Promoting Card Services without a Marketing Team
Promoting New Card Services without a Marketing Team
You can launch and grow card services without hiring a full marketing crew. The secrets are to reuse what you already have, borrow reach from campus partners, and make everything simple to produce and easy to measure. Here are some ideas to guide you, brought to you by NACCU members Courtney Petrizzi from The University of Alabama, Jennifer Banfield from the University of Florida, and Jessica Peterson from South Dakota State University.
Start with a tiny toolkit
You do not need fancy gear. A few free or low cost tools will carry you a long way.
Use Canva for quick graphics and signs. The free tier works and the brand kit in the paid version keeps colors, logos, and fonts consistent. If your campus provides Adobe or Microsoft tools, take advantage of them for photos, simple video edits, and stock art. Your phone is your camera and your editing bay. For links, create a QR code and add tracking with UTM tags* so you can see what gets scanned.
*UTM tags are pieces of code added to a URL that help analytics tools, like Google Analytics, track how users arrive at a website. UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module, a system Google acquired to begin its analytics program. By adding UTM parameters to links for specific marketing efforts, businesses can understand which campaigns, sources, and content are most effective at driving traffic and achieving their goals.
Claim your free megaphone
Digital signs across campus are gold. Make a simple inventory of where the screens live, who owns them, and how to submit content. Design a clean 16 by 9 slide in Canva, add a short call to action, and include a trackable QR code. Plan a two week rhythm so new slides appear ahead of key dates like orientation, move in, and fee deadlines.
Make social media work while you work
Schedule posts ahead of time in Meta Business Suite so you are communicating even during peak weeks. Mix real student photos with short captions and add a clear action such as "tap to add your card to wallet" or "scan to update your photo". Watch the built in analytics to learn your best posting times and repeat what performs.
Borrow bigger megaphones
Partner accounts can carry your message farther than your own feed. Ask Dining, Housing, the Bookstore, student government accounts, and the main university channels to include one tile or one paragraph in their next email or story. Give them a ready-to-post graphic and a short caption. It is free for you and helpful content for them.
Let students be the creatives
Your student staff already knows what lands with peers. Invite them to pitch a simple storyboard, film on phones, and edit in Canva or a basic editor. One planned hour with a mascot or campus ambassador can produce photos and clips you reuse for years.
Run small giveaways that fund themselves
Ask off campus merchants in your program for donated gift cards or shirts in exchange for a thank you tag on social. Use the giveaway to drive follows and tags. That single move can add hundreds of new eyes to your next service announcement.
Use AI as a fast helper
When policy allows, use your campus AI tool to draft press notes, captions, sign copy, and email blurbs. Feed it the facts and your tone, then edit for brand and clarity. You will save days of writing time.
Track what works and show the value
Add UTM tracking to every QR code and shortened link. Watch scans by location and by day to see which screens or posts move people to act. Keep a simple log with date, asset, channel, and result. Those numbers help you ask for a little more budget next term.
Three plug and play campaigns
Mobile credential tips that stick
Goal: Reduce help desk volume and speed first use
Assets: One digital sign, one story, one thirty second video
Message ideas: Where to tap, what to do if it fails, how to add card to wallet
Partners: Dining lanes, Housing entry points, main university social
Measure: Scans of the setup guide and a drop in tap error reports
Orientation and photo submission
Goal: Get photos and accounts ready before arrival
Assets: Table tent or postcard with QR code, short reel showing how to submit, one parent-focused email paragraph for a partner to include
Partners: Orientation team, Bookstore, Parent and Family programs
Measure: Photo submissions per day compared to last year
Commemorative card interest
Goal: Create a memento option without reopening plastic for access
Assets: One clean product tile, a banner for graduation events, a form with payment link
Partners: Bookstore graduation emails, Alumni channels, main university stories during commencement week
Measure: Scans and orders, plus photos and shares you can repost
One week starter plan
Day 1: Gather logos, colors, and approved fonts. Create a simple template set in Canva for squares, stories, and a 16 by 9 slide.
Day 2: Map digital signs and owners. Submit one slide about your next service launch with a trackable QR code.
Day 3: Draft three social posts and schedule them. Ask Dining and Housing to repost or add a story tile you provide.
Day 4: Record a thirty second phone video that shows the action you want, such as tap to pay or how to add to wallet.
Day 5: Ask two merchants to donate small prizes for a follow and tag giveaway. Post the rules in the caption and thank the merchants in comments.
Day 6: Check analytics. Note what was scanned and when. Keep the winners and retire what did not land.
Day 7: Repost the best performing item and line up next week’s content using the same template.
Friendly reminders
Keep it simple and consistent. Reuse assets across signs, social, email, and tables. Say yes to collaboration anytime a partner offers space in a newsletter or a story. Thank people in public. Measure what you can. Share wins with your director so the next small budget ask is easier to approve.
You have everything you need to promote card services with clarity and confidence. Start small this week and build from there.
Want more detail? Watch this webinar!