As summer quickly approaches and your window for yearbook sales begins to close, you need some aggressive marketing tips to reach out to your student body to remind them to get those final orders in. This way no one will miss out on all the great content your committee has produced! Because your end-of-the-year promotions can take a special touch, I’ve outlined a quick guide that you can use to schedule your last week of marketing tactics. And this will definitely help you make sure as many students as possible get their hands on a yearbook before the end of the school year!
Build Your Calendar
Start planning your last-minute marketing campaign by building a timeline in a spreadsheet. (We’ve added one into our project timeline for you! Just check under the ‘Marketing Calendar’ tab.) Add the final date that students can get their orders in, plus slots for each of the days you’ll reach out to your campus. Lay out how you’ll spread the news via word of mouth, face-to-face interactions and digital methods. Add spaces to your timeline to fill in details that include what you’ll communicate to create a plug-and-play calendar that doesn’t require much ongoing effort.
One Week Before Deadline
Five to seven days before your yearbook deadline, you want to reach out to your students to start generating that last-minute buzz. Your goal with this messaging is to highlight to students how all of their friends will have a copy of the yearbook, so they don’t want to miss out!
- Word-of-Mouth: Add a message to the daily announcements. If possible, have one of your peppiest yearbook committee members read the message to generate even more interest. It could be something along the lines of: Hey [school name] students! There’s only FIVE days left to get your yearbook order in! Don’t miss out on all the yearbook excitement with your friends on the last day of school–place your order today to get in on the fun! Then include quick details on how they can get their order in. But just telling them about it in the morning isn’t enough–you’ll want to remind them face-to-face.
- Face-to-Face: Set up a table in the lunchroom and at the entrance of your school as students enjoy lunch or recess. Staff it with your yearbook committee members. Create giant, colorful posters to hang up next to your “booth” that you can update with the number of days left to get a yearbook order in. Make it easy for students to order by bringing a laptop or iPad to the table. Make sure you also have a takeaway item that clearly lays out how students can easily place their order online after school with parental assistance. And to take one more step, you’ll want to reach out to the parents directly.
- Digital: Send out a message to parents and/or students via email that reiterates exactly what you shared over the announcements, including a link to place an order for your yearbook on Treering’s site. Send a similar message out via your online yearbook and social media accounts.
Three Days Before Deadline
When there are three days left to get an order in, change up your messaging to reflect the great content in your book, piquing their interest in new ways.
- Word-of-Mouth: Change your announcements message to something along the lines of: Hey [school name] students! Don’t forget, there’s only THREE days left to get your yearbook order in! Don’t miss out on photos of the track and field relay, the winter formal and that football sectional win! Place your order today! Finally, include details on how they can place an order this afternoon.
- Face-to-Face: Use your same table in the lunchroom and at the entrance of your school, just update your posters to reflect the number of days left to place an order.
- Digital: Send out an email message to families who haven’t ordered, as well as through your online yearbook and social media accounts. Use the same messaging as your announcements submission.
One Day Before Deadline
Finally, give students a final push to get their order in one day before the deadline with a last-chance message.
- Word-of-Mouth: Update your announcements message to reflect: Tomorrow is your LAST CHANCE to get your hands on a yearbook! Your friends will be sharing and signing books on the last day of school – will you? Place your order today! Hopefully this urgency will kick any stragglers into action.
- Face-to-Face: At your table during lunch and the entrance to the school, update your posters to say, “LAST CHANCE TO ORDER!” in big, bold letters to grab the attention of your campus and really push those last-minute yearbook sales.
- Digital: Reach out to parents via email and students via your online yearbook and social media accounts to reflect the same message you used in your school announcements. Remind parents they won’t want to miss out on these memories!
Push Last-Minute Yearbook Sales
You’ve worked hard all year long with your committee to pull together a publication that your entire school can enjoy. Don’t let students miss out just because they didn’t realize the yearbook sales deadline was quickly approaching. Reach out regularly through these methods the last week before your orders are due. You’re sure to get your publication out into the hands of more of the student body, and push your yearbook sales over the top!
