If you were planning to postpone your back-to-school marketing activation until August, we’ve got news for you.
In 2025, 67% of consumers had started their back-to-school shopping as of early July, up from 55% in 2023 and 2024, according to research from the National Retail Federation (NRF). 82% of consumers planned to shop in July to take advantage of sales on items for the upcoming school year.
The survey also found that shoppers get a head start in the summer, but still have at least half of their purchases left to make through the start of the school year. Between K–12 and college shoppers, consumers budgeted $128.2 billion for electronics, clothing, shoes, and school supplies.
That means there’s a huge opportunity for brands to drive back-to-school sales in July–September. Whether your brand fits neatly into the back-to-school category or not, these 7 marketing strategies and ideas can help you have your best Q3 yet.
1. Share a back-to-school quiz to learn more about your customers
According to Klaviyo’s 2025 Future of Consumer Marketing Report, 74% of consumers expect personalized brand experiences. But personalizing thousands or even millions of brand interactions across multiple channels is no easy task.
Gathering zero- and first-party data from subscribers is how you can create these experiences at scale. For back-to-school and other holiday campaigns, you can even use the data-gathering process to build buzz for different types of offers.
Once a customer takes a quiz, makes a purchase, favorites an item in their self-serve customer portal, or browses a specific category, you can use that data to tailor future marketing campaigns and flows with content like personalized recommendations.
For example, you might build a custom web form with a quiz that asks highly engaged subscribers questions like what subjects they teach, what grade their kids are in, or what their major is. Hint that you have something special coming for them in the following weeks. When you launch your back-to-school campaign, personalize it based on the quiz results to make different audience segments feel seen.
Back-to-school marketing example: Little Sleepies asks what type of “little learner” their customers are shopping for
Subject line: Let’s Find Their School Style 🔍💫
Every kid has a unique style, and sleepwear brand Little Sleepies has hundreds of styles for every personality, including patterns with animals, sports, sweets, seasonal prints, and more. In this back-to-school marketing example, they encourage their audience of parents to find their child’s “classroom personality.”
Source: Milled
Little Sleepies includes a shopping CTA in their email, but they could also link subscribers to an on-site quiz that doubles as a data collection engine. Parents could answer a few questions that tell them which “classroom personality” aligns with their child, then shop accordingly.
If a customer identifies that they’re shopping for a sporty 8-year-old and a 3-year-old who loves space, for example, the brand might automatically send them a low-stock text message when a basketball hoodie is on final sale and available in their 8-year-old’s size, or send an email campaign when a new planet-themed collection drops.
2. Generate a back-to-school launch with themed product images
As a marketing team, you may not have the images you need for every seasonal promotion or holiday. Using an AI image editor, you can take your existing product photography and remix it to create new on-brand images for different launches, like adding school supplies around your product or showing your gear inside a locker or classroom.
Once you have the remixed image, you can share it with an AI marketing agent and ask it to use the image to draft messages. Then, the AI agent will build out a full cross-channel back-to-school marketing campaign based on your creative.
Back-to-school marketing example: Cabaia shows off their backpacks in a scholarly scene
Subject line: Your Back to School Offer 🎁
In this back-to-school marketing example, luggage brand Cabaia shows off their chic backpacks in the context of a back-to-school scene. The email shares a GIF rotating through different backpack and pencil case options, and includes a promotion to get 30% off an accessory from their back-to-school selection with the purchase of a backpack.
Source: Milled
Using an AI image editor, Cabaia could show their backpacks in different environments with prompts like:
- Place the backpack in a locker with a mirror and some magnets.
- Show a college-aged student wearing the backpack on campus.
- Swap out the desk in the original image for a kitchen table with packed snacks next to the backpack.
3. Offer live support for back-to-school shoppers who have questions
Back-to-school season is a challenging time for parents, caregivers, and students. It’s busy and people are trying to enjoy the last few weeks of their time off while getting prepared for the new school year ahead.
