Back-to-School Comes and Goes, but Mobile is Here to Stay

No, your calendar is not playing evil tricks on you. It really is the middle of August, and it really is the end of summer vacation for many. While parents across the country breathe a collective sigh of relief that their kids will no longer spend every waking hour at home, marketers can also relax now that the back-to-school advertising push is nearly over.

For retail, back-to-school is second only to the shopping extravaganza that is the holiday season, so it’s important for marketers to get it right in order to drive bottom-line profits. It will be a couple months before we know the exact dollar amount consumers spent this year on pencils, notebooks and the perfect first-day outfit, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait to start gleaning insights into how they shopped and what influenced those decisions.

A brand-new panel survey of Pandora listeners surfaced what we think is the most important takeaway from this year’s back-to-school season: That mobile plays a highly influential role in preparing for the new school year--even greater evidence of why it’s critical for marketers to understand and utilize mobile advertising for any major shopping occasion.

Check out the infographic below to discover how Pandora listeners brought mobile into their 2016 back-to-school routine: