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How to create a marketing plan for your small business - build a brand, target customers and set prices that will maximise sales.

The internet has transformed business marketing. No matter what you do, the internet is likely to be at the heart of your marketing strategy.

Social media is firmly established as a marketing tool. Having a presence opens up new lines of communication with existing and potential customers.

Good advertising puts the right marketing message in front of the right people at the right time, raising awareness of your business.

Customer care is at the heart of all successful companies. It can help you develop customer loyalty and improve relationships with your customers.

Sales bring in the money that enables your business to survive and grow. Your sales strategy will be driven by your sales objectives.

Market research exists to guide your business decisions by giving you insight into your market, competitors, products, marketing and your customers.

Exhibitions and events are valuable for businesses because they allow face-to-face communication and offer opportunities for networking.

Email marketing to schools: three top tips

A school email marketing campaign must stand out to busy Headteachers and staff - whose work can include everything from lesson planning and report writing to teaching, marking papers and organising trips and events – if it's to be successful. With the amount of work school staff must juggle every day, it's no surprise that they can struggle to keep up with emails.

What types of emails do teachers get?

76% of teachers surveyed by Buzz Education said they receive fewer than five marketing emails a day. So, although this figure might be relatively low, what marketers need to remember is that teachers receive emails from a wide range of other people, both within the school and away from it.

School-related internal emails will come from other teachers, administrators, the head teacher, and even students. Then there will be emails from companies like yours, emails from local authorities, and emails from other organisations. In other words, school emails need to make an impression on your recipient, while they're still in their inbox.

Teachers might not always open and read emails immediately, but if they are interested, they'll flag them to review later. What if you could create an email campaign that would not only stand out in prospects' inboxes but also engage them?

To make your email marketing strategy more effective, More Than Words Marketing offers these three marketing tips.

1. Motivate school staff to open your email

Most companies give little or no thought to this stage, but statistically it's where they lose the largest share of their potential customers! It is unwise to assume that your email will be opened. Educators are among the most marketed to demographics in society. They have become experts at avoiding marketing.

Make it impossible for them to delete your email without reading it first. Since you only have a few words at your disposal, you must select each one carefully to elicit some response.

We all know that subject lines are typically the reason we open or delete a marketing email.

Emails with boring subject lines are ignored or deleted immediately.

The best subject lines tend to be short and descriptive. Ensure that your subject line asks a question or conveys a pressing message to your target audience.

2. Personalise your email marketing

Businesses marketing to schools often use the information available about each educational institution on their contact database to personalise the messages they send. By giving any potential customer a more personalised experience, you increase your email engagement, thus increasing your email marketing results.

The process of email personalisation involves converting the data you have on your email list into email copy that appeals to them. Information such as location, funding, or which key stage the school teaches can all be used to slightly alter the content of your sales emails to appeal more to your audience.

A school database from a company like More Than Words Marketing will contain thousands of school email addresses. It will allow you to select schools based on their location, type, size, and many other factors.

3. Develop a powerful call to action

The call to action button needs to stand out if you want teachers to click it.

Calls to action are simply instructions to your audience. Marketing emails, social media ads and websites frequently have buttons that invite, instruct, or urge us to act. Calls to action such as this are highly effective (who isn't tempted to push an interesting button?).

If you are writing an email to teachers, don't overlook the value of some other, more subtle concepts.

  • Include a link to your website in your logo.
  • Link appropriate images to associated pages.
  • Link appropriate website content to part of the text.

It is possible to create a powerful call to action in three simple steps:

  1. identify the tasks you want them to complete
  2. ask them to perform those tasks within the email
  3. provide an easy way to do it

Want recipients to go to your website? Build a clear path to the site, with a link to take them straight to the correct page.

Want them to make a purchase? The focus of your email should be the button that directs them to the thing you are selling. Keep it at the top of your message so busy teachers and decision-makers won't miss it.

Make sure your CTA button stands out immediately and draws attention. Make sure it doesn't blend in with your email design's colour scheme - pick a bright colour that is not repeated elsewhere in your email design and place the button prominently on the page.

You should consider working with a company like More Than Words Marketing which can help you create and design marketing emails that generate leads immediately and build your sales pipeline. They can also provide detailed analytics about your email campaign to help you to plan and improve your next mailing.

Copyright 2023. Featured post made possible by More Than Words Marketing Limited.

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