Back to School

Across the US, students start the school year anywhere from mid-July to mid-September. And with nearly half of parents of school-aged children in the US saying mobile devices help make them better consumers when making family purchases,1 the role of mobile during Back-to-School planning is bigger than ever. Keep reading for data and insights that can help you reach people during this important cultural moment.

The mobile factorFrom July through September, more than 91% of Back-to-School–related Facebook posts, photos and videos in the US were shared on mobile. That’s 10.5x the amount of conversations on desktop.

How people share on Facebook

Who’s talking about what

CASE STUDY

Learn how HP drove Back-to-School consideration with mobile video

Which topics dominated the Back-to-School conversation in the US

To boost awareness of a new product among typically hard-to-reach 14- to 18-year-olds, the technology giant ran mobile-optimized video ads that lifted the overall purchase consideration by 7 points.

See the full case study here.

What parents talked about during Back-to-School season in the US

When people shareOn Facebook and Instagram in the US, conversation about going back to school peaked on the third Monday in August.

3 steps to winning Back to School

Consumer Insights

Be a mobile asset to parents. Consider product reviews, offers and promotions and targeting tactics that

deliver a relevant message.

Join the visual conversation. Test and

iterate to optimize your campaign.

Be a student of data. Measure every stage of the consumer journey

across all channels.

91% Mobile9% Desktop

18-24years

JUL 1

JUL 1

JUL 1

JUL 1

JUL 1

JUL 5

JUL 5

JUL 5

JUL 5

JUL 5

JUL 9

JUL 9

JUL 9

JUL 9

JUL 9

JUL 13

JUL 13

JUL 13

JUL 13

JUL 13

JUL 17

JUL 17

JUL 17

JUL 17

JUL 17

JUL 21

JUL 21

JUL 21

JUL 21

JUL 21

JUL 25

JUL 25

JUL 25

JUL 25

JUL 25

JUL 30

JUL 30

JUL 30

JUL 30

JUL 30

AUG 3

AUG 3

AUG 3

AUG 3

AUG 3

AUG 7

AUG 7

AUG 7

AUG 7

AUG 7

AUG 11

AUG 11

AUG 11

AUG 11

AUG 11

AUG 15

AUG 15

AUG 15

AUG 15

AUG 15

AUG 19

AUG 19

AUG 19

AUG 19

AUG 19

AUG 23

AUG 23

AUG 23

AUG 23

AUG 23

AUG 27

AUG 27

AUG 27

AUG 27

AUG 27

AUG 31

AUG 31

AUG 31

AUG 31

AUG 31

SEP 4

SEP 4

SEP 4

SEP 4

SEP 4

SEP 8

SEP 8

SEP 8

SEP 8

SEP 8

25-34years

35-49years

50-69years

US Hispanic

Generalpopulation

African American

Facebook

Photos

Instagram

Text Posts

Videos

Women shared on mobile

71% more than men*

Younger people share

more on mobile*

Women are

12.46x more likely

to post on mobile than on desktop

94.7% 94.2% 91.9%

81.3%

Mobile means local. With mobile playing such a big role in Back-to-School engagement, geographic and culturally relevant targeting is key to winning consideration and driving people in-store. Remember to optimize your message for feed to capture attention and encourage action.

TAKEAWAY

Facebook conversations about Shopping and Apparel and Accessories peaked on Saturdays throughout July

and August.

SHOPPING PLANNING TECHNOLOGY RETAILERSConversations about Planning peaked in early July on both

Facebook and Instagram with more attention throughout

August on Instagram.

Conversations about Technology peaked after Labor

Day on Facebook and in late August on Instagram.

Conversations about ecommerce retailers saw an isolated jump in

mid-July on Facebook and peaked in early July and late August

on Instagram.

Back to School: Directly related to going back to school, the first day of school and school grades.

Planning: Related to getting ready to go back to school, preparation and organizing for the moment.

Pride and Affection: Related to love and positive emotions for children and other family members.

Transitions: Related to the change of seasons, thinking ahead or reminiscing and new beginnings or endings.

Technology: Consumer technology brands and products and telecom brands.

Multichannel and ecommerce retailers: The brands themselves.

Kids out of the house: Related to parental emotions after the kids are back to school, including activities like leisure time, exercise and self-care.

