if it has captions. Sharethrough’s Dynamic Video Captions increase branding metrics such as awareness, recall and favourability, and engagement.

An example of a standard video ad vs. one with Dynamic Video Captions.

2. Test Multiple Headlines Across All Formats 

Nailing a catchy headline is often easier said than done. Improve your content comprehension and headlines with a strong call-to-action to generate more conversions. For years we have been searching for the perfect headline creator, that’s why we built and launched Sharethrough's Headline Analyzer. Allowing you to create and test headlines with a variety of factors, Sharethrough’s Headline Analyzer showcases the strengths and weaknesses of your headline, giving you the best possible headlines to catch the attention of consumers this Back-to-School season.

3. Add QR Codes to Your CTV Ads to Drive Online Purchases

QR codes carry much more power than one would expect. After Coinbases’ famous QR code Super Bowl commercial almost crashed the app last February, many brands hopped aboard the QR code train and incorporated them into CTV ads, bringing with them additional exposure and conversions for their products. QR Codes offer brands a higher likelihood that consumers will engage with CTV ads and additionally improve the chances that a consumer will remember the brand name and products long after the ad airs.

Sharethrough's CTV Dynamic QR Codes help drive online purchases.

4. Promote Sales Deals to Drive Conversion & Sales

Who doesn’t love a good deal? When it comes time for parents to purchase clothing and school supplies for Back-to-School, you want to ensure all eyes are on your products by promoting sales and deals, further driving conversions and sales. Back-to-School season is a time where many families are spending a significant amount of money, which often comes with budgeting concerns and money worries. By offering deals and discounts on your products for the Back-to-School and Back-to-College season, you can increase the likelihood of conversions and sales, while also generating additional buzz on your brand.

5. Utilize Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ Technology

We’ve all come across an advertisement that irritates us – whether it’s the copy, the imagery, or the blend of elements – and leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ technology helps your video, display and native ads better fit into the site, which is proven to grab better attention and deliver better performance. How is this possible? TrueTemplate™ technology examines the fonts, sizes and colors of surrounding content and crafts a customized template that better fits each site. The process even undergoes human verification to ensure increased performance and nativeness. Set your ads up for success by utilizing Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate Technology

Sharethrough's TrueTemplate™ Technology enhances ad campaigns no matter which website or device it is delivered on.

The 2021-2022 school year was one filled with uncertainty because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in virtual/hybrid school attendance. However, the upcoming school year is gearing up to be much closer to the pre-Covid normal we once knew. Brands will be upping the stakes this year and competing for the surge in Back-to-School goers. As a way to stand out from your competitors, try adding captions and/or QR codes to your videos, or formulate a killer headline, and maybe even try out Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ technology. Set your brand up for success and try out some of our back-to-school campaign strategies with Sharethrough’s Back-to-School PMP by contacting our digital advertising experts.

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Planning and launching Back-To-School campaigns could result in many benefits for advertisers, including a potential increase in traffic and viewability, better targeting, and, ultimately, new potential leads for the business. This is especially true if brands go about their campaigns strategically.

With Back-to-School and Back-to-College season approaching fast, and with the pandemic under control looking promising for in-person classes, we expect a potential boost in Back-to-School campaigns next month. The average consumer is expected to spend $849 per household this Back-to-School season, and $1200 on Back-to-College items. To help you get started, we listed five strategies brands can use to enhance their Back-to-School and Back-to-College campaigns.

1. Adding Captions To Your Video Ads

Unfortunately for most brands, watching videos on mute is the new normal. In 2021, it was found that 75% of mobile users keep their mobile devices on mute when a video plays, and 49% of desktop users do the same. This spells trouble for brands looking to reach their target audience with video content. The good news is, with video captions, brands can effectively get their message across with no hassle, and as recent research has found, consumers actually prefer videos with captions! In fact, 72% of people are more likely to watch a mobile video if it has captions. Sharethrough’s Dynamic Video Captions increase branding metrics such as awareness, recall and favourability, and engagement.

An example of a standard video ad vs. one with Dynamic Video Captions.

2. Test Multiple Headlines Across All Formats 

Nailing a catchy headline is often easier said than done. Improve your content comprehension and headlines with a strong call-to-action to generate more conversions. For years we have been searching for the perfect headline creator, that’s why we built and launched Sharethrough's Headline Analyzer. Allowing you to create and test headlines with a variety of factors, Sharethrough’s Headline Analyzer showcases the strengths and weaknesses of your headline, giving you the best possible headlines to catch the attention of consumers this Back-to-School season.

3. Add QR Codes to Your CTV Ads to Drive Online Purchases

QR codes carry much more power than one would expect. After Coinbases’ famous QR code Super Bowl commercial almost crashed the app last February, many brands hopped aboard the QR code train and incorporated them into CTV ads, bringing with them additional exposure and conversions for their products. QR Codes offer brands a higher likelihood that consumers will engage with CTV ads and additionally improve the chances that a consumer will remember the brand name and products long after the ad airs.

Sharethrough's CTV Dynamic QR Codes help drive online purchases.

4. Promote Sales Deals to Drive Conversion & Sales

Who doesn’t love a good deal? When it comes time for parents to purchase clothing and school supplies for Back-to-School, you want to ensure all eyes are on your products by promoting sales and deals, further driving conversions and sales. Back-to-School season is a time where many families are spending a significant amount of money, which often comes with budgeting concerns and money worries. By offering deals and discounts on your products for the Back-to-School and Back-to-College season, you can increase the likelihood of conversions and sales, while also generating additional buzz on your brand.

