Succeed with Swag – the Surprisingly Smart
Student Recruiting Strategy

In addition, the 2023 Advertising Specialty Institute Research Ad Impressions Study reported that customers in this age group prefer swag over all other forms of advertising. Swag… for real? Yes, we’re serious! Swag should play a part in every recruiter’s strategy and our thousands of college & university customers agree.

Just ask Alicia from RCC: “For several years our office has purchased giveaways for our students from Crestline.” or Melinda from MIU: “We order logo products for the goodie bags for our new students each semester.”

Our college and university customers depend on swag to share and solidify their brand with prospective and incoming students as well as enrolled students, their parents and families, staff, faculty, alumni, and the surrounding community. Put your marketing dollars to work more effectively with branded college gifts!

Here’s how:

Order Items Six Weeks Before Your Event

In a world where you can get just about anything you want delivered to your door within a couple of days, it’s easy to procrastinate ordering college recruiting swag. However, it’s important to remember that it takes time to imprint your university or school logo on your selected items.

Our team recommends ordering four to six weeks before you need your college recruiting giveaways. Plan to order your graduation gifts in early spring, your orientation giveaways right after graduation, and your recruiting swag orders by summer.

If you can pool your marketing budget, you may be able to take advantage of bulk rates and single shipping costs. Stock up for every event during the school year including gifts for alumni visitors during homecoming, holiday presents for friends and family, and school spirit gear for every sporting season.

Consider Top Five Most Influential Promo Products

Since you’ll be reaching out to a diverse and potentially large audience, it’s smart to stick with some of the most popular items to get the greatest exposure for your university or college in the long run. Remember that college recruiting swag has a dual purpose: to attract new students to your school and to spread the word about your institution.

Two of the most popular giveaways fall within the branded apparel category: performance T-shirts and outerwear. Think of all the young people you see who are wearing university tees, sweatshirts, and jackets, regardless of whether they attend the school, have a relative studying at that institution, or just like the look and comfort of the item.

Another great choice is giving away branded bags or totes. College students usually have a lot of books, electronics, and other gear to carry around all day and into the night, especially if dorms are not particularly close to classes. These items make great gifts for just about anyone who needs to tote groceries, toys, work items, or anything else in life, extending the purpose beyond campus and into students’ home communities. Each use means another exposure for your institution throughout the community, the country, and the world.

Continuing in the theme of gifting useful promotional products, the fourth idea is branded umbrellas. Although some students drive to campus, many spend most of their days walking to and from classes, the dorm, campus jobs, and other extracurricular activities. Help keep them dry during inevitable rainstorms while promoting school spirit with branded umbrellas.

Finally, more and more young people are focused on health and wellness. Help them reach their goals with hand sanitizers, relaxation products, and stress relievers, branded with your school logo. Many are inexpensive and extremely useful, a combination that will be appreciated by your institution and your recipients.

Use a Marketing Funnel to Strengthen Recruiting Efforts

Those in the education industry can apply tried-and-true marketing practices when it comes to recruiting. A funnel is used in traditional marketing to represent the sequence of interactions an individual has with a brand, beginning with the first introduction through converting them into customers, in your case, enrolling them as students. You can use college recruiting giveaways in each of the stages of the funnel to enhance the perception of your school.

During the awareness stage, high school students are beginning to consider their college options. They are interested in gathering as much information as possible regarding their potential choices so they can determine which schools to explore more deeply and visit.

Most likely, you’ll be hosting campus recruiting events, attending high school college fairs or trade shows, or advertising in various avenues during this time. Be sure you invest in branded table throws, posters, printed material and goodie bags filled with college recruiting swag to make your school stand out among the competition. Remember this is the attention-grabbing stage of the marketing funnel; the more students you can engage, the more potential applicants you will have later in the process.