There are many ways in which schools and colleges can utilise SMS marketing. It can, without doubt, make internal and external communications quicker and easier, and of course be far more environmentally friendly compared to sending out letters or leaflets. SMS marketing can not only immediately reach parents or guardians, but also the teachers and students of the senior school, college or campus, with important messages.
SMS marketing can be used to promote school events such as fund raising events, PTA family activities and school plays and performances to students, parents and community leaders on the school board. Greater awareness should lead to bigger attendance and SMS marketing is a great tool for sending out time-sensitive information. For example, an on-the-day reminder can be sent out quickly and easily to help boost turnout and potential ticket sales.
SMS marketing could also be used to promote school open days and parents evenings. Secondary schools may obtain parent’s contact details (with their permission) through the local primary schools. From here they would be able to target relevant families with children approaching their final year, and notify them of the date and time of the open day. Colleges can do the same with near-by secondary schools. All schools can benefit from Parents Evening appointment reminders as well. These can be sent on the day to keep scheduling accurate and the flow of parents through the school as relevant as possible.
Other ways in which sending out bulk SMS messages can be used by schools include:
- Inset day reminders
- Notifying students and parents of school closures (burst pipes, snow days etc)
- Sending out exam and coursework results
- Notifying students when their coursework folders are ready for collection
- Notifying parents when reports have been given out
- Home to school transport delays or changes
- Special announcements
Parents’ mobile numbers are collected when filling in emergency contact forms, student numbers could also be collected at the same time. To make things simpler you could even set up a short code number for students to text in a keyword (free for them) so that you have a database of their numbers ready to keep them up to date with school events and important announcements.
As with all SMS marketing campaigns, the messages should always add value and not be too frequent so as not to annoy people otherwise they will opt-out of receiving your messages. School to Home SMS marketing is a great tool for speedy communications in today’s era of Smartphone and smart messaging communications.
To find out more on SMS marketing and how to incorporate it into your communication activity, please check out our website for more information or get in touch with the TextAnywhere team on 0845 122 1302 or via email to [email protected].