5 Tips to Boost Your K-12 Education Email Marketing Strategy
Over the past few years, email has made quite the comeback as an effective marketing strategy. We can all agree that email is here to stay. However, it’s also undeniable that email marketing is evolving. If you’re still using techniques and ideas from the past, you might not be harnessing the full power of email. In the K-12 education marketing world, this could be catastrophic for your business.
The U.S. education market is expected to be worth over 2 billion by 2026. If you want a share of that impressive number, it’s time to take action. In this guide, we’ll explain 5 tips to boost your K-12 education email marketing strategy.
1. Know Your Goals
One of the biggest mistakes new email marketers make is not setting goals. Or, if they do set goals, they’re not clear and actionable. Having the goal of landing a sale isn’t enough on it’s own. You need a plan of how to actually reach this milestone.
Where do you begin? Consider SMART goals:
- Specific – Define your goal in clear language. What exactly do you want to accomplish and why?
- Measurable – How will you measure the success of your efforts?
- Attainable – Is this a reasonable goal?
- Relevant – How does this goal fit into your larger goals as a company?
- Timely – What is your time limit to fit your goal into your overall strategy?
Let’s use the “land a sale” goal as an example following the SMART rules above. For instance, you might want to land a sale with a new school by securing a contract within the next month for the upcoming school year. This is a SMART goal, and it will influence your email marketing strategy.
2. Choose the Right Contacts
Another must-have marketing tip that’s specific to education marketers is to know your contacts. You can’t blindly send emails at school districts, teachers, etc. and expect to see results. You need to know exactly who you’re talking to. Personalized emails deliver 6x higher transaction rates.
How can you choose the right contacts? It comes down to your research. Once again, using your goals, consider who will be the most influential, direct contact. From there, look for targeted school lists that do the heavy lifting for you. The right contacts are the foundation for any email marketing campaign.
3. Right Place, Right Time
A big component of landing any sale is knowing how to be in the right place at the right time. This might not be a glamorous realization since you can’t control the passing of time, but paying attention to the time of year matters in education marketing.
Since we’re talking about K-12 schools, you need to be focused on the school year. Schools start in August or September, and this is the time teachers and school districts create those coveted supply lists. Another time worth focusing on is during the end of the school year when back-to-school budgets are finalized for the fall. Knowing these times will let you use them to your advantage.
4. Be Mobile-Friendly
If you’re like most of the population, you probably read emails on your smartphone. Most school officials do too, so be prepared for this with a mobile-friendly email. Emails that don’t display correctly on mobile devices are reportedly deleted within 3 seconds. How do you make sure your emails are ready for all screen sizes? Try these tips:
- Avoid oversized images that aren’t responsive to screen size
- Add breaks in your text to space things out
- Don’t use multiple column layouts if your template isn’t responsive
- Always test your emails before sending
5. Review Your Metrics
Finally, every email you send is an opportunity to learn more about your audience. The best marketing teams all know that metrics and analytics matter. Monitoring your email campaigns closely to check for unique opens and clicks will help you make smarter decisions in the future.
In the education marketing niche, it’s not always easy to grab busy leader’s attention. Using your analytics positions you for success since you can easily identify what works and what doesn’t. Make sure you choose an email service provider that provides easy-to-understand analytics.
Always Adapt Your Email Marketing
The key to quality email marketing in 2019 and beyond is knowing how to adapt to changes. Nothing is set in stone. As long as you have the right contacts and you’re willing to work with your audience, you’re in a position to find success.
In K-12 education, email is often the best way to increase brand awareness and make those key introductions. If you’re not using email marketing already, now is the time to get started. These tips above will start you off on the right foot.