By adding an AI customer agent to your website that’s trained on your product catalog and real-time customer data, you can offer live customer support while people are shopping at any time of the day. As parents, caregivers, students, and teachers shop, the AI agent helps with questions like “Where’s my order?” or “What’s your return policy?” or “How does the sizing usually work for this item?”
Back-to-school marketing example: Olive & June provides free 1:1 support consultations
Subject line: Welcome Back to Olive University
Olive & June has a popular line of press-on nails, among other nail products. In this back-to-school marketing example, they advertise a “Free 1:1 consultation” to support their customers in finding the right products and getting the most out of their purchase.
Source: Milled
If you have the customer service headcount to offer 1:1 consultations like Olive & June, more power to you. If not, offering autonomous support with an AI customer agent can take the pressure off your human support team while giving your customers access to personalized service, 24/7/365.
In your back-to-school marketing campaign, remind your customers in your marketing messages that they can chat with your support team, AI or human, on your website or via text message, email, or WhatsApp.
4. Bring social audiences into your CRM and gain insights on your followers
Many brands have a strong presence on social media and an engaged audience that’s highly valuable to them, but they end up spending too much time interacting manually through DMs and comments.
To manage social media along with the rest of your brand channels, like email and text messaging, and gain new insights on your followers, bring social media subscribers into your CRM by:
- Converting social interactions like Instagram DMs, comments, and tags directly into email, text message, and WhatsApp subscribers
- Automatically bringing social media data into your customer profiles with a B2C CRM
- Understanding your top social advocates at a glance with metrics like comments, likes, and reach tied directly to follower profiles
Back-to-school marketing example: EZ Bombs grows ecommerce revenue with social media integrations
Seasoning brand EZ Bombs has a strong social media presence that heavily features their founder, Tina Castaneda, in videos to 300,000 TikTok followers. To appeal to busy families, they posted this back-to-school marketing video with a voiceover about how their products can help during the chaos of the season and lazy dinner nights.
Source: TikTok
While this promotion points to TikTok Shop, EZ Bombs also connects their social audience with their direct brand channels. They sync existing subscriber segments from their CRM to TikTok Audiences for exclusions and retargeting, and use the TikTok Lead Ads integration to personalize customer journeys in their CRM.
EZ Bombs uses the two-way connection between TikTok and their CRM to:
- Run more precise awareness campaigns in TikTok that exclude prior TikTok Shop purchasers, Shopify buyers, and customers who purchased in retail stories.
- Segment TikTok sign-ups based on the messaging that drew them in, and personalize the lifecycle journey accordingly.
- Understand click and revenue data to guide messaging across their website, paid media, and organic social.
After investing in the CRM-TikTok connection, the EZ Bombs team saw 27% YoY growth in total ecommerce revenue in 2025 and a 22% YoY decrease in TikTok cost per lead.
5. Partner with influencers or creators to source content for your marketing
A report from GRIN found that 3 out of 4 consumers have bought a product because an influencer recommended it.
Paid user-generated content (UGC) creators produce authentic content for your brand to use on your own platforms, helping you connect with your existing audience. Influencers, on the other hand, create content to promote on their own channels, introducing your brand to new customers who already trust them but may not yet know you.
To gather UGC content, you can either pay for posts from UGC creators, or encourage your followers to tag you in their posts, then request permission to share them.
To get started with influencers, use an influencer marketing database (or send DMs) to find individuals whose audience aligns with yours, and work with them to create content and promote your products to their followers.
Back-to-school marketing example: POPFLEX surprises a teacher with a back-to-school gift
Activewear brand POPFLEX shared a box of back-to-school essentials with a teacher who had an engaged following on Instagram. In this Instagram Reel, the teacher shows off all the items and thanks the brand for the gift.
This UGC post is a great example of how brands can show real people using their products in an organic way, and appeal to new, related audiences. In this example, this teacher likely has a cohort of other teachers looking for comfortable clothes to wear in the classroom or at home.
