I’m currently working on the marketing strategy for an upcoming University of Waterloo event – Yahoo’s Hack U and thought I would share with you a list of ways to advertise to students that I wrote up:

This is a compilation of very inexpensive but effective ways to advertise to students. Luckily, university (and college) students are fairly easy to market to since they spend a large amount of time in specific areas of the school. Students are also constantly seeking out ways to take their minds off of school. So, an ad that is displayed through offbeat methods (such as painting a giant rock, slapping an URL on it and dropping it near campus) can create strong and memorable messages, even for busy-minded students.

Without any more blabbering, here they are:

Conventional Methods

1) Plug it Everywhere

Your emails, MSN status, Facebook status, Twitter, Gtalk status, whatever. Plug a one-liner anywhere you can to maximize visibility. If you use any of the above and I’m sure you do, chances are your friends do too. The above list are all communication tools, so if your friends see it they can easily ask you what the product/service/event is about.

2) Power of a Website

Everyone uses the internet. Everyone. Websites are great ways to inform students in an engaging and non-intrusive manner, and additionally, advertisers can also see what messages work and what doesn’t by using analytic software such as Google Analytics and fine tune their advertising.

2a) Tell-a-Friend

With easy to install plugins like Sharethis, visitors of the website can share the contents of the website with their friends.

2b) Keepin’ Connected – 24/7

Again, plugins work wonders. Use a Twitter plugin to broadcast current happenings to let late-comers know that it’s not over yet!

3) Making Friends with Student Groups

Student groups such as class groups or clubs are easy to target. If you wish to promote an event relating to Application/Software development, ask a Computer Science class representative or a local hacker club leader to make a short mention.

4) School Paper

Active students read it. Enough said. All you need is a small mention, which is fairly easy to do if you’re advertising something that’s school-related. 

5) Hierarchy of Power  

Big fish eats small fish. Small fish eat some weird crap that’s smaller than them. Weird crap just floats around polluting the environment. Similarly, teachers eat students and students each some of the sickest crap on the planet. Anyways, the point is that students listen to teachers most of the time and that you can get the message across by broadcasting it in class.

Creative and Offbeat Methods

1) Chalkin’ the Campus

Students are always on the move, but the good thing is that they usually take the same paths into, through and out of school. Lighten up their scenery and put something new in their paths. They will surely notice that big pasty looking message in the middle of the path that they take every day. Oh, did I mention chalk is cheap? $4 for a bucket of it.

2) Door-hangers…for Doors

Where do students live? Simple, they’re in school residences or are living off-campus. Either way, they are living underneath a roof with a door (hopefully). Door-hangers have practically guaranteed presence. Think about it, you can’t leave the house without using the door! At least that holds true for us normal folks.

3) Man with a Stick

Imagine for a second. You are on the way to school and are already 10 minutes late. You’re walking so fast that people around you suspect you’re doing your power walk exercise (but you only do that after school). As you enter the school you see a guy holding a giant sign. One lone guy, with a sign. Your first thought would be on similar lines as, “What the Frig?” Then, you’ll slow down from your exercise, er fast walk, and look at the sign because it is so weird. Substitute man with a stick, with girl with a stick to make things even weirder.

You gotta have some fun while working

Peter Kao