Article by Ashleigh Waters, Senior Account Manager, Webgains.

With Gen Z consumers making up 29% of the global population, working with a closed group publisher – specifically in this case a Student Partner – is a great way to target this significant demographic. 

That being said, simply onboarding a Student Partner is not the best way to get in front of their members. There are great opportunities available to brands wanting to target students and having a strategy based around the student calendar for this is key. 

As we approach Freshers period in the UK, now is the best possible time to get a partnership off the ground and maximise the exposure while members have the most disposable income. 

What is a Closed Group Publisher? 

A closed group publisher is a type of affiliate that restricts its members to specific groups of individuals. For example, emergency workers, or as is the focus of this article, students. Merchant advertisers can work with closed groups to provide their memberships with exclusive and targeted offers. One such example where this was widely done, was for emergency workers throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Closed group publishers will typically require members to verify their status in order to join.

What are Student Partners? 

Student Partners are companies who offer a verification solution for people in education. Once verified, members are offered a discount with participating brands.  

Due to the spending power that a student loan can provide for many, the focus for Student Partners is primarily on university students. However, it is also common for them to verify those in higher education, apprentices and those who have recently graduated too.

How do Student Partners work?

• Verification can be based on active university email addresses, acceptance letters and student cards. 
• Discounts are offered on the sites and apps of the Student Partners but are set by the brands involved. 
• In most cases, both the Student Partner and the brands advertise the discount in their marketing. 

Why work with a Student Partner?

• 91% of Students will buy a discounted product over a similar one full price. 
• 97% of Students check for a discount when shopping. 
• 60% of Student spending is on discretionary items. 
• Offering a Student Discount can increase Student visits by 21%. 
• Offering a Student Discount can grow Student AOV by 17%. 

All stats provided by Voxburner. 

97% of Students check for a discount when shopping

Best practices for working with Student Partners

• Set aside budget to tap into the Gen Z market to utilise the member base efficiently. 
• Take advantage of additional exposure opportunities during peak Student periods such as Freshers and Loan Drops, not just Q4. 
• Analyse performance of all additional exposure ensuring you focus budget in the more cost-effective areas. 
• Negotiate cost of exposure and offer CPA increases to bring upfront costs down. 
• Make sure you are asking about best performing placements specific to your brand or vertical before booking. 
• Utilise share of market data to make sure you stand out against competitors.
• Join an affiliate network to get access to multiple vetted Student Partners. If you did this through Webgains for example, you would also benefit from a range of other benefits such as robust tracking and analytics, account management and affiliate expertise, dedicated support and training, networking opportunities, global scalability, and much more.

Who are the top UK Student Partners?

UNiDAYS

UNiDAYS is the world’s largest Student Affinity Network. With over 20 million verified members across 114 markets, we take 800 of the biggest brands into the hearts and minds of tomorrow’s professionals. UNiDAYS supports, enables and inspires young people to be their best selves, powering next-gen learning, earning and retail experiences.

TOTUM

TOTUM is a verified member, closed group discount platform with an audience of 1.6 million UK students, apprentices and professionals. We provide diverse media and marketing solutions for brands by connecting them with our verified audiences.

Student Beans

Student Beans creates lasting relationships between Gen Z students and brands. Student Beans’ secure verification tech, verifies student status in more than 100 countries. Connecting over 163 million verified students with 1,000s of brands around the world – including GymShark, ASOS, Bose, Domino’s and Crocs.

gocertify

gocertify is a conversion-focused and cost-effective way to verify students, key workers, under-26s, over-60s, military and more for exclusive discounts. gocertify’s verification technology can be easily embedded onto a retailer’s website and perfectly align with their branding. With this, brands can deliver a smooth and streamlined experience for the customer.

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If you would like to learn more about Webgains or understand how we can help your brand grow through the affiliate channel via Student Partners, please get in touch – hello@webgains.com.