As the first generation of ‘digital natives’, Gen Z are incredibly savvy when it comes to navigating our content-saturated online world. Telling the difference between generic advertising and something that’s worth connecting with is second nature to them.
That’s why brands hoping to connect with today’s students must make their messaging worthy of this audience’s time and attention. The secret? Personalisation.
Personalising your marketing is an opportunity to create something that feels tailored to the individual. It builds trust with a brand and, when done responsibly, presents valuable opportunities to increase sales with targeted, value-adding offerings and create a customer for life.
Here’s how to build personalisation into your next campaign.
What is personalised marketing?
Personalisation just means changing any aspect of a campaign or promotion to be more tailored to an individual.
At its most basic level, this can look like using mail-merge to include someone’s first name in an email subject line, or signposting them to a physical location or event that’s near them.
But to really reap the benefits of personalisation, your efforts need to connect with students on a more personal level.
How to take personalisation to the next level
Truly effective personalised marketing connects individuals with a product or message at exactly the right moment. This starts by meeting students where they are; for example, UCAS’ data matching allows us to engage with verified students on the platforms they use to deliver hyper-personalised messages.
University life means that students keep a very flexible schedule, and as our Digital Operations Team Manager, Laura Meason explains, brands can use advanced analytics to optimise their email marketing to this effect.
Netflix’s famous algorithm seems to know exactly what a user will want to watch at any given moment – but it does so without including age or gender in its recommendation system. User behaviour is far more meaningful than any surface-level demographic information.
Try segmenting your audience based on what they might be thinking, feeling or doing at the moment they engage in your campaign. This could look like offering tailored bundles on exam essentials in time for the January assessment period, or a tech provider targeting students on specific courses with the best laptops with the tech specs they’ll need.
Don’t just personalise – make it shareable
The most cost-effective way to get mileage out of your personalised campaign? Getting the audience to share it themselves.
The ultimate level of personalisation is turning the campaign into a fun experience that people will want to share and encourage others to get involved with.
The most famous example of this is, of course, Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. More recently, Warner Bros’ Barbie selfie generator – part of the 2023 film’s huge marketing push – was used more than 13 million times, by individuals and brands alike.
In-depth audience insight for targeted personalisation
At UCAS, we understand student behaviour and choices better than anyone else. Students go on a journey with us from application to graduation, and we’re their trusted guide at every step along the way.
By working with us, brands can access our unrivalled data and insights on this year’s freshers, and transform that knowledge into personalised campaigns that reach the right audience with the right message in all the moments that matter.