Campus advertising is one of the most cost-effective forms of marketing. You can reach students before they commit to your competitors.

1: Understand Your Target Audience

Student media is a great place to start when it comes to campus advertising. But before you pick up the phone and call every student publication, take a step back and consider who exactly your target audience is. What type of campus publications do they read? Are they more into sports or politics? Are they more into fashion or business? Are they male or female?

Now if you’re a B2B company, then your university may not be the best place for advertising—but don’t give up on campus marketing just yet! You can still reach students by buying ad spots at universities that’s located near your target industry. For example, if you’re a B2B company trying to reach interns who want to work at tech companies, then consider advertising at universities that are nearby the technology hub of your city.

The bottom line: Target your campus ads to your core audience, not just any student who happens to live within walking distance of your university.

2: Be Flexible With Your Budget

If you’re just starting out with campus marketing, then it’s best to keep your budget low at first. After all, you have no idea if your ads will get the desired response until you run them. There’s nothing more frustrating than buying an expensive ad campaign only to see your sales drop instead of increase.

So before you spend too much on campus advertising, start out with a small budget and test-driving your ad campaign first. If it doesn’t work, then start over next semester and try something new (and more inexpensive). On the other hand, if your ads get results (i.e. increased sales, website traffic, exposure to your company), then you can consider increasing your marketing budget for next semester.

It’s all about trial and error when it comes to campus advertising. You just never know what will work until you try.

3: Keep Track of Your Campus Ads And Results

You don’t want to lose track of where your ads have been published, when they were published and how much you paid for the ad. That’s why it’s important to track where your ads have been placed and what kind of response they received from students.

If you want to get the most out of your campus ads, then keep a spreadsheet that has every ad campaign listed in it. Include the name of the publication your ad appeared in, when it was published and what response you received (i.e. sales generated by ad).

By tracking your campus ads, you’ll get a better idea of which publications to advertise in the next semester—and how much to charge for each ad spot.

4: Don’t Forget The Perks

A lot of companies only advertise their products and services to students. But if you really want to get the most out of your campus ads, then I recommend also offering special perks that are only available to students who purchase something from your company.

For example, say you’re advertising your product at a university for $500. You can make an extra $1,000 in revenue by offering students a special discounted rate of only $200. The students are happy they got a good deal on your product and you receive more revenue for selling everything at full price.

There are hundreds of ways to partner with universities that send out campus alerts, advertise student jobs or post general information about your university. If you’re willing to offer a special “student discount” or some other perk that can only be redeemed by those who attend the university, then you’ll get more value from your campus ads.

5: Create Campus-Themed Marketing Materials

You don’t have to limit yourself to just running campus ads—you can also create sales flyers, brochures, shopping bags and other marketing materials with a campus theme. For example, say you’re selling custom t-shirts for sports teams at colleges—why not make the shirts into school colors?

Campus themed marketing materials are an inexpensive way to promote your company’s products or services. You can run ads on campus, create campus-themed marketing materials and make “student discounts” available to the students who purchase your products or services.

Campus themed marketing materials can be a nice addition to your overall campus marketing campaign—and increase sales at the same time.

6: Host A Campus Event (i.e.: Meet Up)

If you want to stand out among all the other companies doing campus advertising, then I suggest hosting a local event where students can meet your company’s representatives and see how they’re “making a difference” on their campus.

Have representatives from your company at the event. You need someone to speak with students about how their school is being impacted by the money you’re giving back to them.

Set up a booth stand where people can meet one-on-one with your company’s representatives.

Give away freebies/prizes at the event (i.e.: T-shirts, pens, water bottles, etc.)

Offer a special discounted rate for students who attend your event—and only those who attend the event. Make sure to include this detail in your campus advertisements leading up to the meet up.

The benefits of hosting a campus event far outweigh the few dollars you might lose if your company is able to attract five times more customers than usual over the course of the semester after hosting an event.

7: Run A Campus Contest

If you want to find out which school has the most passionate sports fans—or where the brightest students attend—then I suggest running a campus-themed contest on your social media pages.

Pick a prize that’s relevant to all of the schools you’re focusing on (i.e.: The winner gets free tuition)

Create an online application for student submissions (i.e.: a video, an essay, etc.)

Only accept submissions from students who attend one of the schools in your campus campaign