Back-to-school season is right around the corner, so it’s time for educators to get their welcome emails ready for parents and for businesses to take advantage of the end-of-summer momentum.
Read on to discover a variety of back-to-school newsletter ideas and templates for both educators and businesses that will up the excitement and have everyone ready to sport their school colors.
Why you need a newsletter
With over four billion active email accounts worldwide, it’s no wonder people prefer to communicate via email. Both schools and businesses are taking advantage of this by supplying the public with more opportunities to communicate through email, and one way is by providing them with newsletters.
An email newsletter is more than an efficient way to communicate with the public. Newsletters are intended to keep your audience updated on current events, helpful tips, and other relevant information, like upcoming sales and links to event calendars.
Newsletters are typically sent out on a regular schedule. Remember, these email newsletters are designed to keep your subscribers engaged, connected, and informed, so don’t spread them out too far.
Email marketing is big in the education industry, which sees some of the highest open rates overall.
In fact, we broke down billions of emails sent worldwide in order to discover averages for the most important metrics by industry and day.
Back to school: a time to celebrate
For businesses, back-to-school season means consumers looking to buy.
While some newsletters are geared toward encouraging purchases, back-to-school-season newsletter ideas need to revolve around information, not sales.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make product suggestions.
Back-to-school templates and ideas for educators
It’s essential to give educators an idea of how they can work newsletters into their regular communications with students and parents. Consider some of our free templates that can easily be edited and used for educators during the back-to-school season.
Back to school: technology parents and students need for the year
Technology is a must in the classroom these days. Many schools are now giving their students laptops and tablets to ensure they have the necessary technology both at home and during school to get the most out of lessons and resources that teachers include in their lesson plans.
This back-to-school season, why not create a newsletter that centers around the technology that’ll be used both in and out of the classroom? These newsletters could introduce physical products, specific programs, or even share links to find the best deals, should a technology-related purchase be made.
Check out the free email template builder to see what you can create for your students here.
A letter from the teacher
Letters from the teacher are often used just before back-to-school season, but they don’t have to stop there. In fact, letters from the teacher can be an excellent newsletter idea for weekly or monthly updates on how the kids are doing in class or what the class is preparing to do or study in the days to come.
These options are completely customizable and give the educator free rein to encourage regular communication between themselves and their parents or guardians.
Classroom newsletter
Much like the letter from the teacher, a monthly classroom newsletter is a great way to keep parents and guardians informed on what’s going on in the classroom.
Material for these newsletters could include links to classroom calendars, updates on what students are learning in the classroom, and reading suggestions for parents or students for outside classroom hours.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Hot lunch menu
School lunch menus are an important piece of information, and parents can now receive these updates via a hot lunch newsletter.
These newsletters can be sent out weekly or monthly, and they can include more than just the menu for the time period. Other topics could include curated information on recipes to make at home, healthy diets for active schoolchildren, and more.
Source: Campaign Monitor
Back-to-school newsletter ideas for businesses
The key to creating a back-to-school newsletter for businesses outside of the education sector is to think outside the box. Besides shopping for new school supplies and dorm room accessories, back-to-school season means:
- Fall favorites are back
- Keeping a more consistent schedule
- Preparing for the holiday season, and so much more
Consider the following examples, all of which are great for attracting business during the back-to-school season.
Wirecutter Weekly
Email newsletters are more about providing information to readers than selling to them. However, Wirecutter Weekly does an outstanding job of both in their fall email newsletter.
Not only does it suggest warm recipes to try, but also popular items that fit along with the topics at hand. Instead of pushing these products on readers, they’re making quality recommendations based on the topics presented throughout the newsletter.
Source: Really Good Emails
Skillshare
With back-to-school season comes more downtime for some parents—downtime that can be filled with learning of their own. Skillshare’s newsletter is a curated list of online classes that can be taken by anyone and include a variety of different subjects, ensuring that there are different options to suit multiple interests.
Source: Really Good Emails
Firefox
Back-to-school season is one of the busiest retail seasons of the year. Not only are there consumers out there looking for stellar Labor Day deals, but there are plenty of people shopping for their school and office supplies and furnishings to build their perfect dorm rooms.
Firefox’s newsletter update on protecting yourself while online shopping is an ideal way to ring in the back-to-school season without having to push promotions. It’s purely informative, which fits into the newsletter niche perfectly.
Source: Really Good Emails
Everlane
Everlane’s newsletter is another example of showing off curated items as part of a gifting guide, focusing on recommending ideas for those looking to give gifts this season.
The items in this newsletter are clearly fall-related, and they range from stationery, backpacks, and even clothing suggestions.
Source: Really Good Emails
Booking.com
Booking.com does an outstanding job of putting together a bucket list of last-minute destinations that can be booked and enjoyed on the fly.
This newsletter contains a blurb of information to entice subscribers and allows them to book immediately so they can take full advantage of their many travel options. This would be a great campaign for those looking to fit in one last summer trip.
Source: Really Good Emails
Wrap up
Back-to-school newsletter ideas are aplenty, and nearly every industry can benefit from them. While many businesses will focus on the back-to-school sales, more and more educators are turning to email newsletters to increase communication with their students and their family members.
Keep these pieces of information in mind when designing your next email newsletter:
- Stick to your niche: To keep organized, you’ll want to stay on topic.
- Make use of eye-catching graphics: This helps to keep readers engaged longer.
- Make use of different design principles: Utilizing the reverse pyramid can help guide a reader to a given call to action.
Need a little more guidance on what an email newsletter is and how it can benefit your brand? Check out our piece on what content marketers need to know about email newsletters and feel free to contact us for more information.