It’s never too early to start planning your back-to-school email marketing campaigns. Any institution can benefit from a powerful email marketing strategy, from preschool all the way to college. Back-to-school season is a great time to attract new students, keep in touch with current enrollments and staff as well as alert your community about what’s happening at your school. With the rise of technology and many families migrating to online use, your options are endless for marketing to prospective students. One of the most effective marketing strategies a school can employ is email marketing. If you’re looking to grow your online presence and get the most out of your email campaigns, the busy bees at beMarketing are sharing some innovative tips and best practices to bring your school’s email campaign to an A+!
Why Should Your School Use Email Marketing?
In 2021, email will turn the big 5-0. Yep, email is almost 50 years old and while it may be one of the oldest ways to communicate with your parents and students, it’s still one of the most effective ways. Not only effective, it is also affordable, seeing an averaging ROI of $44 for every dollar spent, a great fundraising tool, and it can easily help build interest among prospective students.
Hands-on Back-to-School Email Marketing Tips
Now that you understand the importance of email marketing for your school, The Hive is ready to share some smart email marketing strategies so you can ace your campaigns and get the results you worked hard for.
Segment your email list.
Your email list will likely be compiled of current students and families, community members, faculty, staff, guidance counselors, and alumni. When building an email marketing campaign, it’s a smart idea to segment your email list to avoid sending irrelevant information to a certain group. Consider separating your email list into these categories:
- Students
- Parents
- Teachers and staff
- School community
- All of the above
Keep your subject lines simple.
Your subject line should be straightforward and to the point. Oftentimes, your subject line is like the first impression of your email and looked at as the most important part. Use action words like “Explore” and “Discover”, inspire curiosity, and implore some humor to keep it lighthearted and fun.
Make email content short, sweet, and compelling.
Your subject lines aren’t the only things that should be kept short. The body of your email should be kept simple as well. Put yourself in your recipient’s shoes—they’re busy and probably have a slew of other emails in their inbox. Sending them a long-winded email will no doubt have them deleting your message before they even read it. Say what you need to say and include all relevant information and then bid your readers farewell.
Make sure your emails are mobile-friendly.
Studies show that more than 70% of people use their phones to read their emails, so you need to optimize your campaigns for mobile use. Test your emails before sending them to ensure they look great on multiple screens.
Enhance messaging with eye-catching graphics.
Your email’s design and layout are important. Using creative fonts and appealing visuals can grab attention and engage your audience. Remember to include alt text so visitors who are unable to see the images can at least understand what the image is supposed to convey.
Are you ready to stay connected with your current parents and students, ace your email design templates to appeal to your student body, and put together a strategic email marketing campaign to increase your enrollment that will allow your school to grow? Then you’ve come to the right place! With our cutting edge marketing techniques designed exclusively for our clients in the education industry, your institution will get the credit it deserves and the results you want. Contact our educational marketers today to get started.
