Freshers campaigns: top tips for Measuring and maximising ROI

We recently sat down with Mark Walker to ask all of the ROI questions you’ve ever had in your head – but were too afraid to ask. Check out his answers first – and once you’re up to speed, head back here to get his top tips on measuring and maximising ROI.

Freshers campaigns: Measuring ROI 

Set up a control group that doesn’t see your campaign. If you plan to activate across, say, 20 UK cities, you might want to set aside two or four of those locations where you don’t run any activity. This is so you can show incremental improvement, and can isolate the factor that drove the results.

Focus on sign-ups. So essentially, measure how many contact details can you generate over that period of time relative to if you weren’t doing that activity. That gives you a very specific, direct, tangible metric that you’re measuring, which can also be really valuable long-term. Once you’ve got that first-party data, you can then run additional marketing to convert them into a repeat paying customer. 

Don’t neglect on-the-ground activity. I do find that, particularly in Freshers, being on the ground is very powerful for collecting data, as opposed to purely running a digital campaign. Students like to meet and see brands IRL – it’s a great way to build that additional trust and credibility in order for a student to hand over their details. 

Delve into organic search. You can measure localised spikes in traffic or searches for your brand – so if you run a campaign during a key period like Freshers, you can review whether you’re receiving more traffic on the sites where you run activity versus the sites in your control group. 

Pre and post awareness analysis. This is a slightly more complex way of measuring ROI – you can run a survey to the students before and after the campaign, asking about their awareness of the brand, their purchase intent, their consideration intent, and so on. 

Consider share of voice – particularly on social media. Are students talking about your brand more during and after the campaign?

Freshers campaigns – Maximising ROI 

A strong creative message or hook is essential. Check out how our brand partners The Lady Garden Foundation, Lounge Underwear and Burger King crafted these in previous years. 

Look at the whole user journey and reduce friction. If you’re driving towards sign ups, you should think about what the offer is, how much data you’re asking for, and if you’re being clear about how you’re going to handle their data. All of these things can really impact the success of your campaign outside of the channels that you’re advertising through. You’ve got to create a compelling value case for students if they’re going to give you their time or information. 

Go multichannel. Don’t just send emails, or just do digital, or just run a stall. Do all of these things! Students are busy. In order to cut through and get their attention, you really need multiple attempts at that across different mediums. Students are not a monolith – they each have their preferred channels. 

Consider activating across a longer period of time. Yes, you can get amazing results from Freshers – but it’s a really good idea to then follow up a few weeks after that to keep yourself front of mind. Think about the opportunities that lie beyond Freshers – from Black Friday all the way up to Festive, there are loads in term one alone. This all gives you the chance to actually maximise the return and investment from your initial investment.

To get that ROI from students, you first have to invest in students. Kick off your Freshers campaign today with native – your gateway to reaching Gen Z students at scale.