In 2025, the back to school season remains one of the key growth points for many ecommerce categories. At the same time, launching effective back to school marketing campaigns is becoming increasingly difficult: consumer behavior is less predictable, decision-making cycles have shortened, and planning requires more flexibility.
Nevertheless, going back to school is an essential moment, both emotionally and commercially. For brands, it is an opportunity to increase sales, strengthen loyalty, update personalized communication, and effectively use seasonal demand.
To achieve results, businesses need to go beyond creativity for the sake of creativity. The focus should be on real customer touchpoints, solving applied problems, and creating tangible value.
In this article, we’ll examine how to effectively create and adapt back to school marketing campaigns in 2025, considering the current consumer context, ongoing marketing trends, and the challenges businesses face in an unstable environment.
What is back to school?
Back to school refers to the period leading up to the start of the academic year, when students, parents, and educators actively prepare for the new school season. Businesses launch targeted campaigns to capture attention and boost sales. This season typically runs from late July through early September.
It’s important to understand that back to school marketing campaigns (BTS) go far beyond school supplies and textbooks. The season also includes categories like bedding, furniture, and even kitchenware. For example, students moving into dorms may need a complete set of personal bedding and accessories to equip their new living space. This also extends to tech essentials that support remote learning, such as tablets, laptops, and Wi-Fi routers.
Back to School Trends in 2025
Back to school season in 2025 is not just an opportunity for brands but a serious challenge that requires a strategic approach. We have prepared several tips and trends that define the back to school season today, and how to get into the wish list of a modern schoolchild and student:
1. Not Just Sales, But Emotional Communication
People are tired of aggressive marketing. Instead, use a tone of care and understanding. Rather than pushy messages like, “School is coming soon, so you need to buy everything!” try softer, more helpful approaches such as “How to prepare calmly” or “How to save money without sacrificing quality.” At the same time, don’t forget to analyze your competitors—after all, the goal is still to sell effectively, not just to sympathize.
2. Focus on Basic Needs
When creating an offer, it’s essential to focus on the needs customers are most likely looking to fulfill. Adding practical, functional products to your marketing campaign can significantly increase the purchase chances. Brands should emphasize items that make everyday life easier—affordable, versatile products like geographic atlas sets, art supplies, and similar essentials. Today’s consumers are focused on buying smarter and avoiding unnecessary purchases, and that mindset should guide your assortment planning and communication strategies.
3. Flexible Payment Terms and Favorable Discounts
Many consumers value the opportunity to save money, so including attractive discounts in back to school marketing campaigns is an effective tool. In addition, offering flexible payment options, such as installments or deferred payments, is becoming a significant advantage. This helps reduce the financial burden on customers and increases their brand loyalty.
4. Social Responsibility
Modern consumers value brands that actively support social initiatives and demonstrate societal responsibility. Ignoring pressing social issues can lead to losing trust and loyalty from your audience. Include transparent support mechanisms in your back to school marketing campaigns and strategies, such as “10% of each purchase goes to social projects” or “part of the profits go to educational programs.” This approach strengthens the connection with customers and increases brand reputation.
5. Tailored Campaigns for Different Regions
In large countries, regions may perceive the same messages differently or ignore them altogether. It is essential to realize that the audience’s needs, financial capabilities, and emotional state can vary significantly from region to region. We recommend in-depth analysis of consumer behavior and conducting surveys to tailor messages to specific conditions: one strategy may be needed for some areas, while others may require a completely different one.
6. Useful Content in Campaigns
Content that helps families prepare for school innovatively, inexpensively, and panic-free can be a good advertising feature. Educational content, guides, checklists, and advice from psychologists or teachers work better than banners and slogans. This greatly increases the chances of gaining loyalty and organic reach.
7. Mobile-First is Not a Trend But a Standard
More than half of online purchases today are made on smartphones, and this share is growing. This means mobile convenience is an advantage and a prerequisite for a successful back to school marketing campaign. Responsive design, intuitive navigation, fast and convenient payment methods, and easy checkout all directly influence the purchase decision. Keep it simple—shorten the path to the cart.
Back to School 2025: 6 Ways to Win the Season (Not Just Survive It)
Yespo has prepared six strategically essential tips to ensure that the back to school marketing campaign in 2025 “happens” and yields maximum results.
1. Start a Company Early
Start “warming up” your audience in the middle of summer with reminders that they need to get ready for school. Interestingly, 44% of respondents said that in 2025, they will start shopping for school even earlier than July.
Don’t miss the opportunity to be the first to communicate with your audience—tips, products, announcements—choose what’s in your brand’s style. However, leave room to quickly adapt the format of your campaigns, as the market situation, educational formats, and customer preferences can change rapidly. Consider the possibility of hybrid or distance learning, the growing demand for digital goods, individual school schedules, or local peculiarities—all affect when and how people buy.
2. Segment the Audience
Segment your offers based on geography, age group, budget, learning format, and more. It’s also worth tailoring your approach to different household scenarios—such as families preparing a child for their first year of school or students heading off to college—as well as to audiences with specific values, like those who prioritize eco-friendly products or prefer purpose-driven brands.
Invest in building rich, multidimensional customer profiles to make this targeting effective. The more you know about your audience, the more relevant and personalized your back to school marketing campaigns can be.