1. “Meet the Parents” by Ipsos Media CT (a Facebook-commissioned online study of self-identified parents ages 25–65 in AU, BR, CA, DE, ES, MX, UK and US), Mar–Apr 2015. The study included 1,000 respondents per market. Participants were split evenly by gender then divided into 4 groups: new parents (expecting a

child or with a child under age 1); parents of young kids (ages 1–5); parents of school-age children (ages 6–12); and parents of teens (ages 13–17).

2. Facebook data, US only, 18+, Dec 2016–Jan 2017.

Source unless otherwise specified: Facebook data, US only, 18+, Jul–Sep 2016.

CONTACT

Contact your Facebook or Instagram partner to plan for 2017. Visit insights.fb.com for more insights and solutions.

DEFINITIONS AND SOURCES

* Comparisons proportionate to each audience’s overall conversation

Topic definitions

Sources

Video posts in the US saw spikes on Mondays throughout the Back-to-School season, particularly in late August and early September.

Parents

The way we communicate and get inspired for our next purchase is now visual. With a high volume of Back-to-School–related videos uploaded on Mondays throughout the season, consider visual storytelling formats like video and carousel ads to tap into moments like the first day of school or first days back.

Emotions matter during Back-to-School season. Across the board on both Facebook and Instagram, people talked the most about emotional topics like Pride and Affection, Transitions and Planning. Consider tailoring your message based on the topics that rise to the top on each platform, like the kids being out of the house on Facebook and Apparel and Accessories on Instagram.

Measuring accurately across channels and devices informs effective campaigns, especially when it leads to a greater understanding of people and what they care about. Because parents in the US are particularly likely to move from device to device when accessing Facebook, implementing people-first measurement tactics is crucial to winning the Back-to-School season.

Consider consumer planning. For example, shopping or Back-to-School planning messages may resonate with people on Facebook during weekends in July and August. And think about leveraging offers on Instagram to reach people where they talk about planning at a higher volume later in the season.

TAKEAWAY

TAKEAWAY

TAKEAWAY

TAKEAWAY

Strategic Planning

Be a Mobile Asset to Parents

Be a student of data

Join the visual conversation

Mobile guides our shopping journey, whether we are at the store or on the couch. For parents in particular, the Back-to-School season is an opportunity to drive action using mobile.

For more on parents, check out our global “Meet the Parents” study.

Assess the true value of your campaigns on all channels.

Learn more about people-based measurement.

Reach people with creative that resonates during an emotional season.

Start building in Facebook’s Creative Hub.

1

2

3

PLANNING

PRIDE AND AFFECTION

TRANSITIONS

KIDS OUT OF THE HOUSE

SHOPPING

BACK TO SCHOOL

TECHNOLOGY

APPAREL AND ACCESSORIES

MULTI-CHANNEL RETAILERS

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM

23%

20%

16%

19%

9%

10%

6%

5%

11%

3%

2%

17%

16%

12%

9%

8%

7%

5%

2%

1%

more than moms* more than dads*

Dads talked about Moms talked about

Transitions Pride and Affection

Kids out of the houseShopping

Technology Pride and Affection

33% 26%22% 28%

40% 23%

People in the African American and US Hispanic affinity

segments on Facebook shared more on mobile than the

general population, 67% and 55% more respectively*

Parents of school-aged children in the US are 14% more likely

to use multiple devices to access Facebook compared to the

general population2

SEP 12

SEP 12

SEP 12

SEP 12

SEP 12

Men are

7.27x more likely

to post on mobile than on desktop

16.5x

more mobile

17.7x

more mobile

Navigate consumer planning and the first-day-of-school calendar across the country using insights and targeting.

Create experiences that tap into the visual language of mobile, using formats like video, carousel or Canvas to communicate ideas and emotions fast and effectively.

Measure real business outcomes, like brand awareness or sales, across the consumer journey.

Consider product reviews to help parents make quick and informed decisions.

Optimize integrated campaign assets— like TV spots—for feed to extend the life of your creative and resonate with people on mobile.

Measure incremental lift and attribution to understand how much additional business you generated with your ad campaign.

Encourage action with offers and rewards that match emotions based on when and where parents are shopping.

Measure across devices, channels and publishers.

10.5x

more mobile

Reaching people in the US on Facebook and Instagram