Our work with thousands of schools has proven that the 11 marketing tactics you see below will help you sell your yearbook and ads. Review this list of marketing tactics and pick at least six that you can do at your school.
We understand that all 11 tactics may not work in your school community. For example, maybe your school does not have an all-call messaging system to reach parents. Pick another option that will work best for your program and community instead!
Start by printing and filling out this Pick 6 Marketing Menu to use as a handy reference. Give a copy to your Walsworth sales rep as well and use it to keep your sales and marketing strategies aligned.
PEP
Walsworth’s Parent Email Program is completely free – and it’s easy to set up! Here’s how it works:
- Parents receive emails with awesome student photography, a compelling yearbook message and a link directly to your school store on yearbookforever.com.
- Emails are sent to parents weekly when your online yearbook sales are turned on.
- Parents are automatically removed from the list once a yearbook is purchased online for their child.
- Sign up today to take advantage of this powerful, free program! For more information, email us at pep@walsworth.com.
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is all about grabbing the attention of your school community and generating buzz for your yearbook through more unconventional, high-impact tactics. Think outside the box! Here are some fun ideas to get your staff started:
Take advantage of football season by meeting parents and students in the stands and giving them something they’ll need: a fan to cool off at games during the season! Read more about this tactic here and download your own template for easy printing. |
Perfect for spreading the word while parents pick their students up at school or attend special events. Place in the most visible area with high car or foot traffic. It’s $16 for a set of two signs. Order online, email kit.department@walsworth.com or call 800.369.2646, ext. 5621.
Where do students look several times while in class? The clock! Hang a yearbook message next to the clock where it can’t be missed.
Make buying a yearbook easy by posting QR codes around your school. Print QR codes linked to your school store on labels (QR code labels come included in your yearly planning kit!) to stick on bleachers, bathroom mirrors and classroom doors or hand these cards out to parents during your school’s biggest events throughout the year.
Don’t let students avoid ordering because they assume they aren’t in the yearbook. Tell them they are in the book with these easy-to-use notes.
Create fake notes with a yearbook message, fold up like it’s a note being passed between classes, drop in the hallway and watch them garner attention. Handwritten notes are the most effective, but you can also use our templates.
Place a “parking violation” ticket on car windshields during a major school event. Here’s a template.
The Monday after Thanksgiving is the perfect opportunity to promote your online yearbook and ad sales and even offer a Cyber Monday coupon code for parents looking to cash in a discount. Download resources to supplement these sales here.
Help students who may not otherwise be able to purchase a yearbook. Download yearbook angel program social media graphics here.
- Faculty collaboration – Partner with teachers to spread the word. Ask them to include yearbook reminders in their class announcements or newsletters.
- Sidewalk chalk – Write your yearbook message on the sidewalk using chalk in an area that is highly visible and can be easily cleaned. Get your principal’s permission first.
- Spirit week – Events during your school’s homecoming or other yearly spirit weeks are great opportunities to market and sell.
- Real school examples – To catch a glimpse of great guerrilla marketing in action, watch our Be Bold & Market Creatively Adviser Academy session here.
Transform your school into a yearbook wonderland. Decorate hallways with eye-catching posters, create interactive installations with yearbook photos or leave “clues” around leading to the yearbook website or school store. Looking for more ideas? View all of our guerrilla marketing resources and editable templates here.
Web Banners
Reach parents directly on your school’s website. Partner with your website administrator to display a web banner promoting yearbooks and/or ad sales. If using online sales, link directly to your school store at yearbookforever.com.
Access your HTML code in Yearbook 360:
- Log in to your Yearbook 360 account.
- Go to the Sales tab at the top, then click the Online Ads tab.
- Click the blue “Promote yearbook ads with website banners” box at the top.
- Choose your banner type from the dropdown and select banner size.
- Copy the HTML banner code and send it to your website administrator.
- Ask your web administrator to place the banner on the home page and on the highest traffic pages, such as the school calendar or online grading portals.
All-calls
Use your school’s phone messaging system to tell parents when and how to purchase. Keep your message short – 20 seconds or less. This is a great way to reach parents who may not use email.
Start with these handy scripts:
- Reach parents in a different way.
- Parents trust that it’s coming from the school – a voice they recognize.
- You likely have a reliable phone number for each parent.
- Free to use (usually). Check with your front office.
- Easy to set up.
- Use it to announce online sales or sales at Back-to-School night, games, plays or other events.
- Consider a bilingual version. Look at your school’s population to determine if languages other than English are predominant (20% or more).
Success story: Vasquez High School conducted an all-call on one night and sold 200 books the next day!
