back to school digilant data Archives

Part 4 of 4: Back To School: Strategies For Smart Programmatic Buying

Posted on 08/03/201704/21/2023 by Karen Moked

The two target audiences that marketers need to focus on for the Back to School (BTS) season are parents and college students. 90% of parents participate in back-to-school shopping, as the primary shopper for younger children, and 89% of college students are shopping for back-to-school items. College students’ spending is significantly higher due to the fact that they are not just shopping for books and basic supplies, but also dorm room or apartment furniture and furnishings.

Five key product areas that get serious business during the Back to School (BTS) season, according to eMarketer.com are:

Apparel and accessories
Books, music, and video
Computers and consumer electronics
Office equipment and supplies
Toys and hobbies, including sporting goods

College students start doing BTS searches while they are still enjoying their summer vacations. Since college students spend is a large portion of the anticipated July and August U.S. retail sales of $857.18 billion, it’s important for marketers to dig into consumer insight data to know where to focus their programmatic media buying dollars.

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Digilant discovered the following consumer insights about BTS shoppers:

77% of shoppers use Walmart and 58% use Target
Lower-income moms do less comparison shopping because of less access to transportation
Higher-income moms are better equipped for comparison shopping
Consumer Electronics spikes first in the season as a category, then office supplies and third is clothing and apparel
Kids are much more involved in the shopping process today with access to information, although their parents still have the buying power

Download the full Back to School Infographic Here! Don’t forget to share #DigilantData.

Part 3 of 4: Back To School: Strategies For Smart Programmatic Buying

Posted on 08/02/201704/21/2023 by Karen Moked

Back to School (BTS) season is the longest shopping event of the year. A 2016 survey from eMarketer found that 66% of shoppers planned on doing their back to school shopping between July 4 and Labor Day and 17% said that they plan on shopping on an “as-needed” basis.

College students start doing BTS searches while they are still at the beach. It’s important for marketing teams to understand the types of messages and call to actions customers would be most receptive to before planning their programmatic advertising campaigns so that they can get the biggest return on their investments. That’s why Digilant dove into the data to find out when and how marketing dollars should be spent.

Download the full Back to School Infographic Here! Don’t forget to share #DigilantData.

BTS shoppers are now using all their devices to do their searches, so a cross-platform media buying strategy is absolutely necessary. Parents are browsing their desktops and iPads with their children, looking for BTS items but also shopping around for the best price. They are also using their mobile devices when they are in store, price-checking items and looking for coupons to download. Most buyers are not relying solely on brick-and-mortar stores anymore. Some buyers will rely solely on using online stores for their BTS shopping like Amazon.com and most others will shop at stores like Walmart, Macy’s and even CVS who offer a combination of online shopping and in-store returns, which has totally changed the Back to School shopping dynamic.

According to a RetailMeNot survey, top predicted days for BTS shopping in 2017 are:

Saturday, 8/5/17
Monday, 9/4/17 (Labor Day)
Friday, 8/4/17
Saturday, 8/12/17
Sunday, 8/13/17

Digilant also discovered the following information about BTS shoppers:

Best Call to Actions:
- 88% of parents use coupons
- Parents are also receptive to: promotional emails, promo codes and brands they already know
Best time to run a BTS campaign?
- Starting July 11th

Download the full Back to School Infographic Here! Don’t forget to share #DigilantData.

Part 2 of 4: Back To School: Strategies For Smart Programmatic Buying

Posted on 08/01/201704/21/2023 by Karen Moked

Summer may be in full swing, but the Back to School (BTS) season for marketers began before students even heard the last bell ring. By the time you are past Fourth of July, you’ll see more brands and retailers talk about back-to-school because data tells them that the earlier they get to market, the more likely those shopping in that timeframe will spend more (see Part 1 of our series). Marketers needing to create the biggest return for their advertisers dollars should get smarter by diving into the data. Digilant is here to help.

Make your media budget work harder with Digilant.

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Download the full Back to School Infographic Here! Don’t forget to share #DigilantData.

Changes in the BTS media consumption market demand a new approach to buying advertising. Consumers are spending a lot more time online in their research and purchase-decision phases. For that reason, retailers are investing more heavily in awareness-generating marketing, by putting school products on blogs, on social media sites like YouTube, Pintrest and Snapchat, or on their websites, to attract those users who are doing research or are just looking for inspiration. Retail brands have been spending significant marketing dollars in establishing an affiliate partnerships with influencers and celebrities which has become a powerful way for brands to create new trends heading into the Back to School (BTS) season.
These programmatic buying strategies are then paired with TV and print ads which help drive buyers into physical stores after online browsing and price shopping.

Digilant discovered the following information about BTS Media Consumption:

How are they consuming Media?
- 80% of mothers have smartphones
- 81% of those mothers used their smartphones to compare prices
Where do they consumer it?
- Social Media Promotions
- Online Ads
- TV Ads
- YouTube Ads
The best places for advertising?
- 75% Printed Flyers
- 39% Retailer Promotions
- 33% Email
- 8% Mobile Ads

Download the full Back to School Infographic Here! Don’t forget to share #DigilantData.

Part 1 of 4: Back To School: Strategies For Smart Programmatic Buying

Posted on 07/31/201704/21/2023 by Karen Moked

Back-to-school season is the second biggest shopping season of the year touching 29 million households and accounting for $27 billion in sales in the US. That said, the Back to School (BTS) season has increasingly become more diverse and complex for marketers. No longer should marketers focus on digital and traditional media buying strategies and tactics that focus only on the short time frame before the start of school or only focus their attention on one channel or market segment.

For marketers that want to create the biggest return for their advertisers dollars, they need to get smarter by diving into the data. Digilant is here to help. This post is the first in a four part series of infographics that reveal everything you need to know about BTS shoppers.

Download the full Back to School Infographic Here! Don’t forget to share #DigilantData.

Changes in the BTS market demand a new approach to buying advertising. One of the most important underpinnings to that approach is understanding that BTS segments are diverse. From the parents shopping for their kids to the college students shopping for themselves. Each segment is unique in terms of what resonates to them and how they will choose to allocate their money for BTS spending.

Make your media budget work harder with Digilant.

Learn More

Our first infographic covers the following information:

Who are the customers?
- 76% parents
- 88% college students
Where do they shop?
- 56% in-store
- 22% online
- 35% on mobile device
When do they shop?
- 60% before August
- 40% August and after
- 30% of searches happened in July
- Laptop shopping happens first and clothing later