This is the time of year when Catholic elementary or high schools are attempting to move prospective students/parents to action. Never underestimate the power of a powerful, promotional letter that... 

• Captures the attention of the reader.
• Convinces the reader that his/her wants, needs, and desires will be met.
• Compels the reader to take action.

What follows is advice on how to create and mail an impactful promotional letter. In the following, we refer to a kindergarten promotional letter. However, these same principles can be applied to just about any other promotional letter using a teacher, guidance counselor, school parent, alum, etc...

On the Envelope:

• Handwrite the Name and Address. If you have too many (good problem to have), type them using a laser printer.
• Use a colored envelope.
• Underneath the return address, use this teaser: Do You Remember Your Kindergarten Teacher...
• Place a live stamp (first class or bulk rate)...no printing your Bulk Rate Permit Number in the right hand corner. Few people will look closely enough at the live stamp to see that it is not first class postage.
• With blue ink...have your kindergarten teacher sign his/her name over top of the return address.

On the Inside Letter:

• Select good quality paper.
• Date the letter.
• Use an inside address.
• Print a color photo of the kindergarten teacher(s) onto the letter.
• Use the parent's first name in salutation.
• Indent paragraphs as this is not the time to have a "cookie cutter" looking letter.  Indentions actually help the reader to move through the letter.
• Use a ragged right margin.
• Don't worry about the length of your letter. It only becomes too long when it starts to get boring. How do you know if you have become boring? Ask someone who will give you candid feedback.
• Get them to turn the page e.g. leave a sentence unfinished, thus forcing the reader to finish the sentence on the next page.
• Personally sign each letter in blue ink.
• Always use a P.S. e.g. "Experience my kindergarten classroom in action by contacting the school to schedule a visit."
• Use Times New Roman Font.
• Make sure your letter is reviewed by someone with strong editing skills.

Content of the Kindergarten Teacher's Letter

• Use an interesting opening sentence and state a major benefit. Tie into your envelope teaser with the following starter sentences. Do you remember your kindergarten teacher? Well, I promise to create the kind of positive kindergarten experience that your child will never forget!
• Use the parent's first name often.
• Use YOU and YOU'RE a million times.
• Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Use active words and phrases.
• Use real numbers, don't round.
• BOLD, Hi-Lite, and Underline key points...create sub-headings throughout the letter.
• Write handwrite notes in the margins.
• Repeat the major benefits.
• Ask for action e.g. call the school to schedule a visit, email me, check out www.stexampleschool/kindergartenclassroom.  
• Pretest your letters e.g. have a couple of your current kindergarten parents read it and give feedback.

Questions to Ask about Your Letter

• Is your letter clear and easy to read?
• Is your letter interesting?
• Is your letter concise?
• Is your letter full of benefits?
• Is your letter believable?
• Is your letter friendly?
• Is your letter action-oriented?

Always Remember Three Things:

1. Some people will only scan your letter. Make it easy to scan for the main points you are trying to make.
2. Some people will read every last word of your letter. Don't disappoint them with the content.
3. All people need to be led to do what you want them to do. Spell out next steps with a strong call to action.

Are You Emailing Your Prospects?

By now, you should have collected several prospective family email addresses. You should be emailing these families that have given you their email address at least once a month, if not more frequently. Come up with an interesting theme to each of your emails. See each of them as a campaign. Here are some email campaign themes that you should consider this time of the year.

Subject Lines:

• Get Answers to Questions Soon to be Kindergarten Parents Ask
  
• Get Answers to Questions Soon to be High School Parents Ask
  
• Learn How to Best Position Your Student for College Scholarships
  
• Learn About Key Indicators for Kindergarten Readiness
  
• Discover the Real Value of a Catholic School Education
  
• Ways to Help Finance Catholic School Tuition
  
• Check Out These Proven Catholic School Success Stories
  

Note:

Recently, I have been segmenting my email campaigns to determine whether broader subject lines (like those above) are more often opened than those that specifically mention the school's name. I am finding that the open rate is about 3% higher for those emails with broader subject lines. See what works best for you. One more thing, make sure to include an option to opt out at the end of your email, if you are not using an email system that already does this for you. Don't get overly concerned if some of your prospects opt out. Opting out is just part of today email world.