There are many reasons to have college students at your events. They’re fun, they’re young, they know a lot of people, and if you win them over they can become life-long clients. The question is how you’re going to do that. What strategy can use to attract them to your events and programs? That’s what we’re going to explore today.
Make sure the content appeals to them
The first step is to make sure to design a program or event that is compelling. If it’s not interesting, then they will not be motivated to come. How do you find out if they would be interested? Just ask them. Meet or email students asking what kinds of events would interest them with suggested titles to generate the most interest.
Offer student discounts
Offering student discounts is probably one of the easiest tactics to draw students. This works better than offering low prices for several reasons:
- Students will immediately recognize that the event is geared towards them and they’re specifically being invited. That will encourage them to participate.
- Other demographic groups seeking bargains will be discouraged from attending when you highlight the discounts are for students alone.
- The psychology of the discount will work in your favor.
Make it mobile friendly and incredibly easy to share
We like what our friends like. That’s always been true. Since students are attuned to social media, they will use social media to gauge if their friends like the event. For that reason, make it as easy as possible to find out about your event online (preferably via mobile) and ensure that it only takes a single click to share your event. This will afford greater social proofing.
Make it socially responsible
Research causes championed by local college students and create an event that addresses their agenda. If relevant, develop a fund raising platform to empower the students to help remedy the issue at hand. Invite guest speakers to better inform and inspire students to join your organization’s involvement in the cause. Then advertise the event to the entire student body.
Find the influencers
Every group has its influencers. These are the people who know more people than anyone else and whose opinions affect those around them. If you can get these people on board then there is a good chance that many others will follow.
Research which students have real social capital. Meet with them to share your organization’s work and how they could participate. Perhaps you can even employ them to help market your events. If they’ve got a serious social following, they could be a worthwhile investment.
Focus on one or two campuses at a time
You might want to offer programming simultaneously on several campuses in your region. If you don’t have the requisite manpower to run your organization, you may not reach the tipping point where your efforts attract a critical mass of students on each campus. Consider focusing on one or two campuses for specific local events to maximize attendance. In this way, you’re more likely to create word of mouth excitement and leverage fear of missing out from your activities.
Empower student leaders
Students have their own kind of “cool.” This means that if you want to cater to them, you have to always make sure that you’re aware of what drives them now and what is currently completely unacceptable. The best way to do that is to directly involve them as student leaders to represent your organization on campus to help plan and promote your events. In this way, you’re far more empowered to create ongoing impactful programs and events.
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This guest post was written by Angela Baker who is a self-driven specialist who is currently working as a freelance writer in Smart Paper Help and trying to improve herself in the blogging career. She is always seeking to discover new ways for personal and professional growth and is convinced that it’s always important to broaden horizons. That`s why Angela develops and improves her skills throughout the writing process to help and inspire people.