3. Work With Influencers and UGC
Nowadays, consumer trust in influencer content remains remarkably high, making it a powerful vehicle for back to school marketing campaigns. According to IZEA, 77% of consumers prefer influencer-generated content over traditional ads, and 85% trust influencers more than celebrities.
Influencer marketing doesn’t just win attention—it converts:
- 86% of consumers make a purchase inspired by an influencer at least once a year;
- 64% say genuine reviews compel them, while 55% respond to discount codes.
To leverage this effectively, partner with authentic voices, such as parenting bloggers, education content creators, or teachers. Invite them to share genuine stories and visuals featuring your products in real back-to-school moments.
4. Make Digital Work with Strategy, Not Randomness
Targeted advertising, TikTok content, mobile marketing, guides on Instagram or X, and collaboration with parental influencers are essential to “launch” and constantly stay in touch with the audience in their preferred channels.
5. Build brand trust
During the back to school season, customers especially value stability, clear processes, and a pleasant experience. Provide a convenient and predictable ordering process: from simple checkout to fast replacements, clear return policies, and customer support that really helps.
Instead of aggressive discounts, choose communication that focuses on smart choices: “not the cheapest—the best for the price”, “investment in quality”, or “you pay once—you use it for a long time”.
6. Give some humor
This is a great idea to draw attention to your slogan and keep it memorable. Ads like “You will get the goods you need even if a meteorite hits us” are eligible for testing.
Examples of Back to School Campaigns in Ecommerce
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Target Helps Parents Get to Know Their Children’s Needs
Target presented a series of ads where children humorously tell their parents what they really need for back to school. The bright colors and live production created an emotional yet unobtrusive feel of a “classic” BTS campaign.
1. Amazon Suggests Spend Less on Your Kids
A humorous series of ads featuring actress Michelle Buteau, ironically about how “expensive children's stuff is” but how easy it is to save money with Amazon. Back to school birthday was presented through daily stories and familiar images.
2. DoorDash Launched Back‑to‑School Hub
DoorDash presented a platform where you could buy absolutely any school supplies. The campaign’s specialty was that the company guaranteed order delivery in an hour, hitting the nail on the head for parents balancing preparation and time with their children.
3. Walmart Decoded a School Style
The funny campaign grabbed 2.5 million views. It brings the classic school hallway vibe to life, capturing the authentic “corridor fashion” with fresh energy. Thanks to high production quality and a clever take on familiar school moments, Walmart successfully revitalized the back-to-school ad format.
4. Staples Canada updates its brand for Back to School
In 2025, Staples Canada unveiled an updated Back to School campaign under the slogan “From AI to A+ Style,” combining technological innovation with students’ individual styles. The campaign is focused on the modern needs of parents and students, offering solutions that simplify the preparation for the school year.
Key elements of the campaign:
- Pep Rally collection: an exclusive line of backpacks, lunch bags, and other accessories with new designs.
- Technological solutions: Staples offers a wide range of AI-enabled devices.
- Electronics exchange program: in partnership with Allstate Protection Plans, Staples launches a program to exchange old electronics for Staples electronic gift cards.
- Discounts and financing: the Red Dot Savings program offers weekly discounts on basic school supplies, both in-store and online.
Back to School Marketing With Yespo
To create a successful back to school marketing campaign, a marketer usually has to connect many tools, including the help of developers. But on the Yespo platform, you will find everything in one place.
To communicate effectively in emails and beyond:
- create emails based on a template or your own creative design, add GIFs, and test subject lines to maximize your bottom line;
- create gamification and AMP mechanics to maximize customer engagement and memorability;
- use omnichannel workflows to reach your audience in the most convenient way for them;
- segment your audience into convenient groups so that each customer receives a relevant message, not just mass messages;
- take care of filling in the client profile—this way, you will fully understand your potential buyer and know exactly what, how, and when they want to buy;
- choose personalized communication based on previous purchases, views of specific product categories in your app or website, etc.
>> Want to know how to make your promo emails work harder? Read our article on increasing sales with personalized product recommendations.>>
To turn your website into a serious sales tool:
- add widgets in 10 formats and test them directly in the system. It’s an effective way to boost sales, attract new customers, retain existing ones, and improve audience engagement;
>> Learn everything about widgets and how real brands use them successfully in our expert’s article.>>
- connect product recommendations, thereby increasing the likelihood of a purchase and increasing the average check;
- add App Inbox—it is much more convenient to notify authorized customers about new promotions and bonuses.
BTS Season 2025: It’s No Longer About Discounts—It’s About Strategy
Back to school prep in 2025 is no longer about last-minute discounts—it’s about strategic marketing. Today’s campaigns must reflect evolving consumer behavior: mobile-first shopping, hyper-online activity, and growing trust in influencers and user-generated content.
Parents are looking for simple, structured solutions—ready-to-buy kits, honest product reviews, and curated selections based on a child’s age and learning needs. With attention spans shorter than ever and competition fierce, brands must start early, segment their audiences clearly, use diverse content formats (from short emails to long-form content or blog posts), and test creatives in real time.
This all makes preparation more complex. Marketing teams must be agile and trend-savvy and capable of delivering ads and valuable, relevant content with straightforward utility. Juggling multiple tools for campaign creation, channel-specific messaging, external analytics, and email sends eats up precious time.
Save your team’s time and resources by managing your entire back to school marketing strategy in one system—Yespo. Our experts are here to help you find the right solution and implement it efficiently, from strategy to technical setup.