Coworking spaces are becoming an increasingly popular trend among students in today’s world. Most of them now look towards shared spaces in order to increase their productivity levels and get networking opportunities. In fact, up to 91% of students who use coworking spaces attest that they have better relationships with other people.
But what does this mean for your brand? With more students taking a vested interest in shared spaces, coworking brands will significantly increase their profit and popularity. Moreover, students are more likely to advise coworking brands to their fellows than other demographics.
As such, by offering students a coworking space that caters to their needs and providing them with satisfactory services, your referral rates will most likely skyrocket.
But how can you get a steady stream of students walking through your doors? Well, in this guide, we’ll list some creative ideas to help you bring new student members into your coworking space.
1. Make Your Brand Irresistible
A few years ago, coworking was a relatively new market with little to no competition. However, in recent times, the popularity of coworking spaces has skyrocketed. With many spaces trying to vie for students’ attention, it’s essential that you distinguish your space in the market. But how exactly do you do this?
A great way to make your brand irresistible to students is to address their pain points. For example, what study gaps do students have that a shared workspace can fill? For most students, it can be hard to find a study zone with a great Wi-fi connection where they won’t be interrupted by the chatter of other people. While a library offers such conveniences, almost every student will admit that studying in a library can be boring and unproductive. In contrast, coworking spaces provide students with resources and amenities that boost their efficiency along with estimated GPA.
This is one pain point that you can readily address in your marketing strategy. However, don’t just stop there because this factor only addresses why they need a coworking space in the first place. Yet it doesn’t address why they need to become members of your coworking space in particular.
To do that, you need to take an introspective look at your brand and identify what truly makes your space unique. Just like a student prefers help with essay writing, you should be ready to delegate your non-essentials and focus on the more promising area to grow your business. For example, do you have a truly creative office that can inspire students and help them get over writer’s block? Or do you utilize the latest innovative practices to create a secure tech hub for your members?
Identifying your brand’s uniqueness, capitalizing on it, and turning it into a central selling point by creating a solid positioning statement can help make it irresistible to even the most unwilling students. For instance, let’s assume that your workspace offers interactive technology solutions and a cozy environment for creative thinking.
You could create a strong positioning statement like this:
We’re a coworking space for startups and students in need of a tech-oriented environment that matches their performance goals and requirements.
Alternatively, you could use something simpler, such as:
Where tech meets creativity.
In the same vein, it’s essential to appeal to your audience’s emotions if you’re trying to make your brand’s voice heard over the noise of the competition. When advertising your coworking space to students, don’t just tell them:
You’ll like our shared space. It has everything you need.
Instead, stir up the right emotions by stating something more provoking, such as:
Tired of having to study in cramped noisy cafes? Try out our shared space where creativity and solitude fuse together to bring excellent results.
By appealing to your audience’s emotions, you’ll help students to shape their perception of your brand and give them a reason (other than pure logic) to try out your space.
2. Create Attractive Incentives
Unfortunately, creating a solid positioning statement isn’t enough to keep a horde of students rushing through your doors. They still need more reasons on why they should choose your coworking space over the numerous options they probably already have.
You’ll need to create and offer substantial member benefits to snag students’ interests and attract them to your brand. Creating mouthwatering incentives helps to assure that your coworking space has an exciting edge over others. This approach also creates an impression that your brand is student-friendly, which is something most students are after.
But the real question here is what kind of benefits you should be offering to students if you’re trying to attract them to your shared space.
Well, there are several options you can choose from, such as:
- Discounts. Nothing sounds as attractive to a student as discounted prices. Is there an offer to buy a cup of coffee for half the price? Go for it. Most students have to deal with college loans and numerous expenses that might be taking a toll on them. As such, offering shared spaces at a significantly discounted price is a great way to attract students to your brand. Also, you can start collaborating with companies, which have a high demand among students (for example, essay writing, sports activities, catering establishments) and offer them a cashback or discount.
- Free hours. If you aren’t comfortable with the idea of slashing off a percentage of your service price, you can offer students free hours when they don’t have to pay for using your coworking space. Most visitors will appreciate having an efficient study space without paying for a couple of hours. You can use some poster templates and add a QR to it which allows students to register themselves giving you their info as a condition for these free hours. They gain a place to study, you gain potential leads for your marketing campaigns.
