It’s one thing to craft a beautiful yearbook that people will treasure for years to come. But if you don’t sell any, what’s the point? It’s important that you have a plan in place to market and advertise your yearbook to your student body. Even if you know nothing about marketing, it’s okay! Friesens has a number of stock and custom resources to help you, and the expertise to have those books flying off the shelves.
BUILD A MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Of course, the first step is to build a marketing plan and campaign, even before you have your first page created. A good marketing campaign reinforces the importance and excitement of a yearbook in the students’ minds, produces buzz and hype, improves school spirit, increases yearbook sales, and lowers the ‘per book price’…all great things!
In your Friesens Yearbook Kit there are a multitude of tools that are included, and that’s a great place to start. You’ll also want to spend some time with your Print Sales Consultant…they’ve all got some great insight into tactics that have worked for other schools in the past that you can incorporate into your marketing plan.
When you start to build your marketing plan, be sure to consider your objectives (increase awareness, boost sales, create excitement), your target audience (primary and secondary), and what key messages you want to include (memories – “Capture the moments that matter.”, exclusivity – “Limited edition! Don’t miss out!”, community – “Celebrate our school spirit and achievements.”)
BUILD HYPE EARLY
Hype is a HUGE part of selling yearbooks. Most people won’t buy until you get them excited and build a sense of urgency. You want to get people excited to buy a book, and there are a lot of great ways to do that.
- Start a yearbook-specific social media channel: this is an easy and free way to get people excited. You can provide sneak peeks of covers and pages, involve the audience with contests like choosing yearbook photos, etc. Remember to never let your page go stale…always keep the content fresh (be sure to include a social media plan when creating your marketing plan)!
- Set up “yearbook selfie stations” around the school where students can take fun photos. Use props and backdrops related to school events and encourage students to share their photos with a specific hashtag.
- Recruit “Yearbook Ambassadors”: find enthusiastic students to be yearbook ambassadors who can promote the yearbook through word-of-mouth, social media, or by wearing special ambassador badges or t-shirts.
- Send out yearbook sneak peek emails: send them to students and parents with highlights from the yearbook. You can include testimonials from students about why they’re excited to get their copy. Talk to your Friesens Print Consultant about the Friesens Direct-to-Parent Email offer!
- Create a yearbook scavenger hunt with clues related to the yearbook content. Students can participate individually or in teams, with prizes for the winner!
- Hold a launch event in the form of a school assembly, and invite members of the yearbook team to speak, as well as popular teachers or alumni to talk about the importance of the yearbook.
- Find out which students haven’t purchased a yearbook, then post sticky notes on their lockers to share with them on exactly what pages they appear in the yearbook.
TRIED, TESTED & TRUE MARKETING IDEAS
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to your marketing plan. These are some great ideas that have shown to be successful:
- Put up posters around the school letting people know they can buy a yearbook. There’s a bunch in your Yearbook Kit, and we have more that you can order. You can also see if local grocery stores, malls, and other high-traffic areas can help by putting up a poster on your behalf.
- Create ads in the school newspaper, in sporting event programs, and in school radio or TV announcements.
- If your school sends home a mailer, ask to include a flyer for yearbook sales.
- Encourage pre-sales by offering an Early Bird price (the price would increase after a certain date).
- Have a one-week sales event (we suggest the week of National Yearbook Week). During the week, advertise through posters, fliers on car windows or lockers, or even use chalk to draw on sidewalks leading into the school.
- Have students man a table at PTA Meetings and Parent Nights to sell books, with samples of past year’s books on display. Anytime parents are at the school or on campus, you should take advantage of the sales opportunity.
- Create a promotion tied to events or the time of the year. Buy a book as a birthday or Christmas present, the team is in the finals, or your child is in the school musical, homecoming, etc. Remember, this is the only book that will document all the memories of the year!
Ultimately, a well-thought-out marketing plan will maximize sales by reaching as many potential buyers as possible and convincing them of the yearbook’s value. Remember, if you need help, your Print Sales Consultant is just a phone call away!
