3 tailored marketing messages for the top decision makers on your teachers mailing list
To achieve optimum engagement rates from your email marketing and generate high-quality leads from schools, it’s important to understand the different targets on your teachers mailing list.
You should know what their role is in the decision-making process and what motivates them, and then tailor your marketing content specifically to suit their requirements.
If you’ve answered our 3 questions to help create your targeted education mailing list, you’ll know that school spending decisions can be made and influenced by many different staff members.
The key thing to remember is that there are both influencers and decision makers when it comes to school spending. A typical school will have:
- The classroom or subject teachers who use your product or service in their classroom.
- The support staff who rely on administrative solutions to effectively perform their jobs.
- The heads of department who manage and allocate departmental budgets.
- The senior leadership team who play a key role in school management.
- The business manager who coordinates the school-wide budget and financial planning.
- The head teacher who approves all spending decisions and is the main decision maker.
Now you could follow a one-size-fits-all model here and send the same message to all the education staff and decision makers on your teachers mailing list. And in some cases, this will work well.
But if you really want your marketing to resonate, it’s important to show that you understand what motivates different staff members. We often find that targeting multiple decision makers, with tailored marketing messages is most effective. To do this, you need to identify what information is most relevant to them and think about what actions they might take when they receive your email.
“School spending is influenced by a lot of people – the end-user, the decision maker, and the budget holder. We always see higher engagement rates when our clients send tailored marketing messages to a range of contacts within one school.”
Here are the 3 school spending influencers you should include on your teachers mailing list and why:
Target 1 – the end user
Teachers are often the end-user of education products and services. As the end-user, they want to see the benefits you can offer to them and their pupils.
Use your emails to tell teachers why they need your product or service in their classroom.
Teachers are focused on providing a great learning experience for their pupils, so they’re always on the lookout for anything that can help them develop inspiring and engaging lessons. They’re also very busy so tools to make their planning more efficient and lighten their administrative workload are in high demand.
We also know that over half of teachers have their own small budget to spend on classroom supplies and learning resources so in some cases they act as the final decision maker too.
Top Tip: Teachers love a freebie so get them hooked by offering a free trial of your new teaching resource or a free sample of your new homework planners. In fact, we know that offering something for free can double your email marketing engagement rates!
Remember though that it’s not just teachers who will use your products and services, other staff members such as the site manager, administrative staff, and support staff might use them too. Think about who will benefit most from your product and tailor your marketing mailing list and email content to highlight the specific benefits to them.
Target 2 – the decision maker
The decision makers are usually more senior members of staff such as heads of department and head teachers. In fact, our Schools Survey tells us that 71% of heads of department manage their own budget and head teachers have the final say in all spending decisions.
These key decision makers want to know:
- How your product or service will benefit their school.
- That you’re a trusted supplier and have experience working with other schools.
Use your emails to tell heads of department and head teachers why you’re the right choice for their school.
According to our 2023 School Surveys, 72% of decision makers look for good reviews and testimonials from other teachers when looking for a new supplier. Plus, our most recent campaign analysis tells us that adding a short testimonial to your email can boost engagement rates by over 30%. So make sure you include testimonials and links to case studies in your email content!
Our email campaign analysis also shows that head teachers often click on company logos in emails, so you should:
- Make sure your company logo links to your website.
- Make your homepage clear and easy to navigate.
- Make it clear on your website why your company is the best choice.
Buzz’s Top Tip:
Consider creating specific education related landing pages to drive traffic from your email campaigns to.
This is especially useful if your organisation works across multiple industries. An education specific webpage that head teachers land on immediately will generate higher engagement than a generic homepage where they need to search for the relevant education information.
Remember – make it easy for decision makers to find the information they want.
Target 3 – the budget holder
This is often the head teacher and the business manager, and as budget holders their roles can sometimes switch between being a decision maker and an influencer.
We know that:
- 66% of head teachers and business managers approve all spending.
- 100% of business managers review spending ideas from other staff members.
- 50% of business managers and head teachers meet at least once a month to discuss finances in detail.
The budget holders often review new products and services, approve suppliers, and authorise the budget allocations for certain purchases. For example, heads of department and subject teachers will often research new study resources before getting final sign-off from the business manager. In this case, the business manager is more of an influencer and a facilitator than a key decision maker.
As the financial decision makers for the school, business managers and head teachers are interested in cost so will look for this information in your email.
We know that navigating the current cost of living crisis is a key challenge for schools right now. In fact, 56% of head teachers have reported rising costs as one of the biggest challenges for their school this year. And 78% have said they’ll need to make cuts this academic year because of inflation and rising living costs.
Use your emails to highlight the cost saving benefits you can offer.
And there you have it – your guide to the top 3 decision makers to include in your teachers mailing list. Just to recap:
- Highlight the benefits of your products or services to your end-user.
- Tell the decision maker why your company is the best choice for their school.
- Emphasise any cost saving benefits to the budget holder.
But that’s not all – there are a many other things to think about when developing a lead-generating marketing campaign including: when to send your email campaigns, how to grab teachers’ attention, what your email should look like, and what to do after your email has been sent.
Don’t forget, you can browse all our free resources and blog to find everything you need to get great results from your marketing to schools.
*All information is taken from our own internal email campaign analysis and teachers who completed our 2023 Schools Surveys.