Are you working at one of the country's many schools specializing in adult and continuing education? And are you in charge of daily marketing responsibilities, which include email marketing, automation, and data flows in a system like ActiveCamapign?
If so, this is just for you.
Have you ever felt that advice on online product sales, optimizing checkout flows, and strategies to increase shopping cart size just flies over your head? And are you tired of hearing how everything in the e-commerce world can also be applied to the education sector?
It may seem like a stream of well-meaning advice, but not all of it hits the mark in relation to your industry.
And we need to change that!
So imagine being able to take the email gems from e-commerce and tailor them specifically for your sector. The challenge may seem big, but the solution is closer than you think.
We are introducing an approach here that is customized for you and the entire education sector. An approach that understands the unique challenges you face and delivers practical solutions that really make a difference both in terms of your daily workflows and for the students or participants you serve.
This approach has been tested, and it has passed
At MCB, our engagement with the education sector is part of our daily email marketing work. We collaborate closely with several of the country's AMU schools, which offer a wide range of courses and continuing education for adults.
These courses and continuing education programs are specially designed to enhance skills and open new opportunities for the unemployed and others looking to upskill in a dynamic market that requires adaptability.
And in order to be able to bring these opportunities directly to those who need them the most—whether it's the student/participant themselves or an associated job center—we have developed a solution that innovates the communication method via email.
With an advanced and automated approach in an email system like ActiveCampaign, we can send personalized updates at a fixed time interval chosen by you—be it monthly, weekly, or whatever seems relevant for your target audience.
These emails are generated automatically and pull data from an intelligent RSS feed.
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This means that you can set up a process that continuously and automatically sends out information about open courses and other educational opportunities to those for whom it is relevant. This way, you avoid having to make manual broadcasts - it saves time while ensuring that you always draw attention to the educations and courses that are open for enrollment.
The RSS feed included in the sent email is carefully designed to both filter and present courses and information that are always current and accurate. It automatically retrieves the information and follows the rules you have predefined. Thus, you can choose whether it should show, for example, the number of available places, registration deadlines, courses within specific industries, or something else.
And by using knowledge about the regional positive lists or the 6-week list, we ensure that each communication is not only relevant but also personal and directly targeted to the recipient's current needs and interests.
Let's take an example
A newsletter recipient clicks on the subject area 'The Green Sector' and then looks at a few different courses. This is a sign of interest in green courses. This behavior is recorded in the email system, and subsequent newsletters can be sent with RSS feeds that only contain courses within 'The Green Sector.'
Personalized content is the key to achieving success with email marketing. And when you utilize and apply the data that is collected, it creates more value for your newsletter recipients. And when you send valuable content to your recipients, they will respond with higher engagement and more conversions.
Win-win!
Fortunately, it's easy to get started
Start by choosing the right tool for the job.
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We recommend ActiveCampaign, which is one of the major players in email automation. It's a user-friendly and intuitive system, perfect for both beautifully crafted newsletters and more complex automated email flows. |
Once you have your email system up and running, it's time to get a handle on data. For this, you can use DataFeedWatch. DataFeedWatch is crucial for optimizing and managing data feeds, and the tool is ideal for product feeds used on channels like Meta and Google.
In our case, it will be used for managing feeds with courses and education, and you can (as described above) easily set rules for how the courses should be presented – for example, you can set it so that only the most relevant courses with an upcoming start date are shown.
With these tools in hand, you are ready to build effective flows.
In your email system, you create a simple automation that runs in a loop. Once your email with the RSS feed is sent, the process starts over, and the flow continues effortlessly. This ensures that the courses displayed are always updated and relevant.
This means less manual work for you and more value and relevance for your recipients. And that's why it's the end of manually adding course information in your newsletters!
(In the image, there is an example of how a flow can be built in ActiveCampaign.)
Next, the necessary feeds need to be generated. This could be a comprehensive list of all courses and education programs, or it could be several different feeds based on courses and education within various industries.
Many of our partners greatly benefit from lists such as the regional positive list, the 6-week list, current courses within the transportation industry, the green sector, management and organization, etc
(In the image, there is a preview of how a course can be presented in your email.)
Once you have set up your automation, determined your feed, and of course, crafted and designed your email, you are ready to go live with your flow. Go!
But how do you then get sign-ups for the lists that will receive the new emails you have set up? Does it need to be done manually? Fortunately not - this process can also be automated.
You can advantageously create a special registration form on your site where people can sign up to receive updates about current courses at the time interval you have determined. This way, you don't need to manually add contacts to your flow, and everything will happen automatically as soon as a contact subscribes and gives consent via the form.
If you use a preference center with interests, you should also add the option to sign up for the courses through this.
(På billedet ses et eksempel på en tilmeldingsformular, som inkluderer tilmelding til de automatiske flows med RSS-feeds. I dette tilfælde kan modtageren selv vælge ift. modtagelse af aktuelle kurser for 6 ugers listen og/eller fra den regionale positivliste.)
Now the flow, the feed, and the influx of new sign-ups manage themselves.
Thus, you only do the work once.
But does it work?
All of this sounds quite clever, don't you agree?
However, there can be a big gap between a good idea and action, and therefore your next concern is probably about the effect. Does it even work, and is it worth the effort?
We only see positive results!
The open rates are generally at a good, high level. Normally, we aim for open rates of 20%. In these emails, we see open rates of over 52%. And for click-through rates, the average is between 3-5%, while in these RSS flows, we see click-through rates of over 27%.
So what about afterwards, do I not need to do anything else?
Once you start using RSS feeds, you can continue to utilize them and create as many as fit into your email strategy.
For example, you can:
Make them an integrated part of your newsletters
Place RSS feeds as a permanent module in your newsletters. This way, the range of courses within a specific, selected area will automatically be displayed in all emails.
Add them to your interest-based flow mails
Set up one or more flows that are triggered by your recipients visiting your course groups. With repeated visits, you can initiate flow mails with relevant and current content - in this way, you deliver the information when it's needed. And you can simultaneously guide interested recipients towards signing up.
Get your recipients to sign up for monthly RSS mails
If you have a dedicated flow for RSS mails, you can encourage your recipients to sign up to receive these emails with current courses. For instance, add a module in your other emails that makes it easy to sign up through a form, thus receiving these RSS mails in the future.
