Back to school is a crucial time for brands. Everyone wants to capture the attention of consumers, but only those with the right marketing strategy will stand out from the crowd!

With budgets back in hand, new purchasing intentions and the start of the sprint towards the end of the year, the strategic stakes are enormous. Provided you know where to focus your efforts. So how do you get your fourth term off to a good start and maximize the impact of your back to school communications? In this article, we share concrete advice, inspired by examples of campaigns that worked.

September is a key time for brands. After the summer break, it’s a time of renewal, with shoppers returning to their usual patterns of consumption. For companies, it’s also a time to finalise their strategies for the last quarter, as the competition for customer’s attention intensifies.

Here are the main marketing issues that brands need to anticipate to maximize the impact of their back to school sales operation.

1. Boost brand awareness and generate new leads

After the summer, brands need to reconnect with their audience and attract new prospects. This is an ideal time to launch brand awareness campaigns, particularly via social networks, display advertising and influencer partnerships.

The statistic to remember: Nearly 4 out of 5 French people (79 %) are planning to change their shopping habits for the back to school season.

The marketing action to launch: a marketing campaign on social networks with an interactive and engaging format to maximize the brand’s visibility.

An example to follow: For its “Back to School” campaign, SFR relied on the Match 3 mechanic to promote the start of the new school year. This addictive game recruited over 4,200 leads and generated 38 games played per participant. The Adictiz Ads media campaign generated a 98% response rate, an essential factor in the game’s visibility.

2. Refine customer knowledge to improve future marketing campaigns

September is a good time to collect customer data (via Surveys or interactive Quizzes, for example). This enables brands to better understand the needs and expectations of their audience. They can then better target their future marketing campaigns and maximise their return on investment (ROI).

The statistic to remember: 83% of consumers say they are willing to share their preferences with a brand in exchange for a personalised experience. And brands that exploit first-party data generate 2.9 times more revenue.

The marketing action to launch: Brands can, for example, share an interactive Personality Test on their site to better understand their customers’ interests and needs. Customers will then be redirected to relevant product pages or automatically retargeted by email with targeted offers.

An example to learn from: The interactive quiz shared by MaGare+ as part of its back to school game enabled the company to collect valuable data on its audience. For example, it has been able to identify the station services that are most likely to be of interest to its customers.

3. Capitalize on purchase intentions to improve conversion

With the return to school and work, consumers are on a buying spree. Whether for school supplies, clothing, electronics or services, brands have a window of opportunity to convert these intentions into sales or customer account creation.

Key statistic: At the start of the new school year, families spend an average of 304 euros per person.

The marketing action to launch: Consumers are more likely to make a purchase or create a customer account in exchange for a discount or reward. Brands can boost their conversion rate by proposing an attractive welcome offer (a discount on the first order) or by distributing discount coupons via a 100% instant win.

An example to follow: For the back to school season, Kiabi launched a campaign focusing on lead generation and conversion, giving participants the chance to win attractive prizes, including shopping vouchers. Thanks to media coverage via Adictiz Ads, the operation recorded an opt-in rate of 68%, testifying to participants’ commitment to the brand and the effectiveness of the campaign.

4. Building loyalty and preparing for the last quarter of the year

The last quarter of the year (Q4) is crucial, with events such as Black Friday, the autumn sales and the festive season. Building customer loyalty from September onwards maximises sales during this strategic period and considerably reduces the budget for future marketing campaigns.

The statistic to remember: A loyal customer spends on average 67% more than a new customer (Source: Harvard Business Review). Not to mention that attracting a new customer costs five times more than bringing one back.

The marketing action to launch: to boost your retention rate, there’s nothing better than an innovative loyalty programme. This will encourage consumers to buy from the brand by giving them access to more attractive discounts or previews of Black Friday offers.

