Investing in Student Groups for Lifetime Value
How student groups and organizations can benefit from each other.
If we take the number of events and initiatives that are organized in post-secondary educational institutions, we would see that at least 30% are conducted by students groups (SGs). Depending on the size of the student body and its culture, that percentage can skyrocket.
With the average person spending between 5.6 and 8.8 years to complete their post-secondary education, students get exposed to various different messages and influences that will help mold their behavior and consumption. Many of them coming from student groups.
According to Salesforce, it takes approximately 6 to 8 touchpoints to generate a viable sales lead. Student groups are in a position to easily help companies get the touchpoints they need.
Let’s take the fictitious beverage company called Beverage X that partners with fictitious Student Group Y (SGY). SGY hosts a bi-weekly social event that draws 50 to 100 people. With the partnership between both organizations, Beverage X is able to offer its products for free to the attendees of the event. Within 2–3 months, Beverage X has created enough touchpoints with the event attendees that when individuals are craving a beverage, they will think of Beverage X’s products. The individuals are likely to purchase the product because of how often they were exposed to it. If Beverage X continues to support SGY, the individuals are more likely to remain loyal to Beverage X throughout the completion of their degree and after. As their purchase frequency grows, so does their lifetime value.
In the example above, I only mentioned free product. However, the investment can take multiple forms. For example, it can be monetary which would allow the student group to rent a larger venue. It can also be in the form of knowledge, for example operations and logistics planning, which could be applied to ensure proper execution and a better experience for guests.
Like any strategy, a proper understanding of the environment, the risks, and how to properly accomplish them are vital to success.
If companies adopted a more comprehensive investment approach, in other words, by investing time, money, product, and expertise, the benefits and long-term value would multiply for all parties.
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Evan is the co-founder and Head of Strategy of FortyOneFive, a student market research and consulting firm and the only company to specialize in the understanding of student leaders.
Evan is also the co-founder and Head of Strategy of Playground, a design- and data-driven agency.
