Back-to-School Marketing Strategies for Local Businesses in 2025

Back-to-school season is the second-largest consumer spending period of the year, trailing only the winter holidays. In 2025, families are projected to spend billions on everything from school supplies and clothing to technology, services, and experiences. And this is not just a retail opportunity. Virtually any local business can find a meaningful way to connect with the back-to-school audience.

Here are practical strategies that work for local businesses across different industries.

Identify Your Back-to-School Angle

Not every business sells backpacks and notebooks, and that is fine. The key is to find the connection between what you offer and what families need during this transition period.

Service businesses: Dentists, optometrists, and pediatricians can promote back-to-school checkups. Hair salons can market back-to-school haircuts. Tutoring centers and music schools can advertise fall enrollment.

Restaurants and food businesses: Promote family meal deals, quick weeknight dinner options, or lunchbox catering. Parents are busy during back-to-school season and are looking for easy meal solutions.

Fitness and wellness: Market youth sports programs, family fitness memberships, or stress-relief services for busy parents.

Professional services: Accountants and financial planners can offer education savings consultations. Insurance agents can review family policies as circumstances change.

Run a Time-Limited Promotion

Back-to-school marketing works best with urgency. Families are making purchasing decisions within a compressed timeframe, usually late July through mid-September. Create a promotion with a clear start and end date.

The most effective back-to-school promotions are specific and time-bound. "15% off all children's haircuts through August 31" outperforms "Back-to-school savings available now" because it creates urgency and clarity.

Examples that work well:

Buy one, get one deals tied to families (buy one adult service, get a child’s free)
Bundle pricing that packages related services together at a discount
First-time customer specials that use the seasonal transition as a reason to try something new
Referral bonuses that reward existing customers for bringing in friends during the busy season

Parents are active on social media, especially during the back-to-school planning phase. Focus your efforts on:

Facebook community groups: Many neighborhoods and school districts have active Facebook groups where local businesses can share relevant promotions (check group rules first).

Instagram Reels and Stories: Short, visual content showing your back-to-school offerings performs well. Behind-the-scenes content, quick tips, and customer testimonials work better than polished ads.

Nextdoor: This hyperlocal platform is increasingly popular for neighborhood-level business discovery. Post your back-to-school offerings and respond to relevant discussions.

Partner with Schools and Organizations

Build relationships with local schools, PTAs, youth sports leagues, and after-school programs. Sponsorship opportunities during back-to-school season are often affordable and put your business in front of exactly the right audience.

Consider donating supplies or services for school events, sponsoring a back-to-school night, or offering a discount for staff and teachers. These partnerships build goodwill and visibility that extends well beyond the promotion itself.

Optimize Your Online Presence

Make sure your Google Business Profile is updated with any back-to-school specials. Use Google Posts to highlight promotions, and add relevant photos. If you are running specials, update your website’s homepage to reflect them.

Follow Up After the Rush

The real value of back-to-school marketing is not just the immediate sales. It is the new customers you acquire. Make sure you have a system for capturing contact information from new customers and following up with them after their initial purchase.

A CRM like SMBcrm can help you track these new customer relationships, set follow-up reminders, and turn seasonal buyers into year-round customers. The back-to-school rush is a starting point, not the finish line.

Start Now

If you have not launched your back-to-school marketing yet, there is still time. Most families do their heaviest shopping in August, and many continue making purchases well into September. Pick one or two strategies from this list, execute them this week, and build on what works.