An example to follow: In 2021, Decathlon has decided to transform its traditional loyalty program into a more inclusive offering, allowing customers to collect points through various actions (in particular their interactions with the brand) and no longer just when they make purchases. The catalogue of rewards has also been expanded, giving program members the opportunity to spend their points at partner stores.

To maximise the impact of back to school communications, brands need to put the right strategy in place. Here are three tips for optimising your sales operation and achieving concrete results.

1. Identify your objectives and your target’s needs

An effective back to school marketing campaign must therefore be perfectly tailored to the expectations of its audience. To achieve this, brands need to collect data upstream. Marketing games will enable them to analyse the preferences and behaviour of consumers in greater detail, so that they can better qualify their leads.

2. Stand out from other advertising campaigns

The back to school period is therefore a time when consumers are very much in demand. Brands therefore need to focus on engaging formats and attractive prizes to capture attention. Playing on emotion and storytelling is also a good way of resonating with the aspirations of their community.

3. Use omnichannel marketing to maximize the impact of your back to school sales campaign

Consumers are constantly switching from one channel to another. They consult a product on mobile, read a review on social networks, then finalize their purchase in-store. A coherent omnichannel strategy can support this journey and multiply points of contact. To achieve this, brands can communicate both online and in their physical outlets, offer drive-to-store operations, and also explore co-branding.

The key to a successful back to school campaign is a strategic approach that combines personalisation, engagement and channel diversification. By targeting your objectives carefully, you can create an effective campaign and maximise your chances of capturing and converting your audience. All you have to do to take action is choose from our range of marketing games!

Adictiz, the platform to reach
your marketing goals

The secret ingredient of impactful communication is knowing who you’re talking to and adapting your message to each consumer (or each consumer segment). To get to know their audience and understand their needs, brands can share a marketing game in the form of a personality test.

This fun, interactive marketing format is also a tool for collecting relevant data on prospects and customers. Thanks to this mechanism, companies can qualify their database and personalise their purchasing experience according to each profile.

In this article, we share with you the uses of personality test in your marketing strategy. You’ll find practical advice on how to create a personality test, and how to adapt this format to your objectives.

SUMMARY

• Why create a personality test ?
  
• Our tips to create an original personality test
  

The personality test is a format that is recognisable to users, who have undoubtedly already completed one. While the paper version was purely for fun, the digital version has become a marketing tool for brands that want to get to know their target audience better. All the while offering them a personalised and captivating shopping experience.

Here are the different ways in which a personality test can optimise a marketing strategy.

1. Refine your customer knowledge

The main purpose of a personality test, for the person completing it, is to learn more about themselves. For the brands that distribute them, this format serves the same purpose: to collect data on the preferences, needs and aspirations of their customers.

The advantage of a personality test over a traditional data collection format is that it provides specific insights. The retailer will be able to segment its audience finely and qualitatively (in terms of purchase intentions).

Example: ASOS shares a personality test in the form of a Quiz ‘What is your ideal wardrobe?’. The aim of this mechanism is to find out its customers’ fashion preferences in order to offer them selections of items. The brand was able to segment its users according to their style (casual, business, sportswear).

2. Boost brand awareness and generate new leads

The latter can capitalise on this reputation to generate traffic on its platforms (digital or physical), collect email addresses (via a test access form), etc. It’s a powerful tool for fuelling nurturing campaigns and expanding your database.

Example: On Valentine’s Day, the Qui Veut du Fromage brand launched a personality test to promote Caprice des Dieux, giving the brand high visibility. Integrated into a global campaign (TV, digital and in-store), the game engaged customers and prospects, while stimulating sales. It was also used to recruit qualified leads for retargeting campaigns.

3. Convert new customers, online or in retail (drive-to-store)

This format (distributed via media campaigns on social networks) can enable brands to redirect users to their sales channels. Depending on their strategy, they can direct them to their e-commerce site or in-store as part of a drive-to-store strategy. This marketing game can be used as a lever for upselling/cross-selling when it is shared post-purchase (in the order confirmation email).

