As most schools are anxiously awaiting to receive their yearbooks for distribution, here are a few tips to help boost yearbook sales. We have a bit of advice to offer based on our recent successful campaigns helping schools with yearbook sales throughout this past school year!
It’s not too late to launch your email and text blast campaigns and generate more yearbook sales, especially if your yearbooks have not sold out yet.
Email Blast
Emailing may seem like a foreign concept to many students today, but it is more effective than you may think and yields great results in terms of generating additional yearbook sales. Email blasting is a strategic campaign because the email goes directly to the parents of students—parents tend to be more likely to want their students to have a yearbook for memory’s sake. Part of this campaign lies in how we draw parents’ attention. You have to make sure that parents are visually impressed by the email by showing them a glimpse of what the yearbook has to offer. Make sure to include a purchase link.
All-Calls
If a parent may not have an email address, implementing all-calls would be especially beneficial for them. Your school’s messaging system can tell parents and/or students where to go to purchase a yearbook (i.e. school's cashier or visit an online purchase link). When the message is short and sweet, it tells parents or students where and when to buy yearbooks in a way that keeps their attention and directs them to where they need to go. While it may lack the visual aspects of an email, it is easily accessible for so many parents! This tactic is free and very easy to use. It’s effective because phone information for parents is generally always correct, and they are more likely to hear and receive the message. A huge benefit is that it could include a bilingual version based on your school’s demographic.
Text message blast
Text messages are a normal part of communication today—we should be able to harvest that technology and incorporate it into how we campaign! Sending out a simple text message will reach a large body of students and parents and direct them to where/ what they need to do. The text message should be short and to the point, reminding parents or students to make the yearbook purchase using the link provided. We can incorporate a visual aspect through a text message and include a picture of the yearbook cover and a couple of pictures of their child or graduate in the message.
Payment link
Payment links are an easily accessible and convenient way for parents, faculty, or students to purchase a yearbook. It takes them directly to where they need to go online to make the purchase and saves so much time for any parent/ student. If your school does not have the option to receive payments online, contact your yearbook publisher for assistance. At United Yearbook, we assist schools to help process payments online and provide a purchase report that yearbook advisers, business managers, and cashiers have access to.
When to send the email and text blasts and how often
Timing is everything! Timing the email blast to be sent at the right time is just as important as sending one in the first place. The optimal times to send email and text blasts are listed below. These times are based on primary data we have collected throughout our campaigns.
The best days of the week for the blasts are Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday.
The best dates are, the 15th and last day of each month because it is more likely that parents or students will be getting their paychecks around that time.
The optimal times are 3 pm-4 pm and 8 pm-10 pm on the weekdays we listed before.
The best way to email blast is to pick at least two of those days each week and send them out every week up until the week before yearbook distribution (if there are any yearbooks left by that time).
While social media such as Instagram or Facebook might increase the exposure of yearbook sales, it does not necessarily generate the yearbook sales directly. Email and text blasts have been tested and are considered to be more effective in terms of generating yearbook sales. This does not mean social media isn’t a great tool to have! Email and text blasts are just great campaigns to have specifically for yearbook sales!
United Yearbook regularly offers workshops and resources on this and other topics, for both new and experienced advisors. To learn more, contact us at 877-489-7462, info@UnitedYearbookPrinting.com, or visit our website at www.unitedyearbook.net.
Sarah Y. Tse, Yearbook Creation Specialist
Sarah received her M.A. in Marketing from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and her B.A. in Computer Graphics Design from Biola University. She co-founded TSE Worldwide Press in 2004, and established United Yearbook Printing in 2008. Sarah takes pleasure in mentoring and teaching others the art of self publishing, especially with those who are first-time authors, teenagers, or community leaders such as police officers, school administrators, and school teachers. Sarah is passionate about empowering people to see and activate the God-given potential which resides in each of us. Sarah’s motto is “You can do it!”
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