Back to school email marketing tips and examples

August is the high season for preparing kids to return to school or college, whether they’ll study online or offline this year. In this post, we provide you with the ultimate cheat sheet to craft an effective and engaging back-to-school email campaign.

And with our fully responsive back-to-school email templates, your e-commerce businesses will spend way less time on email production.

Back-to-school shopping statistics

Before we provide practical advice, here are some interesting statistics that may be useful for your back-to-school email campaigns.

Most popular back-to-school products:

• school supplies: 95%;
• clothing and accessories: 94%;
• shoes: 92%;
• electronics and computer-related equipment: 66%.

Highest back-to-school expenses:

• electronics: $14 billion;
• clothing: $11 billion;
• shoes: $8 billion.

Shopping locations:

• 57% online;
• 50% prefer department stores;
• 47% visit discount stores;
• 42% go to clothing stores;
• 23% buy from electronics stores;
• 22% use office supply stores;
• 16% support local/small businesses.

Shopping trends:

• 68% plan back-to-school shopping around major sales events;
• 55% start buying as early as July;
• 45% wait for the best deals;
• 45% wait for supply lists from their kids’ schools.

Based on these data, we offer you the top 12 tips for email campaigns to prepare for the back-to-school season.

Top 12 tips for back-to-school email newsletters

We're slipping you the ultimate cheat sheet for nailing your fall 2024 back-to-school email campaigns. With these insider back-to-school email marketing tips, you'll ace your email marketing strategy, grab your audience's attention, and score big on your back-to-school sales. No studying is required — just copy, paste, and watch your campaign get straight A's!

1. Get started on back-to-school campaigns today!

Get started on back-to-school basics today! It’s the right time to start this type of marketing campaign, as there isn’t much time left before the beginning of the new academic year. You need to start early, as the back-to-school shopping season is at its peak in July and August. For the maximum success from your email campaign and high conversion, you must fall into this gap.

(Source: Deloitte)

Create a sequence of back-to-school promotional emails to send prior to the holiday.

On the day the school year starts, send a simple back-to-school email with a checklist to let customers check whether they have everything they need.

2. Mention the school theme in the subject line

It’s common knowledge that first impressions matter, so you should pay close attention to your back-to-school copywriting in the subject lines because in most cases, they determine whether or not a recipient is going to open the email. You may even want to reveal the sale’s conditions in the subject line to get customers interested. Try to use fun subject headlines or preheaders.

Here are some examples of back-to-school headlines by famous brands:

• The Sharper Image: "Back to School Sale: $15 OFF $75!"
• Forever21: "Styled to School"
• TJKIDS.com: "Last days for the Back to School Sale!"
• Ikea USA: "Hanna, affordable back to school solutions for your home"
• Forzieri: "Final Hours | VIP Back to School Sale"
• Hearst Magazine: "Your One Stop Back-to-School Shop"
• Aldi: "Discover how Back to School is easy with ALDI"
• Dickies: "School Uniforms Starting at $4.99"
• BetterWorldBooks.com: "Back to School Sale: Still Time to Save 25% off 4+ Used Books"
• Keurig: "Go Back to School with Big Savings on Our Slimmest Brewer Yet!"
• Fat Brain Toys: "15% Off for Less Stress, More Learning!"
• Dollar Tree: "Write This Down..."
• NHLShop.com: "Free Shipping On ALL Back to School Must-Haves >>> "
• HP: "There are more ways than one to empower your student"
• Office Depot: "Super Savings On Back To School Supplies"
• Incase: "Up to 50% off sitewide to start the school year."
• Reebok: "Early Access: Get First Dibs on Our Back to School Sale"
• Alibris: "LIFETIME WARRANTY on Back to School Gear"
• H&M: "Back-to-school styles to opt for"
• Gap: "Back-to-School Sale | Save up to $20"

Use your imagination when creating a subject line for your back-to-school season email, but try to keep it within 24–50 characters because long email subject lines often get cut off at the end, and users may not see the full line. That’s why you should use short subject lines and add a preheader.

3. Let stereotypes work for you

The vast majority of people associate school with lessons, desks, and blackboards full of chalk writing. So, why not make these the main ingredients of the entire back-to-school email, like the TOMS did? They used various inscriptions with the effect of text on a blackboard.

