How publishers are using back-to-school fever to drive commerce

Start early
Most retailers’ back-to-school sales begin in late July or August. But shoppers start thinking about back-to-school sales well before that, and publishers that want to win in Google search have to get their posts up early.

Hearst’s Best Products, for example, began posting back-to-school posts as early as June. “We started planning for back-to-school before most schools were even out,” said Patrick Varone, vp of audience development and Best Products at Hearst Digital Media. “School-related searches online actually start in June and purchases steadily increase in early to mid-July, so we were able to service them with the most up-to-date, popular, on-trend and competitively priced products that are currently in stock.”

Recycle
Even the mythical creatures of Generation Z need bedsheets, portable speakers and jeans, so New York Media’s The Strategist packaged commerce posts it had already written into the back-to-school hub it unveiled in late July.

While The Strategist has over a dozen back-to-school commerce posts planned (it’s published 10 already), more than two-thirds of the posts in the back-to-school hub were published weeks, or even months, ago.

Try new platforms
Instagram Stories has been a popular place to experiment for commerce posts. Teen Vogue, for example, has posted shoppable back-to-school Instagram Stories all week, offering deals on items from humidifiers to tampons.

Make personality-based content
Like the rest of its content, BuzzFeed’s commerce content is often identity-oriented. Its back-to-school coverage is no different, as evidenced by posts like “23 School Supplies For People Who Pretty Much Live in the Library” or “21 Backpacks All High School Archetypes Will Love“. In the coming weeks, BuzzFeed will roll out identity-based posts for students as well as parents and teachers.