Email is the preferred method of communication for most people in the workforce . . . are you taking full advantage of this opportunity to communicate with your agents? While newsletters might not be appropriate for all industries, they are a highly valued and effective method to promote sales in the higher education sector. Read on to learn more about the benefits of creating newsletters for agents.
The Benefits of Creating Newsletters for Agents
Benefit 1: Newsletters keep agents up to date
You could share your latest news with your agents via a traditional email or an easy-to-read, branded newsletter with graphics, images, and catchy fonts. Which would you prefer to read?
Schedule your newsletter to coincide with the release of new price lists, programs, course schedules, or the publication of other marketing materials (such as a video testimonial).
Benefit 2: Newsletters provide useful data about your agents and the information they are seeking
Did you know that newsletters are a valuable tool for data collection? With a newsletter, you can gain access to the following information:
- Which accounts received your newsletter (and which accounts caused the email to bounce back)
- Which email accounts opened the newsletter (and how many times it was opened)
- Which URLs and images were clicked on
- What PDFs were downloaded
This data illustrates which agents are utilizing your newsletter, which in turn helps you better understand its effectiveness (and what information should be included in future newsletters). Furthermore, your email newsletter data tells you where agent interests are: the most clicked hyperlinks or most highly downloaded PDFs indicate which programs agents are promoting (and which they are not).
Benefit 3: Newsletters provide an opportunity to brand your institution and recycle marketing materials
Are you getting enough use out of your logo, your written and video testimonials, your blog posts, and your professional photos? Newsletters provide another opportunity to use these materials and present them in a professional, branded way. Be sure that agents understand your school’s message loud and clear.
Benefit 4: Newsletters ensure you have the most current agent contact information
People change jobs all the time. Are you 100% sure that every email address you have for every agent is up to date? If not, consider a newsletter. Each time you send an e-newsletter, you will receive a report of emails that bounced back. Some are “soft” bounces, meaning that there simply may be some spam software installed on the agent’s email account. This is an opportunity to email this agent directly, provide them with the link to the newsletter, and show them that your school has a high attention to detail.
Sometimes, the bounces are “hard bounces.” These are emails that no longer work. Either your institution has the incorrect email listed (this happens often!) or this person is no longer with the company. Either way, this is a red flag . . . and something that should be investigated further. In doing so, you are ensuring you are up-to-date on your partner agencies and their personnel.