- 24/7 service. You can often see college students hunched over their desks at 2 am trying to get in a few hours of study. Unfortunately, most libraries and cafes are typically closed at this time. By offering students a 24/7 service, you can fill another gap and give them something they’re desperately in need of. This way, you can attract and draw them to your brand more effectively.
Simplify room bookings for students with a modern university coworking space management platform
3. Promote Your Coworking Space Online
The online space is constantly buzzing with students and other people who may be within your audience demographic. As such, if you’re trying to attract students to your coworking venue, you’ll have to start by conquering the online space. To build your brand’s visibility online, you can employ any of these methods:
Use online ads
If you’re trying to increase online visibility for your coworking space, a great way to start is by using paid ads. Students are all over every social media platform you can think of: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and professional platforms like LinkedIn. As such, running paid ad campaigns in social media will help you reach your target audience and capture their attention.
Alternatively, you could also use Google ads to advertise your team spaces. This way, even a random Google search can bring your brand to your target audience.
Link building
Most popular brands have uncovered the potential of link building and harnessed it to drive visibility, and you can do so too. But what exactly does this concept entail? Well, link building involves getting hyperlinks from other platforms with direct or indirect mentioning of your site or resources.
There are tons of efficient link building tools that you can use to promote your coworking space online, such as BuzzStream or Aeroleads.
However, if you’re trying to attract students, it’s advisable to insert these hyperlinks in academic websites or other popular platforms that they’re more likely to visit. This way, you can get the most out of your campaign.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is another option you should consider if you’re trying to draw students to your coworking space. Basically, influencer marketing is a modern type of social media marketing that involves hiring celebrities and people with a dedicated social media following to endorse your products or services. Since most people (students included) tend to trust people they admire more than companies, they're more likely to try out your shared space if it's endorsed by a popular influencer.
However, influencer marketing doesn't necessarily mean that you have to hire celebrities like Beyoncé to endorse your coworking space. For this, you can hire micro-influencers to get the job done without having to increase your budget or break the bank. However, if you’re going to put your brand out there, ensure that you already offer mouthwatering benefits which will convince students to give your shared space a trial. These benefits could include offering them lower rates than those of your competitors or some of the other incentives we mentioned earlier.
4. Ensure that Your Offers Meet Audience’s Needs
To attract students to your coworking space, you need to tailor your offers specifically to their desires and needs. For example, while some students like to study indoors, most modern students prefer to work with natural air and sunlight. As such, you can include an outdoor study area like a courtyard or rooftop. This way, you can cater to their academic needs and preferences, which is something most coworking space owners tend to overlook.
Similarly, if you’re aiming to get more students into your coworking space, you’ll need to offer a short-term commitment plan that will enable them to back out anytime they want.
5. Use Innovative Advanced Technology
Let’s face it: almost every student in today’s world has a smartphone in one hand and a laptop in the other. As such, if you’re trying to meet their demands and match your coworking space with their standards, you’ll need to utilize innovative and advanced technology.
Sure, you may have an excellent user-friendly website that students can visit to get more information about your coworking space. However, it doesn’t just end there.
Students want a highly efficient system that offers them a seamless experience from start to finish. Thus, you’ll need to put high-tech tools and services in place to meet their demands. For instance, with Spacebring coworking space management software, you can provide mobile apps where students and other members can manage room and desk booking.
As a college student, it's easy to lose track of just how much academic work you have to do. That’s why you could also include other tools such as interactive, touch-screen tables for students to pin assignments, projects, and tasks. With a solution like this, students can monitor their top-priority assignments and not forget about them in the long run.
Final Thoughts
Students are often considered a challenging demographic to attract when it comes to coworking spaces. However, by promoting your space online, tailoring your offers to their needs, and using advanced technology, you can get more students into your coworking venue.
Simply follow the tips outlined above, and you’ll have students rushing through your front doors in no time at all.
The article was written by Amanda Dudley, a lecturer and writer with over ten years of experience up her sleeves. She has a Ph.D. in History from Stanford University and is fully committed to bridging the learning gap for students. Currently, she works as a part-time essay writer at EssayUSA, a reputable college essay writing service.
