If you want to get the maximum results from your school email marketing campaigns you need to put everything in your favour. The commonly accepted “best times” to send your email campaign go out the window when it comes to schools. Consider the following when planning your 2014 school marketing program.

1. School Terms

You should be aware of the school term dates for each state and territory. Ideally the best times to email during term are approximately one to two weeks after school term commences and again mid-term. You don’t want to catch someone just after a vacation when they have 200 waiting messages and are looking for stuff they can delete quickly.

Australian Capital Territory school term dates

New South Wales school term dates

Northern Territory school term dates

Queensland school term dates

South Australia school term dates

Tasmania school term dates

Victoria school term dates

Western Australia school term dates

2. Public holidays and Daylight Saving

You will want to avoid public holidays so be aware when the public holidays are held in Australia. They can vary from state to state. Also be sure to factor in daylight saving times to your campaign. Daylight Saving Time (DST) is in NSW, VIC, SA, TAS and ACT. Daylight Saving Time begins at 2am on the first Sunday in October, when clocks are put forward one hour. It ends at 2am (which is 3am Daylight Saving Time) on the first Sunday in April, when clocks are put back one hour.

3. Best days and times

The best days to email schools are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It is good to have an idea of the general behavior of your audience before sending a message. In schools teachers generally check their emails before school, at recess or lunchtime and again after school. As a rule of thumb try sending 10:00 – 10:30 a.m. or 1:00 – 1:30 p.m.

4. Target the right prospect

When emailing schools decide in advance who you wish to reach. Make sure you have a reliable list of schools with personalised first and last name, position and title. If you are unsure who to target take a look at the following definition of job roles in schools.

5. Stand out from the crowd

When planning your next email campaign consider how to make your email stand out from the crowd. Read our blog 10 tips to stand out from the crowd when selling to schools

Michael Bleakley

Michael Bleakley is a journalist, communicator and marketing professional of 25 years. His career began in his early 20’s publishing tech magazines for education. Michael’s career then moved into online and book publishing for a global business publisher, then finally into database publishing and marketing at A-ZGovBIZ.