Students Shouldn’t Be Your Target Market

At first glance, college students may seem like a perfect target audience. They’re trendy! They love social media! They travel in herds! While these things are true, college students have a lot working against them. They’re broke. They’re busy. They’ll graduate in (about) four years. But more than anything, they’re fickle. 

We’re located in Columbia, Missouri, one of the country’s best college towns. We have three universities within a mile of our office. We benefit from being part of a thriving college town, and we regularly work with the creative college students in our community. While we love interacting with students, we would never recommend businesses to rely on them. Unless your business is a bar. 

Students are fickle 

College students are not reliable or loyal. Their interests are constantly changing, and they will bounce from place to place accordingly. What’s cool one semester may be totally forgotten the next. This is the downfall of targeting a market that is “trendy” to the core. 

We see this play out every year with boutiques in town. Targeting college students seems like a natural fit for a clothing shop, right? With thousands of 18-22 year-olds in town, you’d think these boutiques would make a killing, especially because they seem to do everything right. They have beautiful inventory, on-brand interiors and well-planned Instagram accounts. But in reality, they rarely last. 

The problem is that, while there are thousands of young women in town, they don’t show up. Their styles and shopping habits are changing so often that they don’t build relationships with these boutiques. This leaves shops with no customers, no cash, and no choice but to close their doors.

You may think, can’t these shops change with the college students? Well, trying to keep up with their revolving tastes would give any business owner whiplash. Plus, consistency is important when building a brand. If your messaging is changing from semester to semester, you won’t have a strong brand identity. That’s dangerous territory for small businesses to be in. And logistically, it would be expensive to transform your business so often. It’s not sustainable. 

Students are broke 

Most of us are aware of our country’s $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. That breaks down to an average student loan debt of more than $35,000. And of course, students are in the midst of these loans while in school. While many are working part-time jobs, they aren’t exactly rolling in the dough. Sure, they can scrap together $10 for cheap well drinks at a local bar, but splurging on clothes, home goods and even expensive food may be out of reach. 

Yes, there are always going to be students who come from wealthy backgrounds, who do have disposable income of their own. But the student debt crisis shows that this is the exception, not the norm. Counting on students to spend cash at your business is a gamble that often times does not pay off. 

Students leave

College students typically have a finite amount of time in their college towns. Once they graduate, they move around. Sure, some do stick around. But at that point, they’ve aged out of your target market at the ripe age of 22. There’s little chance that you’ll get more than four years with even your most loyal customer. 

Who should you target instead?

We’re not saying that you shouldn’t open a business in a college town. In fact, the opposite is true! Living around a university brings energy and progress to an area, and it provides unique business opportunities. But instead of relying on students to keep your business afloat, target young professionals. 

Students aren’t the only 20-somethings in a college town. There is likely a fair amount of post grads who are living and working nearby. University departments, hospitals, and other local businesses tend to employ a fairly young demographic. Tap into this market instead, which is often desperate to differentiate itself from the undergrad population. Our employees are young professionals, and they rarely visit their undergrad favorites. Instead, they opt for slightly nicer spots that cater to their current needs.

Targeting young professionals doesn’t mean that students won’t come. If your product is good, they may still show up! But the difference here is that you’re not relying on them to keep your business afloat. 

An added bonus to targeting young professionals? They probably have more cash. 

It’s okay to pivot your business if something isn’t working. If your target audience isn’t showing up, drop us a line. We’d love to help you find a solution.