A Campus Rep is a student on a college campus that carries out a series of marketing activities – both online and offline – targeted at their peers.
Campus Rep marketing works well on college campuses because it is no secret that people are more easily influenced by their peers. College students are uniquely impressionable because mom and dad are no longer filling up the cabinets with products and food. This makes college a time when young adults try new brands and begin to form their own brand loyalty. College marketing using Campus Reps also humanizes your brand on campus.
A Campus Rep may also be called:
- Student Brand Ambassador
- Student Influencer
- College Rep
- College Brand Ambassador
- College Influencer
- Student Rep
As they have no shortage of names, there is no shortage of marketing activities that Campus Reps can carry out. Their most common activities include handing out sample products, putting up posters, talking about a product or service in front of a classroom, organizing a campus event, and posting about your business on their social media.
Some more specific examples of the types of activities they may execute include:
- Passing out a new flavor of drink for a Beverage Company
- Putting up posters about an event coming to campus for a Rock Band
- Talking to a student organization about professional attire for a Suit Company
- Posting on social media about a new game for an App Company.
Note your Campus Rep can only talk to so many students on campus at once. It’s important that you include digital elements to expand your reach. When your Campus Reps attend an event, give students something they will want to take a picture of. Why? They will likely post that picture on social media, expanding your reach outside of those that attended the event.
For ideas of what might work for your brand, think about what your ideal target audience is When you have their attention, what are you going to say? What is the best time to talk with them? For this step, consider reviewing an academic calendar of common activities on college campuses.
Campus Rep programs can also work for your company in other ways – it doesn’t have to strictly be for marketing departments. For example, human resources departments utilize interns that return back to campus to help recruit for future interns.
Once you determine you want to utilize a Campus Rep Program and what activities you would like done, you need to find your Campus Rep. Talk to your Human Resources Department about past interns that are now back on campus. Assuming they had a positive experience with your company, that positivity can be contagious back on campus. Utilize the Career Services department at schools to post positions, and review social media posts that have hashtags that relate to your company.
Campus Rep programs that last have a community feeling. They allow Campus Reps to talk to other Campus Reps about best practices. They feature Campus Reps on the company website. As a manager, you are involved with talking to your Campus Reps and are available outside of business hours. You utilize your company’s assets for rewards.Your company sponsors an event that gives you tickets to reward top performing Campus Reps. You have a person on staff that is an expert at a topic that college students are interested in learning. Bring them in on a future group call. Basically – make them feel involved in your business. It will pay off in the future.
If you need help creating or improving on your Campus Rep Program, Campus Commandos offers consulting and a toolkit to brands.