(Source: Email from TOMS)

As we can see, the marketers worked pretty hard on the fall sales for a wide variety of prospects. The edge of the email was that the company prepared a good value proposition not only for “schoolchildren,” but also for almost all members of the family. It goes without saying that at any age, we love bragging about our new clothes.

The TOMS designers drew our attention to their email with the back-to-school email design — but there’s no info regarding prices or sale duration. The intrigue is maintained, creating a desire to go to the website to find out the details sooner. The preheader’s “Free Shipping” copy also is noticeable, as it was written in a different color.

School buses make the same impact on people. Once we see them, we think about school without even realizing it.

(Source: Email from Dickies)

Get inspired by this example, then try not to describe the sale’s details, but play with recipients' curiosity. In this simple way, you’ll keep them in your back-to-school email long enough, but will convince them to go to the website to make the final decision sooner.

Please be advised that with Stripo, you can build banners of any complexity and any kind.

4. Email design first

Your back-to-school email newsletter’s effectiveness depends on email design. Try not to overload your emails with a large number of colors, structures, and animations. Accentuate highly essential things. Investigate and analyze which items are popular now and put them on the first screen of the back-to-school email.

This academic year, TOPSHOP pleased all fashion people who want to look great. The chosen palette of two colors was mixed with the info on back-to-school products and perfectly fits the email’s general style. The email’s zest was the banner and word game, which complemented the school theme.

(Source: Email from TOPSHOP)

Word of advice:

We know that our containers on mobile devices go one under the other, e.g., the left ones go below the right ones, so if you plan to use a design similar to the chessboard, please activate the “Containers inversion on mobile”:

Enable this option only for the rows that start with the image container.

Various methods can be used to spice up newsletters with thematic elements. Try to use something similar in your emails:

• use a school bus to convey fast delivery;
• offer a discount or a promo code as a formula on the blackboard.

Also, when designing a back-to-school email, be sure to pay attention to the technical features – ensure that email elements used in emails are legible and responsive. According to Deloitte investigations, 49% of parents plan to do back-to-school shopping online. This means images aren’t supposed to exceed normal weight. It would be a shame if your customers closed the email before the image is downloaded.

5. Stick to trends

Always remember toward whom the back-to-school email promo is oriented. Among the schoolchildren, stationery, gadgets for school, smartphones, and new clothes for the fall-winter season are in high demand. Consider the rising generation’s interests and analyze the latest trends, events, and “hype” themes, which can bring customers delight. When producing a new series of classroom supplies and lunchboxes, conduct thorough online research on which pop culture elements are cooler this fall, e.g., Marvel or DC?

Yes, you can say that kids won’t read back-to-school emails, and that’s true, but who ever said that parents don’t follow their children’s trends?

The “Raising Little Superheroes” playing on the love of trends prepared the entire manual. Its motto was: “We’ve got everything you need for the beginning of a school year: from bags to pencils for little Jedis.”

(Source: Email from Raising Little Superheroes)

6. Add more engaging elements

We already said that information should be not only relevant, but also beautifully wrapped. Visual elements’ main mission is to grab attention, while engaging ones are there to keep it for a while. They include GIFs and interactive elements, such as buttons that change colors when a mouse is rolled over them, a drop-down menu, image carousels, maps, and other elements that you can add to your email layout.

Marketers have stated that interactive elements increase back-to-school email effectiveness due to customer engagement. Consequently, so do CTR and sales revenue.

Just look at how carefully Ban.do reminds parents, “Are you ready for the academic year? Have you forgotten to buy something? If yes, then welcome to our store!”

(Source: Email from Ban.do)

The entire email was painted in black and white, but you can notice some bright elements that grab our attention. Also, they enlivened a banner with GIF animation. Looks pretty interesting!

Make your emails attractive and vivid by using bright colors, animations, and interactive elements. You may even build AMP emails with image carousels, etc.

It will evoke interest in your customers and will help you stand out among competitors.

