Back to school. No three words strike greater dread in school children. Those same three words add up to excitement and opportunity for your clients. If they haven’t yet put together their campaigns for the season which starts soon, start talking to them.

You can use new research from Eyeota​.com to explain the BTS opportunity. BTS ad spending amounts to over $240 million. And shoppers are noticing.

BTS Categories

Remind your clients that the huge BTS market contains several segments. For example, college students and their parents are spending on electronics and dorm furnishings. Parents of younger children are focused on apparel and accessories. These trends are a good reminder that retailers aren’t the only marketers spending on BTS. Telecommunications companies, and even food and beverage marketers, think school lunches, are allocating ad money to special campaigns in July, August and September every year.

BTS Digital

Shoppers are also going online to make more of their BTS purchases. In recent years, big growth categories for online BTS shopping included apparel, department stores and home goods. The NRF reports that at least 49% of parents with college-​bound students are shopping online for what they need.

Consequently, marketers are shifting ad money to the digital platform. Eyeota research indicates your clients are looking for data to help them optimize their ad buys. To reach shoppers, electronic products marketers want to know about purchase intent, demographics and seasonal activity. General retailers tell researchers they need data on purchase intent and interest. Your clients can maximize the ROI from their online ad investments by checking out the purchase intent and digital advertising influencers for BTS shoppers at AudienceSCAN. The profiles, available at AdMall from SalesFuel, also segment parents by the age groups of their children.

This year, consumers will spend a projected $82.8 billion on BTS items. Families with kids in grades K‑12 will shell out $684.79 on average. The college-​bound students will arrive on campus with products that cost, on average, $969.88, according to the NRF. Help your clients tap into that spending by giving them the information they need.