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Email Marketing 101

September 16, 2019 The Enrollment Management Association

Email Marketing 101
  • Ask students and families to add your email address to their address book. This “whitelists” your address to help keep your email messaging out of their spam folder.
  • When choosing the “From” email address for your email messaging, be sure that you or someone in your organization has access to the email’s inbox.
  • Include an unsubscribe link.
  • Keep your list clean of bounces and unsubscribes.
  • Have a catchy email subject line. Make them want to open and read your message.
  • Have a call to action surrounding a specific event or opportunity. A generic message about applying may not inspire families to submit that application, but a “reserve your space today” for an advertised visit day, family weekend, or  information session can produce a higher response rate.
  • Prospective families want to hear about your amazing faculty. Showcase them!
  • Customize your message and segment your audience. Perhaps you have different messaging for boarding v. day applicants, male v. female, specific sports/activities interest. The possibilities are endless!
  • Email inbox fatigue is a concern— you don’t want to overwhelm your potential applicants. If you’ve sent 1-2 messages and have not heard from a family, consider dropping them from your list.
  • Keep it simple—no need for lengthy text and remember, many families are likely reading your message on a mobile device.
  • Triple check before you hit send. As you know, the worst thing that can happen is that you create more confusion for families. Check your content and your list multiple times to make sure all is being communicated properly.

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