In February 2017, Agile Education Marketing asked educators all about email. Do they like receiving emails about education products and services? What prompts them to open and act on these emails? How many of these emails do they receive daily? Part 2 of our survey results reveals how administrators and teachers interact with emails daily. Click here for Part 1, or view an infographic of the survey results.
How often do you check email throughout the day?
Administrators and teachers alike are very tied to their email. Teachers are more likely to check email during free periods throughout the day, while administrators — who work at their desks for longer periods — often check email continuously. Consider this data when scheduling email deployments. You may receive better results if you send emails to teachers at specific times of the day when they’re at their desks. Otherwise, you risk your messages becoming one of many that pile up in their inbox while they’re teaching. With administrators, deployment scheduling is a bit more flexible.
What times of day are you most likely to open emails about education products and services?
Teachers are more likely to open messages at specific times. Morning, between the hours of 7:00 and 11:00, is particularly popular, as is the late afternoon, between 3:00 and 5:00, when students have left school. Teachers also are more likely than administrators to open emails during lunch, from 11:00 to 1:00, compared to the 3 percent of administrators who take this time for emails.
Be sure to keep time zones in mind. If you’re trying to connect with teachers across the U.S., for example, a smart strategy might be to send your message in the late afternoon EST, around 4:00. That way the email will still arrive late afternoon for CST teachers, and during lunchtime for PST teachers.
On average, how many emails about education products and services do you receive every day?
Administrators and teachers both receive a considerable amount of emails throughout the day, but not so many as to dilute email marketing’s effectiveness. Still, it’s important to make sure your messages stand out among the others that land in their inboxes — particularly when reaching teachers.
More teachers than administrators, albeit a small percentage, said they receive as many as 81-100 emails each day. Combine this with the fact that teachers limit time spent in their inboxes to specific periods of the day, which allows more time for your message to get lost in an email buildup. With this data, one could argue that teachers’ inboxes are a slightly more competitive space than administrators’.
On average, how long do you spend reading and responding to emails about education products and services each day?
When you take into account the number of emails administrators and teachers receive daily, they don’t dedicate much time to reading each one. In many cases, educators likely review their inboxes at a glance, deleting messages that don’t resonate and saving ones that do.
Your subject lines should be engaging and enticing so that your emails make the cut. Keep everything in your message strategic — from the copy to the design. Writing should be short, sweet and to-the-point. Pique educators’ interests without giving them so much information that they don’t click on the CTA. Speaking of the CTA, place one above the fold and repeat it several times throughout the message so educators know exactly what you want them to do and what the benefit will be if they follow through.
What do you typically use to open emails about education products and services?
Educators still prefer their desktop or laptop computers. However, our data suggests that administrators and teachers are embracing the on-the-go convenience of their smartphones more and more. Both groups were more likely to engage with email on these devices than their tablets.
Email has been and will continue to be an effective platform for engaging with educators. The key to maximizing lead generation, response and ROI is to tailor your communications to educators’ preferences and email best practices. Learn more about crafting tactical email campaigns from start to finish in our popular Email Marketing Best Practices guide.
