That time of year is upon us. The summer is almost over, and parents throughout the country prepare for their children’s return to school, college and university. In the weeks leading up to this, my inbox was filled with marketing emails from companies promoting their back to school wares. But, did you make the most of this effective marketing opportunity?
Why Send Back to School Emails?
The key to a successful marketing campaign is to target your customers when they are in the mood to buy things. At this time of year, most parents have no choice but to buy new school supplies for their children. It can be a hectic and expensive time. So, a well-timed email informing them about a company’s back to school product range and offers will probably be seen as being incredibly useful.
How do you put together the perfect back to school email? They key is to look for ways to help people save money:
Provide an Offer
A recent study has shown that parents, on average, spend £240 per child on supplies for the new school term; a massive amount in anyone’s eyes. Around the back to school period, parents are likely to be on the lookout for any offer that can save them a bit of money. So, offers and promotions should take pride of place in your back to school emails.
Ideally, you should talk about any back to school related products that you have promotions on. But, if you don’t have any product-specific offers at the time, you can mention any promotions that you are running, and relate them to ‘back to school’ in some way.
An Example
Take a look at this example from Tesco:
The words ‘Back to School’ are given prominence in the subject line. They’ve even chosen to capitalise the first letter of each of the words, so they are sure to catch the attention of prospective customers. Now, take a look at the body of the email:
At the very top of the email (before any school-related products have been shown), Tesco have chosen to advertise their ‘Clubcard Boost’ promotion. It shows customers how they can use their vouchers to make their money go further. Although this offer can be used on a wide range of items from Tesco Direct, they have chosen to highlight it in a back to school email, at a time when most parents are looking for ways to save money.
Later in the email, Tesco have showcased some of the school-related products they have on offer (being sure to mention that they all have ‘great prices’):
Other Options
Even if you don’t sell specifically ‘back to school’ related items, there are other ways you can take advantage of this time of year with your marketing emails. You can market your products towards university students, just like Apple have done:
The benefit of targeting university students is that you can offer promotions on a wider range of products (technology, furniture, cookware, clothes, etc.). Another option is to provide offers on products that the parents might like. This can either be something that can help them de-stress during this hectic time, or show them that they can save money in other ways if the ‘back to school’ shopping is getting too much for them. The possibilities are limitless!