5. Utilize Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ Technology

We’ve all come across an advertisement that irritates us – whether it’s the copy, the imagery, or the blend of elements – and leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ technology helps your video, display and native ads better fit into the site, which is proven to grab better attention and deliver better performance. How is this possible? TrueTemplate™ technology examines the fonts, sizes and colors of surrounding content and crafts a customized template that better fits each site. The process even undergoes human verification to ensure increased performance and nativeness. Set your ads up for success by utilizing Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate Technology

Sharethrough's TrueTemplate™ Technology enhances ad campaigns no matter which website or device it is delivered on.

The 2021-2022 school year was one filled with uncertainty because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in virtual/hybrid school attendance. However, the upcoming school year is gearing up to be much closer to the pre-Covid normal we once knew. Brands will be upping the stakes this year and competing for the surge in Back-to-School goers. As a way to stand out from your competitors, try adding captions and/or QR codes to your videos, or formulate a killer headline, and maybe even try out Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ technology. Set your brand up for success and try out some of our back-to-school campaign strategies with Sharethrough’s Back-to-School PMP by contacting our digital advertising experts.

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About Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech—

Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech is a short 3-minute podcast exploring the news in the digital advertising industry. Ad tech is a fast-growing industry with many updates happening daily. As it can be hard for most to keep up with the latest news, the Sharethrough team wanted to create an audio series compiling notable mentions each week.

Planning and launching Back-To-School campaigns could result in many benefits for advertisers, including a potential increase in traffic and viewability, better targeting, and, ultimately, new potential leads for the business. This is especially true if brands go about their campaigns strategically.

With Back-to-School and Back-to-College season approaching fast, and with the pandemic under control looking promising for in-person classes, we expect a potential boost in Back-to-School campaigns next month. The average consumer is expected to spend $849 per household this Back-to-School season, and $1200 on Back-to-College items. To help you get started, we listed five strategies brands can use to enhance their Back-to-School and Back-to-College campaigns.

1. Adding Captions To Your Video Ads

Unfortunately for most brands, watching videos on mute is the new normal. In 2021, it was found that 75% of mobile users keep their mobile devices on mute when a video plays, and 49% of desktop users do the same. This spells trouble for brands looking to reach their target audience with video content. The good news is, with video captions, brands can effectively get their message across with no hassle, and as recent research has found, consumers actually prefer videos with captions! In fact, 72% of people are more likely to watch a mobile video if it has captions. Sharethrough’s Dynamic Video Captions increase branding metrics such as awareness, recall and favourability, and engagement.

An example of a standard video ad vs. one with Dynamic Video Captions.

2. Test Multiple Headlines Across All Formats 

Nailing a catchy headline is often easier said than done. Improve your content comprehension and headlines with a strong call-to-action to generate more conversions. For years we have been searching for the perfect headline creator, that’s why we built and launched Sharethrough's Headline Analyzer. Allowing you to create and test headlines with a variety of factors, Sharethrough’s Headline Analyzer showcases the strengths and weaknesses of your headline, giving you the best possible headlines to catch the attention of consumers this Back-to-School season.

3. Add QR Codes to Your CTV Ads to Drive Online Purchases

QR codes carry much more power than one would expect. After Coinbases’ famous QR code Super Bowl commercial almost crashed the app last February, many brands hopped aboard the QR code train and incorporated them into CTV ads, bringing with them additional exposure and conversions for their products. QR Codes offer brands a higher likelihood that consumers will engage with CTV ads and additionally improve the chances that a consumer will remember the brand name and products long after the ad airs.

Sharethrough's CTV Dynamic QR Codes help drive online purchases.

4. Promote Sales Deals to Drive Conversion & Sales

Who doesn’t love a good deal? When it comes time for parents to purchase clothing and school supplies for Back-to-School, you want to ensure all eyes are on your products by promoting sales and deals, further driving conversions and sales. Back-to-School season is a time where many families are spending a significant amount of money, which often comes with budgeting concerns and money worries. By offering deals and discounts on your products for the Back-to-School and Back-to-College season, you can increase the likelihood of conversions and sales, while also generating additional buzz on your brand.

5. Utilize Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ Technology

We’ve all come across an advertisement that irritates us – whether it’s the copy, the imagery, or the blend of elements – and leaves a bad taste in our mouth. Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ technology helps your video, display and native ads better fit into the site, which is proven to grab better attention and deliver better performance. How is this possible? TrueTemplate™ technology examines the fonts, sizes and colors of surrounding content and crafts a customized template that better fits each site. The process even undergoes human verification to ensure increased performance and nativeness. Set your ads up for success by utilizing Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate Technology

Sharethrough's TrueTemplate™ Technology enhances ad campaigns no matter which website or device it is delivered on.

The 2021-2022 school year was one filled with uncertainty because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as an increase in virtual/hybrid school attendance. However, the upcoming school year is gearing up to be much closer to the pre-Covid normal we once knew. Brands will be upping the stakes this year and competing for the surge in Back-to-School goers. As a way to stand out from your competitors, try adding captions and/or QR codes to your videos, or formulate a killer headline, and maybe even try out Sharethrough’s TrueTemplate™ technology. Set your brand up for success and try out some of our back-to-school campaign strategies with Sharethrough’s Back-to-School PMP by contacting our digital advertising experts.

About Calibrate—

Founded in 2015, Calibrate is a yearly conference for new engineering managers hosted by seasoned engineering managers. The experience level of the speakers ranges from newcomers all the way through senior engineering leaders with over twenty years of experience in the field. Each speaker is greatly concerned about the craft of engineering management. Organized and hosted by Sharethrough, it was conducted yearly in September, from 2015-2019 in San Francisco, California.

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Cassie Tabert
Senior Sales Enablement Manager

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