Four products your team needs for the midterms

Election seasons offer a significant opportunity for your organization to generate political advertising revenue and connect with your on-campus audience to help them make informed decisions at the polls. We recommend that your organization implement these four low-lift products in time for the peak election buying season to ensure that you have the highest opportunities for revenue and visibility on campus. 

Email newsletters

Email newsletters are one of the most sought-after advertising products both locally and nationally. They serve as a powerful avenue to enhance your organization’s campus presence by communicating directly with your audiences in a personalized way, serving valuable content and relevant promotions straight to their inboxes. Think of email newsletters as a digital newspaper box — you're already creating 90% of the content, so it’s a new way of distributing on a channel you own. 

If you don’t have an email newsletter, consider adding one to your product offerings in the spring semester so that you can grow your subscriber base and optimize your newsletter before the fall semester begins. 

If you have a daily or weekly email newsletter and are in a key state, consider adding a themed newsletter focused on the upcoming elections. You can share election updates, key dates, voter registration details, and other local and national election coverage. A political newsletter is attractive for both national and local political advertisers. 

Read our guide on email newsletters here. 

Street team 

At their core, street teams are a high-impact, in-person advertising opportunity. All you need to get started is one or two reliable students to participate in the distribution of materials. (And some tape!)

Street teams usually take one of three formats:

• Passing out flyers hand-to-hand in high-traffic areas on campus like central quads, dining halls or main walkways.
• Hanging posters in high-visibility places like class buildings or residence halls.
• Handing out print editions or other items your student media office creates directly to students.

Encourage advertisers to provide the materials themselves, whether that looks like flyers, posters, stickers, coasters or a combination of many items. Some publishers may reserve designated space or tables on campus for street team activations, but this often isn’t necessary to get started.

Read our guide on street teams here. 

‍Special edition prints

Special print editions offer a different value proposition and added value from more regular print runs. These issues are not only for editorial impact, but also as major yearly revenue drivers that help your newsroom’s bottom line. For election seasons, consider adding a voter guide or election preview issue that specializes in your state and local elections to educate your audience on campus. 

Read our guide on special editions here. 

Out-of-Home

Out-of-home (or OOH) refers to the ad space you see out in public, like billboards, bus shelters, or the vinyl posters you often see lining fences or buildings in a city. 

Within the context of student media, out-of-home typically refers to the ad space on your newsracks, which includes:

• Indoor racks
• Outdoor racks
• Digital screens (referred to as DOOH)
  
  • This could be digital racks or other screens in high-traffic areas that your organization has permission/access to for advertising placements.

While most advertising takes place where we expect it — on our phones through social media, on a website, or in promotional emails or texts — the physical aspect of OOH offers a unique opportunity for high-visibility marketing on your campus. All you need is newsracks with advertising space to get started! Learn more about our Flytedesk Newsrack Initiative to get free newsracks sent to your campus. 

Read our guide on OOH here. 

What’s next

Take a look at your media kit and evaluate what products your team is missing out on. Our team is here to support you in your inventory development! Reach out to your flytedesk account manager today for additional help getting started.