Email marketing is easily one of the best ways to drive personalized engagement with parents and market the features of your Montessori school. That said, one of the most common questions we get from Montessori schools is, “How can we improve email open rates?”
A low email open rate for Montessori schools is more common than you think. At UX Studio, we have helped numerous Montessori schools bolster their email marketing campaigns to improve their enrollment rates. If you are struggling to improve your email open rates, here are some pointers that can help.
Checklist: 6 Things That Can Help Your School Improve Email Open Rates
1. Optimize Your Subject Line
A lot of people treat an email’s subject line as a last priority of sorts. But if you think about it, the subject line is the first thing your email subscribers will see. If you want to improve your school’s email open rates, this where you need to start.
First and foremost, you should personalize the line by adding the recipient’s name to it. When you address a subscriber directly like this, they’ll be much more likely to open the email and read it.
You also need to optimize the length of the subject line and keep it up to 7 words or between 40 to 60 characters. According to Marketo, a subject line with seven words drives the highest engagement across desktop and mobile devices.
2. Personalize the Contents of Your Email
The whole point of email marketing is to engage more directly with your subscribers. Personalization is the key to making this happen. You want to make sure your subscribers feel special. Here are a few ways you can do this:
- Address the subscriber by name in the email
- Use words like ‘hand-picked,’ ‘exclusive,’ ‘for you,’ and ‘only.’
For instance, if you are running a drip email campaign, and your ultimate goal is to get parents to enroll their kid in your Montessori school, offering something exclusive is more likely to capture their interest.
3. Check Your Sender Name and Email Address
You also want to take a closer look at your sender’s name and email address. It should clearly state who the email is from so that parents know it’s not spam. Try not to use a generic email address. Instead, we recommend using something specific that encourages parents to open the email. For instance, if you send an email from donotreply@xyzschool.com, a parent may think it is a random email and not pay attention.
On the other hand, suppose that prospective parents normally engage with Lucy from the admissions office. If they receive an email from this person, they will likely recognize the name and deem the email important. This simple tactic can automatically improve email open rates for your school.
4. Don’t Shy Away from Using Emojis
We normally use emojis in day-to-day conversations, but do they have a place in the emails you send out to parents? Yes, they do. To be more specific, you can consider using emojis in the subject line of your emails to make them stand out. It’s the only visual element you can add to the subject, and help you break through the clutter a little.
5. Be Consistent with Your Emails
Humans are creatures of habit. If you send a sporadic email or two at a different time each week, you are unlikely to make much headway in improving your email open rates.
Instead, set up a schedule and use email marketing software to automate your emails. This way, your subscribers can receive your emails at the same time and day every week. Once your subscribers know what to expect, they will be much more inclined to open your emails.
6. Add Value
We just discussed the importance of establishing a schedule so that your subscribers get used to hearing from you. Of course, this also depends on what you have to say in these emails. If your emails don’t offer some value to the reader, it doesn’t matter if you get everything else right.
We recommend building a proper content plan for your drip email campaigns here. Here’s a sample for you to consider:
- First Email – Welcome your subscribers.
- Second Email – Highlight a problem related to Montessori education and offer a solution.
- Third Email – Provide more information on the solution you provided in the first email.
- Fourth Email – Shift perspectives. Address something most parents are skeptical about when it comes to Montessori education. Share facts, figures, or stories that could change their minds.
- Fifth Email – Share social proof such as testimonials and online reviews by other parents about your school.
- Sixth Email – Tell parents you are accepting new admissions.
Do you see how we created a story of sorts here? We started by educating parents, building trust, and then encouraged them to take the final step, i.e., enrolling their child in your school.
What Should You Avoid In Your Emails?
If you want to improve email open rates, we suggest avoiding using words like ‘urgent’ or ‘quick.’ These can come across as commands that create a false sense of urgency and make your emails sound spam-like or gimmicky. Remember, a child’s education is very important to their parents, and they would not proceed with haste here.
You should only use the word ‘urgent’ if you have a real emergency on your hands. Otherwise, we recommend using words like ‘today’ or ‘tomorrow’ to encourage parents to reach out to your school.
Key Takeaways
According to one study, email subscribers have a much higher ROI than social media users and search visitors. For every dollar you spend on email marketing, you get an ROI of $44.25! Of course, that largely depends on whether your email subscribers open the email.
If you are struggling to improve email open rates, we recommend keeping your subject line between 40 to 60 characters. You should also address your subscribers by name and use emojis in your subject line. Besides this, we recommend setting up a schedule for sending emails and customizing your sender details. Finally, make sure to plan your content carefully and offer value to parents.
If you need more help with setting up a successful email marketing campaign, contact us today!
