School Stores Profit with Student Marketing

Are you running a school store and want your students to learn about marketing to consumers? After teaching your students some marketing basics, try some fun activities that will help your class learn and use their creativity to help improve the school store's sales.

The Basics

First, your students need to know some essentials if their advertising campaigns are going to help improve profits. Before your students begin, they need to know who their advertisements are targeting. When it comes to a school store, the customers are those who are on the path to success. They are people motivated to achieve, and they require supplies to do so. The supplies sold at the school store are going to be purchased by students and teachers alike. Both groups need the items for class, and within each, other target groups can be identified. Discuss with your students how some advertisements can appeal to those who are animal lovers or sports enthusiasts, for example. This certainly matters when goods sold feature a theme that kids are crazy about. Whether the focus is a popular story like Wonder or a mascot of an NFL team, specific merchandise may only appeal to specific groups of people.

Consumers also need to know how they can get the great supplies that the school store has. Everyone needs to know where the school store is located. When making the advertisements, your class may want to include directions to the school store. For mobile school stores, list where and when the store is accessible. This could be a place exclusive to the school store itself or a teacher's classroom, the cafeteria, the media center, or even the playground. Advertising regular business hours and special events will also help shoppers find their way to the store when you will be able to accommodate their needs.

Along with this, shoppers must know if they can afford the goods at the store. Every item's cost should be communicated clearly to the consumers. Be sure your class highlights any special sales or deals when they advertise for the school store. While most school stores operate with real money, the currency of some may be tokens earned during class time. Whichever the case may be, consumers need to know before they come to the store ready to buy.

Your class should be sure to understand the reason why customers visit the school store. Much of what is sold is needed for classroom activities. Many common items make up the store's inventory: pencils, pens, folders, etc. Some things, however, like protractors are not used by every grade. Make sure those in charge of advertising the school store is familiar with all the merchandise available there. Student advertisements can also express how the merchandise can be given as gifts. The supplies are great ways to celebrate achievements and milestones – academic or otherwise.

Above all, every advertisement must shine the spotlight on the great content found at the school store. Much is useful and required in the classroom, and a lot of it is fun, trendy, and eye-catching. The school store may sell ordinary supplies, but be sure anything extraordinary is noted in the advertisement.

Marketing Methods

In your class, you may find it is best that your students work cooperatively to advertise for the school store. Each method for marketing can be modified for use as an assignment tackled by individual students, too. Use traditional methods or hi-tech avenues for advertising. Student-made posters are great ways for kids to get the message out about the school store. All key information, as well as pictures of merchandise, can be included. When students complete their poster projects, adhere their creations to walls in the high-traffic hallways. Similarly to this, students can put their poster content onto a digital platform so that it can be e-mailed to students, staff, and even parents.

If your students have access to recording equipment or graphic design software, they can try putting together their own commercials with the purpose of creating sales for the school store. Students can make up skits that appeal to their target audience and showcase the great content the store has to offer. Upload their commercials to YouTube or your school's website.

Do not forget about the power that the morning announcements have to attract attention and alert listeners to news about the school store. In this case, have students create scripts that can be rehearsed in the classroom. Then, students can take turns throughout the week to read their scripts live. Not only will they be learning about marketing, they will be practicing crucial speaking skills.

The school store is more than a place that sells supplies; it is also in the business of teaching students skills they need in life. Basic lessons in marketing help students learn essential literacy skills. Start an advertising project with your class today and watch as they learn and the school store profits!