The Monday Morning Fizz is a weekly occurrence at Sprint Education HQ. It’s an opportunity for the Co-Founders, Ben and Guy, to share any latest news and for the team to focus on our clients’ campaigns in the week ahead and discuss what we need to do to make sure they smash it out of the proverbial park.

As Sprint Education’s resident ‘stat man’, it’s my job to update the team with all the very latest educational news stories and run through the latest stats and trends from our clients’ emails to teachers (this little segment I’ve taken to calling Stu’s Edu-News and I’ve even created myself a little jingle!).

Recently it struck me that I should be sharing these facts and stats with our followers so that you can have all the latest education news and marketing to schools trends to hand when planning your upcoming email strategies. So here it is, the first of what I hope will become a monthly blog doing just that!

The latest marketing to schools stats:

In this part of the blog I’ll be sharing some of the headline stats from the hundreds of email campaigns we’ve been sending for our clients in recent months; picking out the key emerging trends so that you can incorporate these in your upcoming emails to teachers.

1. Thursday campaigns lead the way in open and click rates

Whilst most people want to send on a Tuesday, this is the worst performing weekday! Thursdays are the top-dog currently this year, having knocked Friday from the lead position down to 2nd spot, whilst Monday (when most people think teachers are "getting over the weekend") sticks at a respectable 3rd position overall.

2. 9am campaigns get the most opens, 10am the most clicks

So how are teachers opening so many emails between 9-10am when they are in lessons? Well 49.3% of emails to teachers are now opened on mobile devices so your emails are not just accessible before lessons and lunchtime, but 24/7, 365 days a year! The emergence of mobile opens may also explain the big drop during lunchtime hours when teachers are not engaging during their free time.

3. Campaigns sent during holidays almost match term-time

We've been saying it for a while but now the stats don't lie. By sending in the holiday periods on average you will generate almost the same open rate and only a slight drop in clicks.

4. Secondary Schools get the best open and click rates

The fact that decision making power is usually devolved to Heads of Department in Secondary Schools really gives these campaigns a massive boost. Instead of having to focus on emailing the Senior Leadership Teams - who have so many businesses competing for their attention - clients who market to Secondary Schools are able to talk directly with those teachers who are more starved of quality marketing.

5. Head Teachers open the most emails but click the least

This one surprised me! Head Teachers, who you'd think would be saturated with marketing, actually open the most emails. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact that, as they are ultimately responsible for everything that happens within their school, they simply can't afford not to take a look at your marketing. However, they can be fairly ruthless when dealing with your emails so you'll have to work really hard to keep their attention.

6. Plain text emails smash the open rates

With the huge increase in the number of emails opened on mobile devices, it's not surprising to see that our responsive designs secure a significantly better click-through rate than the traditional fixed width design. However, it's noticeable how much better the opens are for plain text emails (those emails that look less like marketing and more like one-to-one messages). This stat proves once again the importance of mixing up your marketing styles and throwing in the occasional plain text email.

The top 3 recent educational news stories

In this section of the blog we’ll catch up on some of the biggest education sector news stories from recent months and discuss how these can be utilised in your marketing to schools.

1. Primary SATs shake up

This is huge. Instead of being happy to sit back and see results climb like an ever-upward tick, the government has significantly raised the bar in a bid to drive up standards.

The result has been a massive drop in the number of Key Stage 2 pupils meeting the required standard in maths, reading and writing; only 53% this year compared to 80% last year.

Despite the government assuring schools that these results should not be compared to previous years’ results, they have still set alarm bells ringing up and down the land. If you can help improve maths, reading and writing in primary schools then there has never been a better time to shout about it.

2. Major changes to GCSE grading

Last September, major changes were introduced to the English and Maths GCSEs which meant that students would be graded 1-9 instead of A-G. This September sees the new GCSE being rolled out to a host of other subjects including Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Languages, Religious Education, Geography, Music and History.

These new courses will include far less coursework, with grades in almost all subjects depending on exams. The courses have also been designed to be far more rigorous with exams being taken after two years of study rather than in modules with exams along the way.

All of these changes represent real challenges to both teachers and students. Not only will teachers need to get to grips with the content and structure of the new GCSE, they will also have to focus on ensuring their students are exam-ready come the summer of 2018. If you can help them meet the demands of the new GCSEs then you could become their new best friend!

3. Brexit prompts Citizenship lessons

2016 was a year of great political upheaval and nothing divided the nation quite like Brexit. To this day, we’re all still scratching our heads to try and work out what exactly Brexit means for the UK and the wider world. However, it must be even more perplexing and concerning for young people.

But it’s not just the vote on the 23rd of June; it’s also Donald Trump’s election victory and the recent Supreme Court ruling about who has the power to trigger article 50. In light of the fast-changing political landscape, school leaders and education specialists are quickly realising that there is a real need for ways to educate children about the political system and how it impacts on society.

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Email Teachers How to Sell to Schools Marketing to Schools

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