WHY EMAIL TEACHERS DIRECT?

There are several ways of reaching teachers via email:

• Through shared mailings, in which a number of advertisements are tagged together in one bulk email and sent to nominated teachers*

• Through generic emails to schools - these are normally addressed to the school administrator and require the administrator to pass the email on.

• Directly to the individual teacher.

When considering the response rates generated by each of these services it is quite clear that shared e-mails have by far the lowest response rate - and this is not surprising since in order to find each message the reader has to plough through several other items first.  The highest response rate we have seen reported using a shared email service is around 3%**

Generic shared mailings get a higher response rate.  Only one message is included in the mailing - which helps enormously. However the item does go to the school administrator and she has to pass the email on to colleagues.  In some schools with complete email systems this is fairly easy (although it does take a moment) but in smaller schools there may be no comprehensive email system and therefore the administrator will have to print out the leaflet and put it in a pigeon hole if the teacher is to get it.  The highest rate we have seen is 7%.**

Emailing teachers direct however the email goes on its own, and goes directly to the teacher, without going via the administrator.  This system therefore overcomes the problems that occur with both the other systems.  The highest response rate we have seen is 35%.**

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Notes:

* It is important not to confuse shared mailings sent via direct mail and shared mailings sent via email.  Direct mail shared mailings include a number of leaflets which go to the school administrator who then passes them on to relevant teachers.  Each teacher therefore normally only gets one leaflet at a time.   Email shared mailings send a collection to the same teacher - which the teacher has to work his/her way through.  This is why direct mail shared mailings generate much higher response rates than email shared mailings.

**  These are the highest response rates we have witnessed ourselves, or had reported from Emedia - the company that runs the shared email service.  These have been generated by free offers - where one is selling a product the results will be lower.