Students are highly active in markets including travel, entertainment, food and snacks, alcohol, technology, fashion and cosmetics.

Engaging them as they arrive at university is considered to be a smart way of ensuring their future interest in your brand.

But too often brands fail to get good value from their freshers marketing activity. 69% of students remembered fewer than three companies that attended their freshers fair (The Student Market, YouGov 2010).

The Beans Group have put together an objective guide to making an impact this freshers. It’s based on the opinions and experiences of numerous specialists.

The key themes are:

• You cannot rely on freshers fairs alone if you want to achieve a meaningful long term engagement with students;
• Careful distribution of budget is needed to make freshers a success;
• If giving out a freebie, make it genuinely fun or very useful. A branded mousemat will only damage the impression you hope to make;
• Be relevant, convenient and true to your brand to make your message effective;
• Craft an integrated campaign with activities that work in harmony to keep your brand visible.

To read the full report, download Better freshers marketing: make a bigger impact with new students.