20 ideas for last-minute yearbook sales

Each unsold yearbook represents a missed opportunity for students to have a record of their memories from the school year and possibly is a financial burden for the school.  There’s also the potential for frustration among the yearbook staff: it can be disheartening to see our efforts go unrewarded and their expectations unmet. It’s the final stretch, so we have last-minute yearbook sales ideas. Let’s turn things around together. 

We interrupt this blog to remind you if you’re a Treering adviser, sales quotas don’t matter. We only print and ship what you pre-sell. And if someone wants to order a yearbook later, they can do that too.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.

Flash Sales

FOMO is real. It’s one part urgency, it’s one part excitement. A brief, pervasive push for last-minute yearbook sales has a clear call to action: buy now. Here are four campaigns to jump-start the year-end push.

• Offer a limited-time incentive for students who purchase their yearbooks within the next week. This could be as simple as a popsicle party or an extra 10 minutes of recess for classes with the most participation.
• Create a countdown timer on your school's website or social media platforms to create a sense of urgency.
• Hold a "Flash Sale" where yearbooks are available at a discounted price for 48 hours. Only do this if you bump up the price year-round and never as good as your early bird pricing to mitigate complaints.
• If you use a publisher that requires an order minimum, create a sense of exclusivity by emphasizing that yearbooks are limited in quantity and may sell out quickly. If you have fewer than 25, advertise it.

“Extra” Marketing Ideas

Naming this section “labor-intensive” might be poor marketing. That said, these ideas aren’t drag-and-drop solutions like Treering. They do require work, and if your team is primed for action, start your project plan.

• Hold a raffle where every yearbook purchase enters the buyer into a drawing for a special prize.
• Partner with local restaurants or cafes to offer discounts or freebies with proof of yearbook purchase.
• Hold a competition among classes or grade levels to see which percentage buys the most yearbooks, with a prize for the winning group.
• Stir up excitement by revealing sneak peeks of the yearbook content on social media leading up to the deadline.
• Initiate a "Yearbook Ambassador" program where students can earn rewards for promoting yearbook sales to their peers.
• Cultivate a sense of nostalgia by sharing throwback photos from past yearbooks on social media.
• Host a scavenger hunt around the school where students can find clues that lead them to purchase their yearbooks.
• Create a "Yearbook Memories" playlist on a streaming platform and share it with the school community to promote yearbook sales.
• Develop a social media challenge where parents, teachers, and students can win prizes for sharing their favorite yearbook memories.

Events to Boost Last-Minute Yearbook Sales

We’ve learned the value of in-person events. Paraphrasing from the Elle Woods playbook: events evoke emotions, emotions create memorable experiences, and memorable experiences make up a yearbook. Seeing others choose to attend a yearbook event provides social proof, reassuring potential yearbook buyers that their decision is valid and worthwhile. (Yes, we know it’s a no-brainer.) 

• Invite every student on campus to the distribution and signing party.
• Set up a booth at all-school events, PTA meetings, and during lunchtime where people can purchase yearbooks on the spot.
• Create personalized advertisements featuring students and distribute them digitally or in print. Students want to know they are in the book. If you’re doing this at the elementary level, send the ad to mom. 
• Create a video featuring highlights from the school year to show off a bit of what’s in the book.
• Hold a live Q&A session on social media where students and parents can ask questions about the yearbook and the ordering process. 
• Host a custom pages webinar.
• Partner with the school's sports teams to promote yearbook sales at games and events. 
• Create a themed photo booth at school events where students can take pictures to be included in the yearbook. If you are at a uniform school, use this to show how many uniform combinations you have.

These limited-time promotions, strategic competitions, social media campaigns, and release events aim to maximize participation so your hard work gets into more hands.