Example: Altarea Cogedim launched the Summer test campaign to energise its shopping centres during the summer sales period. The aim of this personality test was to generate traffic and stimulate purchases. At the same time, it engaged the community and boosted the brand’s visibility. The result was the recruitment of new fans, leads and opt-ins. All of which contributed to enriching the database and maximising the impact of the summer highlight.

4. Customer satisfaction and loyalty: strengthening long-term relationships

In this way, brands improve customer satisfaction and loyalty by offering them an enriching experience.

Example: With its ‘Which series character are you? test, the VOD platform Netflix was able to create a fun interaction and engage its subscribers. All this while gathering data on their content preferences to refine its recommendations and increase satisfaction.

To create an impactful personality test, it’s important to design a campaign that’s tailored to your objectives. Here’s our advice on how to optimise this format and turn it into a more effective marketing tool!

1. What results and objectives to aim for with a personality test

The first step is to identify the objectives that the brand wants to achieve (data collection, visibility, improving conversion rates, etc.). Depending on these objectives, the questions asked and the channels through which the test will be distributed will not be the same. For a conversion objective, the mechanics will be more important in-store on an interactive kiosk or integrated into the purchase path on the brand’s e-commerce site/application.

2. How to personalise a personality test?

Pour qu’un test soit impactant, il doit s’intégrer dans l’univers de la marque et répondre aux attentes de son audience. Il est important de bien : 

• Personnaliser les questions : en adaptant la thématique et la tonalité afin que le format soit immersif et engageant ; 
• Offrir des résultats sur mesure : proposer des profils personnalisés qui correspondent aux catégories d’utilisateurs ciblés. La marque peut associer chaque résultat à une recommandation. 
• Adapter le design de la mécanique en respectant la charte graphique de l’entreprise pour garantir une expérience cohérente avec son image de marque. 

3. What types of questions should be included in a personality test?

To ensure user engagement, it is advisable to vary the question formats:

• Single or multiple choice questions to collect product preferences;
  
• Rankings or associations to measure tastes or purchasing behaviour;
  
• Open-ended questions to incorporate more specific opinions (optional).
  

4. How to manage prizes to boost participation?

• Choose rewards that correspond to the target audience and are in line with the brand’s universe or the marketing highlight;
  
• Opt for automatic distribution to make prize management easier. With Adictiz, it is possible to configure the delivery of rewards (promotional codes, vouchers), which makes the user experience much smoother;
  
• Establish clear rules for participants, such as session limits per person, winning conditions, etc.
  

5. Can I track and analyse the results of my campaign?

Yes, most tools, like Adictiz, include a reporting module that allows you to :

• Real-time monitoring of the data collected
  
• Analyse shared responses to refine customer knowledge.
  
• Export the data to your CRM (via a suitable connector) for future marketing actions: personalised emailing sent from the same platform, targeted advertising on social networks, etc.
  

6. Can someone take charge of my campaign?

Companies that lack the time or expertise to design and manage their marketing campaign can outsource it to a specialist team. At Adictiz, our team can take care of :

• Design of the marketing game (questions, results, graphics).
• Putting the campaign online and setting its parameters;
  
• Publicising and publicising the campaign;
  
• Performance monitoring and analysis.
  

7. How to ensure the success of a personality test?

Pour finir, voici quelques conseils pour maximiser l’impact du test de personnalité. 

• Diffuser le test sur plusieurs canaux (site web, réseaux sociaux, newsletters). 
• Privilégier un message clair et un parcours utilisateur simple pour inciter à la participation. 
• Mesurer les performances et ajuster la campagne si nécessaire. 

Conclusion

Online personality testing is a powerful marketing tool that will enable your company to engage its audience at every stage of the customer journey. With a solution like Adictiz, you have the tools and expertise you need to design high-impact campaigns that are tailored to your needs and memorable for your users.