Back-to-School season isn’t just about new backpacks and fresh notebooks—it’s one of the hottest shopping periods of the year! From 2019 to 2024, total back-to-school (K-12) spending surged by 50%, while back-to-college shopping soared by 58%.
And the momentum isn’t slowing down.
For brands, this presents a massive opportunity to capture eager shoppers, boost brand loyalty, and drive promising revenue. The brands that embrace these few tips will be the ones to win big in 2025.
Source: NRF and Prosper Insights & Analytics
- Personalization is the Formula to Loyalty
- Personalized recommendations and customization freedom make customers feel special
- Current back-to-school shoppers expect more than generic and repetitive promotions—they want personalized experiences that easily meet their specific needs
CASETiFY Engages Customers With Personalized Shopping Experience
CASETiFY offers many variations of a strong protective layer for your smart devices. Not only can you browse cases for your devices, but also add customizations such as charms and personal photos, making the entire shopping experience personalized.
- Operate Your Brand With Omnichannel
- Back-to-school shoppers want the ease of finding and purchasing a product from online, mobile, to in-store
- Creating a seamless transition between physical and digital shopping will help build loyalty among customers by providing them a natural shopping experience no matter how or where they interact with your brand (Oracle)
Sephora Enhances Usability & Satisfaction Through Omnichannel
Sephora was one of the first to prioritize customers rather than sales through their usage of omnichannel. After initiating their online platform that boosted user experience and online to in-store checkout processes, they saw significant growth and increase in revenue.
- In 2023, Sephora had the highest total sales in the U.S for the beauty ecommerce market of over $2.7 billion (Statista).
Pro Tip 🎯: Activating more channels for your brand will expand your reach to customers, driving long-term loyalty and trust. Not only are you simplifying communication, but also creating a space for meaningful interaction.
- Build and Engage An Online Community
- Small, niche communities allow brands to target an audience (BTS shoppers) and gain more control over that growth rather than trying to reach everyone
- Engage your community through challenges and crediting their work on your official online channels to show appreciation
- An actively engaged community is the greatest asset to a lifelong relationship with loyal customers
+Read More: Why Online Community Engagement is Important in 2025
lululemon Expands Success To Building an Online Community
lululemon initiated a creative way to engage their loyal fans and customers through lululemon Studio. This platform engages members with thousands of fitness classes, pop-up workout locations, and community meet-up events.
An engaged community ensures the brand stays alive. Lululemon’s success in building an online community ensures loyalty in purchasing fitness products to accompany their health-living journey.
- Harness the Power of Ambassador Marketing
- Partner with micro-influencers, student ambassadors, and parent bloggers to promote back-to-school products
- Instead of traditional influencer marketing, ambassadors (with smaller followings) build trust and drive peer-to-peer recommendations
Bubble’s Inspiring Ambassador Community
Bubble empowers their loyal customer base and superfans to drive the majority of sales and organic traffic. With an award-winning community of brand and campus ambassadors, they saw a 2,872% surge in searches, jumping from 131,700 in 2022 to an impressive 3.9 million in 2023 (Newbeauty).
“Community is the heart of Bubble—our greatest strength and differentiator.”
+Learn More: What is Ambassador Marketing?
- User Generated Content Builds Brand Trust
- Happy customers sharing their satisfaction on social media is attractive to online consumers
- Around 82% of consumers say they are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that uses user-generated content (UGC) (Entribe)
- UGC made from other than influencers are real and promote authenticity, which drives reliable sales
- Create back-to-school hashtags including your brand name and feature customer UGC on your official pages to show appreciation of support
Kendra Scott’s Campus Ambassadors Produce Winning UGC
Kendra Scott’s secret to attracting other students and interested consumers is through UGC. By empowering student ambassadors to create authentic, on-brand content, Kendra Scott saw a 169% increase in social media impressions. With over 1 million followers, the brand continues to grow and inspire purchases.
+Read More: Student Ambassadors for Brands in 2025 + UGC Calendar
- Timing A Successful Back-to-School Campaign
- Planning ahead for back-to-school season is essential to winning one of the best times of the year for shopping
- Brands that wait until the last minute risk missing out on early-bird shoppers who are actively searching for deals as early as June
- Run early-bird deals, create product bundles, or launch BTS campaigns that make customers feel the urge to buy now instead of later
Crayola Yearly Success With Back-to-School Campaigns
Crayola’s seasonal back-to-school campaign makes shopping for students and teachers easy. With a BTS landing page on their website, “Top Back-to-School Picks,” and bundles, shoppers can make quick purchasing decisions without spending too much time looking for products they need.
- Implement AI & Gamified Shopping Experiences
- Employ AI chatbots as the brand’s 24/7 customer service. AI directs consumers towards the intended search and suggests products customers actually want
- Use interactive quizzes, AI-powered shopping assistants, and gamify the experiences to help customers find the best back-to-school items
- Usage of AI enhances personalization and increases time spent on site
Melissa & Doug Uses AI Quiz To Streamline Shopping Experience
Melissa & Doug utilize a quick and interactive quiz for shoppers looking to buy toys and crafts for children. Answer 6 questions and get recommended results based on your response. This feature engages the shoppers and guides the shopping experience, improving the flow of search for the right BTS gift.
Win Back-to-School 2025 with SocialLadder
Traditional marketing strategies alone won’t be enough to stand out in the crowded back-to-school market in 2025. The key to long-term success lies in community-driven marketing and authentic brand advocacy.
With SocialLadder’s powerful ambassador and community management platform, brands can:
- Build and activate a network of student ambassadors
- Leverage authentic user-generated content (UGC)
- Create targeted, data-driven campaigns
- Activate the power of community
- Streamline UGC approval with AI
Ready to take your Back-to-School marketing strategy to the next level? SocialLadder can help you build an engaged brand community that drives real results. 🚀