Source: Instagram
Once you start growing your UGC program, you can use a B2C CRM to:
- Consolidate your UGC, advocacy, and engagement data in one place.
- Automatically respond to those who post with a thank-you note or promo code using automated messages.
- Review UGC sentiment insights.
6. Show your school spirit using vibe marketing
Back-to-school marketing isn’t just for grade school and high school. College students and alumni are excited about the return to school, have their own money to spend, and have major school pride.
Start by identifying the students or alumni in your audience by creating a quiz on your website, or sending a survey via email or text. You could also create a location-based segment for those who live in college towns. Then, show your school spirit to those segments by:
- Sending themed marketing promotions that align with popular school colors or mascots
- Sharing game-day collections with items for tailgating, hosting watch parties, or wearing at games
- Featuring products that are popular with students, or UGC from students
Back-to-school marketing example: Dollar Shave Club connects with college students by sharing in their school pride
Subject line: Save on College Starter Sets 🏈
Grooming brand Dollar Shave Club created a whole line of products specifically geared toward college students. In this email promoting the collection, they include a rotating GIF of different razor options to speak to their shoppers from different schools, alongside sports-themed messaging and visuals.
Source: Milled
Like Dollar Shave Club’s personalized example, you can create different versions of your back-to-school or college game day promotions for different audience segments. With “vibe marketing,” you can prompt an AI marketing agent to quickly launch a college-themed promotion tailored to each audience segment. Here’s how it might look in practice:
- Describe the outcome you want, like “We want a marketing campaign that references college sports games for our student and alumni customers. Use different versions of the message for students and alumni. The tone should be optimistic and fresh, and it should include sports references. It should cover email, text messages, and WhatsApp. Include product recommendations for game days.”
- The AI marketing agent defines the audiences, drafts and designs the content, and stages the timing, all following your brand guidelines and guardrails.
- You refine the creative and launch the activation.
7. Segment your back-to-school audience based on product interest
We’ve covered demographic segmentation, like personalizing messaging based on what grade kids are in or whether someone is likely to have school spirit. But if you sell multiple products that cater to back-to-school needs, you can also turn to your customer data to find out which subscribers are browsing and buying those products.
To start behavioral segmentation for back-to-school season, identify which products solve problems related to going back to school. Then, create product-specific segments for:
- Product browsers: people who visited product pages a certain number of times within the last 3 months
- Cart abandoners: people who placed items in an online cart but didn’t complete the purchase
- Discount shoppers: people who bought only after receiving previous offers
- High-value customers: people who spend the most with your brand
Once you’ve segmented your subscriber base and tested your back-to-school offers, use AI-powered product recommendations to increase conversions and average order value after the back-to-school season to help meet your Q4 revenue targets.
Back-to-school marketing example: Brodo targets parents with easy back-to-school recipes
Subject line: A fun back-to-school recipe
Bone broth company Brodo sent this back-to-school marketing email with recipes for busy parents. The message speaks to the importance of nutritious meals for little ones, includes a link to a specific recipe for pastina in Brodo broth, and reassures readers that other parents have found these recipes simple and nutritious.
This email works because it’s directly catering to an audience of caregivers and parents. But it might not land with people who don’t take care of kids. Brodo could segment parents or caregivers by using customer profile data from previous browsing, purchasing, and engagement activity, like buying family-themed bundles or opening messages about family-sized recipes.
Source: Milled
Build personalized brand experiences with Klaviyo B2C CRM
Your back-to-school marketing is only as effective as the customer data you’re drawing from. When you can send relevant offers from the same platform that updates customer profiles in real time as they interact with your brand, you’re cutting hours of manual work that can’t scale to keep up with consumer expectations.
Klaviyo, the autonomous B2C CRM, makes it easy to send hyper-personalized campaigns that reflect real customer interactions with your brand.
As a data platform with email and text message automation, customer service, and analytics under one roof, Klaviyo B2C CRM is making it possible for brands to scale personalization for thousands or even millions of customers.
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