School’s out but for millions of parents, planning for the start of the 2023/2024 term is already underway. Our latest insight feature focuses on preparing for the return to education six weeks from now
The final day of school may be upon us but for millions of parents their thoughts are already turning to preparations for back to school. From clothing and stationary to technology and books, our premium publisher content is often a source of inspiration for guidance and advice.
More than 13 million online readers research relevant back to school goods in the lead up to the beginning of term time using Ozone’s premium publishers to fuel their research. As we have seen in previous years, while research remains high throughout August, purchase intent tends to be last minute for the majority of our back to school audience.
Audiences begin with our trusted sources before they complete transactions. We see this when comparing Ozone’s behavioural data with Google purchase intent search data. We can identify the key periods for brands to align with back to school audiences at the right moments in the lead up to the start of term.
Engagement with relevant back to school topics across Ozone’s publishers – including school clothing, supplies, books, electronics – is highest throughout August, with page views last year up +16% MoM.
Interest level do build gradually right up until the start of September, which is aligned with the exponential growth seen with the intent signals across Google, as see in the chart below. This suggests that while many people may begin their research and inspiration seeking as much as six weeks in advance, the consideration window for new purchases is short and the majority of purchases are fairly last minute.
Interest in new school supplies differs between categories in the lead up to the new school year. After a brief lull throughout July, interest in children’s clothing begins to increase gradually from mid-August. The first week of September then sees the greatest spike, with page views up 2.7 times week on week.
Engagement with children’s books builds slightly earlier than clothing, peaking throughout August before falling back down as September begins. Engagement in August is up by more than a quarter.
Interest in electronics, including laptops and tablets, grows exponentially throughout August and September, before dropping once the term begins. Electronics engagement in August increases by +45% month on month, with September increasing again by +31%.
As with children’s books, essential equipment, including key school supplies such as lunch boxes, is engaged with most highly throughout August. A peak in August is followed by a sharp decline as we move into September.
Reach the most relevant audiences with Ozone
To reach a back to school audience we recommend targeting all of the highly relevant editorial and readers looking for ideas and reviews of school supplies ahead of the start of term. Consider targeting online readers engaging with content topics including primary eduction, electronics, children’s equipment, school supplies, secondary education, children’s clothing, and children’s and school books.
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