Explainer: The “Core 5” products of student media
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Explainer: The “Core 5” products of student media
September 4, 2025
For student media organizations hoping to generate more advertising revenue, evaluating existing products and inventory can be a smart place to get started. While there are many ways to generate advertising revenue, we recommend starting with the “Core 5” products of student media.
Those products are:
- Out-of-Home (OOH)
- Street Teams
- Digital
- Email Newsletters
In the following guide, we’ll provide some starter information for each of the Core 5 products.
Out-of-Home
Out-of-home (OOH) products are focused on marketing to consumers when they are "on the go" or in other places “outside of the home.” This looks like newsracks, newsstands, and screens and can be in physical or digital formats. National buyers frequently ask for OOH products, but OOH can also be a strong offering for a local advertiser, allowing them to penetrate areas on campus with high foot traffic for a relatively low cost.
How to get started with OOH
If you already have newsracks on your campus, you may be able to slide posters or ads into the windows. Provide your local advertisers with a map of locations, and suggest they purchase a few at a time for a bundled cost. If you don’t have any newsracks or stands, reach out to Flytedesk about the Newsracks program.
Street Teams
Street teams include the distribution of materials (flyers, posters, stickers, etc...) on campus. For both national and local buyers, street teams are a great way to reach a large subset of your campus in a short amount of time.
If you have a central area of campus and a few members of your team willing to participate, street teams can be activated on almost every campus.
How to get started with street teams
[READ MORE: Our comprehensive guide to street teams]
It’s very easy to start a street team initiative. We recommend pricing by “event” or “activation” — a set period of time in which you will distribute street team materials — and encourage advertisers to provide their own material.
You can book a table or a booth on campus, but on many campuses, that isn’t necessary to get started.
Digital
If you have a website, you can likely activate digital ads. You can have as many or as few ad spots on your website as you’d like and can adjust it to fit the layout and design of your website. Local clients appreciate digital ads because of the trackable metrics and reach, and national clients are almost always looking for digital, too.
How to get started with digital
Reach out to your Flytedesk account manager today to get set up with the Flytedesk Premium Digital script tag. That makes you eligible for national campaigns right away.
While a regular print product isn’t a fit for everyone, it is still in high demand for national buyers and can be a good add-on for local buyers, too.
If a regular print product isn’t an option, consider producing just special targeted editions, including editions targeted to orientation, back-to-school, graduation, and elections. Sports-focused special editions are also popular.
How to get started with print
Create premium ad placements, including a full back page, a front page banner, and a placement on page 2 or 3.
What’s next?
The Core 5 products are proven revenue streams that successful student media organizations rely on. Start where you are — activate digital ads if you have a website, launch an email newsletter if you publish regularly or organize street teams if you have eager team members. It’s OK to focus on doing a few products really well before expanding.
Missing any of these core products means leaving money on the table. National buyers especially look for campuses who offer multi-channel, surround sound campaigns that reach students where they are.
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