7. Make your CTA button noticeable

Always add a concise CTA to the beginning of your back-to-school email or its subject line. These simple assignments will help your subscribers take the right path and lead them to a logical ending of the school deal or a landing page. Use simple copy to get the subscriber to leave feedback or subscribe to your Instagram page. We know that the best way to get what you want is just to ask for it.

The simple icon and the short concise copy make this email button clear.

Please be advised that you can create diverse icons for your CTA buttons with Stripo.

When working on a button design:

• activate the "Button with icon" option;
• upload a necessary photo;
• set the width for this icon.

8. Share some tips

Here’s one more successful back-to-school newsletter idea: include some tips and interesting recommendations in your emails. By doing this, you demonstrate your expertise in a given theme and increase customers’ loyalty. Remember to focus on the usefulness of the information you share, but not on your profit.

AL&DI made a great back-to-school email digest in which they shared ideas, including snack recipes.

(Source: Email from AL&DI)

You can think of many similar ideas for your back-to-school emails, which means that there are many more reasons for fall newsletters to exist, e.g.:

• how to improve your productivity in class;
• five gift ideas for favorite teachers;
• ideas on how to help your child make friends in a new school.

9. Promote via social networks

Email marketing campaigns are great, but we need to remember to use your marketing efforts with other tools, and back-to-school email campaigns will work even better. If subscribers like your social media pages and know what the words “hype” and “vlog” mean, then you should collaborate with bloggers, who are famous among children and adults.

(Source: Stripo email template)

Consider that there are parents who buy kids' stuff only after reading bloggers’ feedback. Please be advised that if you want this method to be effective, you need to make posts about current back-to-school sales on a regular basis. Add links to all of your active social networks’ profiles to let prospects choose preferable ones.

10. Build a sense of urgency in back-to-school email marketing campaigns

By building a sense of urgency, you make the items that you’re promoting desirable. Stress to prospects that time is running out, and that the sale duration period will end soon, just like summer break.

Three common methods can be used to implement this strategy in your back-to-school marketing pipeline: copy; proper images; or adding a countdown timer in your back-to-school emails. These methods elicit great results by convincing recipients to make their decisions sooner.

Urgent emails work better during a pre-holiday period. The less time left before the holiday, the more active your users get.

Please remember that you can build and design countdown timers for back-to-school email marketing directly in Stripo.

11. NOT only schoolchildren

College students, office workers – we shouldn’t forget about them.

Of course, it’ll be relevant for them if you're selling gadgets, not school uniforms.

When emails accidentally are sent out to those who don’t find them relevant, recipients become irritated because for many people, the beginning of a school year is just another working day if they’re not students or don’t have kids.

Still, you need not blow this opportunity. Make this theme relevant for everyone. It may sound like this: “It’s never too late to learn something new. Choose a new hobby according to your taste: take salsa or tango classes. Do it today to get 20% off for the first class!”

12. Help everyone save

Are you running a restaurant? Selling cosmetics or coffee machines?

After acquiring back-to-school essentials, which cost us some money, we would love to buy our everyday stuff at lower prices. 

Provide your customers with a clear view of available discounts so that they can decide for themselves whether or not they’ll make a purchase. In its back-to-school sale email, the School of Life education company provided a description of discounts on various training books, indicating old prices and a detailed description of each book.

Get inspired by the best examples

There are many ways to overcome a lack of ideas when it comes to a new back-to-school email design:

Stripo templates

In case you need a ready-to-use solution with a responsive layout, look no further. On the Stripo templates page, select one based on your needs and tastes, and certainly based on the type of back-to-school advertising campaign.

Pinterest
Pinterest offers hundreds of back-to-school marketing phrases and design solutions from famous brands, such as Apple, Nike, The Gap, etc.

Email Love
Email Love curates a collection of beautifully designed email campaigns to inspire your next marketing project.

Milled
Milled aggregates thousands of email newsletters from top brands, providing insights into the latest trends in email marketing.

Wrapping up

Remember to reward your customers with discounts and demonstrate that going back to school will bring only good emotions and impressions. Promote not only sales, but also the emotions that your prospects will experience through your back-to-school marketing campaigns. Take our advice and be a good achiever among competitors with a well-crafted back-to-school newsletter.

If you have other ideas or experiences you'd like to share with us, please comment below.