Email Marketing

     In a Marketing Matter I published about a year or so ago, I commented on how distraught people have become since they believe that faith-based schools are being treated as businesses rather than ministries.  They do minister - they minister to the children that are entrusted to them.  But they need to operate as a business because 1) the Sisters that worked for next to nothing for so long are no longer present, and, if they are, they should be paid a just wage for their service, and 2) it is the school's obligation to be a responsible steward of the funds given to it.

     To continue the business analogy, the parents are the customers, and the children are the product.  After all, those of us that have gone through the Catholic schools emphatically state that we are the product of a Catholic school.  The children are not your customers, because the parents pay the tuition required to attend your school.  To reach new groups of customers, you must market to them.

     Email marketing is the rage today.  There are so many online programs available (Constant Contact, iContact, MyNewsletterBuilder, Vertical Marketing, just to name a few) at very affordable prices (usually less than $10 a month) that it seems foolish to waste paper, printing and postage costs in order to find new parents to invite to experience your school.  Email may also be the preferred method of communication of your parents.  Therefore, it's important that you investigate this method of communication.

     It's important to remember your audience.  Are you sending newsletters home to your parents in your child's backpack?  Do you have all your parents' email addresses?  Parents are engaged (or, at least, involved) in your school.  Therefore, use the power of email to communicate with them.  You might even put a "forward to a friend" link on this email, thinking that a parent will forward it to a friend in order to bring their child to your school.

     However, the email that's geared toward your parents isn't the communication vehicle that's going to attract new parents to your school.  Now, you're creating 2 eNewsletters - one for your parents, which remind them about all the things going on in your school, and one for prospective parents, which spotlight the successes of your students, the exciting goals your students have achieved, and events that prospective parents can participate in to start engaging them in the school's spirit and culture.  While you can be sure that this first type of eNewsletter will be delivered and opened, you might be surprised to find out that parents you are trying to attract to your school can ignore, block, or delete (sometimes automatically) your email.

     The irony is that THIS is the eNewsletter that should have the "forward to a friend" link, since prospective parents that become excited about your school might want their friends to join them in checking out your school.  They will then have friends at your school, and their child will at least have one friend as he or she tries to make new ones at your school.

     The common thought is, "Well, if they're just going to block or delete my email, then why should I bother creating one to market my school?"  The reason is economy of scale.  You can send 500 emails at the touch of a button using one of these services for about $10 a month.  Now, let's say we're going to send a postcard to your prospective list of 500 families.  Color 2-sided printed of 125 pieces of card stock - that's about $125.  Then they must be cut into postcards - that's about $140.  You might have to print address labels - say that costs $10.  You've now spent $275 on a postcard mailing that has limited space for a message (as compared to the significantly larger capacity of the eNewsletter) and could be thrown away by the recipient.  AND, you can track who opened your email, AND what they clicked on to better determine what really excited them about your school.  Remember, you have to get prospective parents emotionally engaged, in addition to appealing to their sense of logic.

     As we advance further into the 21st Century, young parents will be more and more Internet-savvy people.  Students will have to be technology savvy in order to succeed in the world they will enter, no matter what they are called to be.  Remember that we can reach people around the world by being physically present to them as a missionary, or we can reach around the world by logging on.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2009 (Original Publication Date: 20091012)