Registration/Back-to-School Events
Get a jump-start on yearbook sales by allowing parents to order during registration. Make it impossible for parents to complete registration without knowing the book is for sale.
- If possible, get the yearbook added to the fee sheet.
- No cost, low effort, big results!
- Parents expect to spend money at these events.
- Invite the school mascot to help work your table!
Social Media
Parents and students use social media every day. Use it to meet your audience where they’re at and promote your book sales!
- Generate excitement around the yearbook
- Great place to announce specials, price increases, get feedback
- Link directly to your yearbookforever.com school store
- Create conversations about yearbook – word of mouth is a powerful sales tool
- Perfect place for videos
- Create and share memes/trends tailored to the yearbook/your staff on your socials. These generate awareness and everyone loves a good laugh!
- Use our social media graphics or create your own to match your book’s theme/branding!
Sales Tables
Set up a sales table in the cafeteria for a week. Also, identify the school events most highly attended by parents and set up a sales table to sell and promote the yearbook. Make yearbook visible!
- Reach parents and students at school where they expect it.
- Piggyback off events that are already happening – lunch, football games, talent shows, parent/teacher night.
- Be sure to set up sales tables wherever your photographers are covering school events. The chance of seeing their child featured in the book will pique parents’ interest and drive sales.
- Have a sample of the previous year’s book to show.
- While sales tables can be done without technology and an internet connection, a computer or tablet can help you sell more books online.
- Charge the same amount as what’s being charged on yearbookforever.com.
- Treat these purchases like in-school sales – add them to Yearbook 360 for a combined distribution list.
Customized Marketing
Mail postcards and flyers that use actual photos from your school, school colors and the school mascot. Parents react to photos of students and scenes they recognize. Walsworth can help by creating the items for you.
- You don’t have to put in a lot of work to get professional-looking marketing items.
- It’s a good way to reach parents who did not give an accurate email address.
- Piggyback off mailings the school already has planned to save on postage costs.
- See the catalog of items available.
- See the price list.
- To order Customized Marketing items, visit our Customized Marketing page.
Videos
Have your staff create a funny video about the yearbook and watch the yearbook message spread. Don’t worry about making the video perfect – the funny ones are more likely to get shared.
- Videos generate excitement and start conversations about the yearbook.
- No special equipment is needed – they are easy to create with phones and apps.
- Fun or emotional – videos play upon people’s emotions.
- Reach people in a way they prefer to be communicated with – play during daily announcements or post to social media.
- Add captions so the message comes across without having to use sound.
Cultural Marketing
Speak directly to your bilingual parents with a yearbook message that explains what a yearbook is and how it celebrates their child’s accomplishments. If your school has a 20%+ non-English-speaking enrollment, you should be spreading the yearbook sales information in both English and the other spoken language to reach more parents. If you provide the translation, Walsworth can help with customized flyers, postcards, banners and more.
- Identify what is important to different cultures. Examples: Quinceañera/Debuts/Cotillion
- Explain the cultural significance of the yearbook and the importance of these types of moments in school.
- Make sure all marketing includes pictures of previous yearbooks – don’t assume they know what is in the yearbook.
- Include their child’s picture on a spread featuring that culture (alternative coverage).
- Make sure they see it! Email/mail the final spread home so parents know exactly what the finished product will be.
- Walsworth’s Spanish/English Customized Marketing pieces help Latino parents learn about the yearbook tradition and understand the value of the yearbook.
- If your school’s culture features a language other than Spanish, have a student/parent translate the copy and send to Walsworth to place on Customized Marketing materials.
How do I find the time?
You don’t have to do it all – establish a Student Marketing Manager as a position on staff. Student marketing managers plan, run and measure marketing campaigns.
Not sure if you have a current student that would be a great fit? Recruit an outgoing student from business classes or organizations like DECA and make their sole responsibility to market and sell the yearbook. Remember to hold them accountable! Turn their workload into gradable action items to ensure that your marketing goals are being met throughout the school year.
- Visit our Train Your Marketing Manager page for resources to help your student market your book to its fullest potential.
- Two valuable resources are available:
- The “Engage Your Audience and Sell More Yearbooks with Strategic Marketing” unit from our Yearbook Suite curriculum brings marketing to life by helping students understand all aspects of marketing and set up their plans for the year.
- The My Marketing Plan workbook is a condensed version for students to quickly review and use.
- The Marketing Manager role looks great on college applications.
- Students can request a letter of recommendation from Don Walsworth.
Don’t forget — it’s all about getting your marketing in front of both parents and students, multiple times and in multiple ways. Get creative, and don’t forget to have fun!
Questions? Contact us at marketingyearbooks@walsworth.com.