Email marketing can boost engagement among both current students/parents and prospective students and parents. Email marketing reaches a wide audience, and it is easy to use. It is an extremely popular marketing tool because of the impact it can have on your leads, as well as current students/parents. Millions of people check their inboxes over ten times a day. By providing them with content and information that will engage and delight them, you will keep them coming back for more.
Email marketing is more than just providing content for leads to shift through, it is about cultivating a brand voice for your school. This is really what you want to be communicating consistently no matter what type of email marketing campaign you decide to launch.When you have consistent messaging and branding through email marketing, it is easier for parents to communicate to their peers about your school. Most private schools contend that their current students were made aware of their school via word of mouth. By arming current parents with spreadable, valuable information via email, you will get more leads.
Launching an Email Marketing Campaign for Parents (but really for their peers)
Create an email marketing campaign for current parents whose child is already enrolled, and perhaps has been attending your school for a couple of years now. These parents are now very familiar with your school and your messaging, and they can be your greatest marketing asset. Parents who send their children to private school are constantly looking for updates, they are usually very involved. So, odds are, an email from you will have high open rates.
Select the most involved parents and segment them into a list that will be the target of your first email marketing campaign. Their buyer persona should be one that is very involved in their children’s school, as well as other activities such as church or community service. This way, parents who are likely to open your emails will also be ones to talk about your children’s school to other parents.
Choose the topic of your campaign. It should be an interesting topic that can get conversation flowing. For instance: the state of education in America today. Or, why standardized testing does (or does not) matter. These are topics you can write extensively about. But, perhaps more importantly, you can create very intriguing and eye-catching subject lines with. Some call it click-bait, but if you follow through with insightful opinions, statistics, and testimonials it’s not really click-bait. And while you could probably send parents an email everyday about these topics and still not run out of material. It is best to space out the emails.
Don’t Email Too Much, Don’t Email Too Little
This can be said for any business that is utilizing email marketing. But for private schools, emailing too much or too little can really hurt your reputation. Emailing too much can cause you to lose authority because parents will start to view your school more like a business that is constantly showing them ads. Additionally, prospective parents will be turned off as well. Emailing too often will most likely make your emails end up in either spam or the “promotions” gray mailbox. Emailing too little will make it seem that you do not value the parents.
So how often should you be emailing leads? Experts say that you should be emailing at least once per month, and no more than 5 times per month. This also lets their inbox know that your emails are not spam. This email frequency gives you ample time to compose emails. Remember to incorporate any drip campaigns you have automated for leads as well. You should incorporate any other email campaign into the email equation.
Create Automated Drip Campaigns
Drip campaigns are a type of automated marketing email campaign. They are the best for new leads. Drip campaigns give out carefully planned information at crucial times. For instance, before and during the enrollment period. This way, leads have the right information to apply. This is crucial because if parents are applying without the right information they need, this could cause their application to be rejected. Or it could cause frustration and lead parents to apply to alternatives.
Drip campaigns establish authority because they give a sense of support to prospective parents. They can feel as though you are already on their side before their child is even enrolled.
Establish Your School As an Authority on Quality Education
In your emails, you want to assure leads that your school is not only a top-rated school, but one that is an authority on education. Luckily, marketing emails can help establish yourself as an authority. By creating an email campaign that communicates reputable, well-sourced information you can establish yourself as an authority of any topic. You can also use this information to persuade leads into taking next steps. For instance, if your private school begins in middle school, talk about how middle school is a crucial stage for future academic success. Cite sources, and create lots of content you can link in your emails.
By now it should be obvious that your email marketing campaigns should not exist in a silo, they should be a part of a much wider marketing plan for your private school. If you want to know more about creating an in depth, inbound marketing plan contact us and we can help you get started!
