Textbooks are So 21st Century! (Infographic)

According to the National Center for Educational Statistics, over 49.8 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools and a record 21.6 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities this fall.  As the mother of two kids in college, one a product design major and the other starting out in music tech, I’ve learned that it’s no longer the cost of textbooks that put fear in the eyes and checkbooks of parents and students around the country.  My daughter’s university issued all of the product design students an iPad this year and that means app purchases.  While my generation used to take the train into New York to buy and sell our textbooks at the only Barnes and Nobel location at the time, 21st century students sit down at their computers with a list of software they need for the coming school year.  Creative Suite and Microsoft office don’t come cheap, so what’s a parent to do especially in this economy?

Marci Hansen, Chief Marketing Officer of SheerID provided the following information and infographic that I hope will help students, parents, and professionals more aware of the purchasing power and marketing opportunity available this time of year!

Back-to-School Season is Upon Us

Marketing software to teachers and schools? That’s so two months ago. Every software retailer and reseller knows that August and September are the best time of year to sell software to college students. Ah yes, back-to-school season… How can you tell the season has shifted?

1. You can’t find the laundry detergent at the Big Box store because they moved it all into the seasonal “dorm supplies” aisle.

2. There is no parking within a 5 mile radius of any college campus, but there’s a pile of futons and milk crates stacked in the no parking zones.

3. If you head away from campus, mini-vans and U-Hauls keep swerving into your lane as teary-eyed moms who just dropped off their co-eds burst into tears.

4. Student and academic software sales spike because graphic design students across the country just got their class supply lists.

Hopefully, you already know that you need to offer an academic discount on software to be competitive. If not, better luck next year. If so, I hope you already have a marketing plan in place to advertise your academic software. It turns out 66% of college students don’t even know they qualify for discounts on software. Maybe you’d better read this Infographic on “Selling Software to College Students”.