Here's Why Calendars and eCommerce Are the Future of Digital Marketing

Like it happens with most consumers out there, your potential customers are probably checking their phone right now. They’re checking their email, the time, and surfing for what they’ll require in the next few minutes. Why not take advantage of that by getting directly into their schedules? Be part of the direct relationship between calendars and eCommerce!

While calendars and eCommerce aren’t words you’d necessarily associate, they go together quite smoothly. It’s easy to think the future of retail lies in state-of-the-art technology like virtual reality, but these will remain niche practices for a while. One thing most people are doing now is using their online calendars for everything.

And that’s exactly where your brand comes in.

How Are Calendars and eCommerce Related?

While calendars and eCommerce aren’t the most naturally-sounding combination, here are a few reasons why they work together:

• Every smartphone comes with a built-in calendar. It’s the second most commonly used app, after email!
• Calendars tie to the “real-life” world better than any other app. They’re a person’s direct connection between online and the outside world. That means they drive meaningful engagement.
• Consumers are 86% more likely to take action regarding a product or service if there’s a related event on their calendar app.

How to Market with Calendars

There are a few ways to add calendars to your marketing strategy:

• Embed “add to calendar” buttons to your website or emails. This way, your customers can directly engage with your brand’s events, like big sales.
• Gather emails when your visitors sign up for a calendar event. You’ll then be able to add them to your newsletter for further engagement.
• Send personalized calendar notifications for those customers interested in your events.

You can mix calendars and eCommerce for all kinds of events, from online sales to webinars and physical experiences. Keep customers posted about what’s going on with your brand!

Best Calendars and eCommerce Practices

Take into consideration that calendars are very personal, and it’s only now that brands are starting to use them for marketing. Because of this, consumers aren’t accustomed to having ads on their calendar apps. If brands are very upfront about marketing on calendars, there’s a good chance they’ll cause rejection from consumers.

Here are some excellent calendar and eCommerce practices to keep in mind:

• Only share essential content on your calendars. Don’t spam with overly advertorial content, as you might end up blocked.
• Be direct and informative. When you’re sending calendar messages, don’t try to add extra marketing content in there. Be concise and straight to the point: explain what your event is about from the get-go.
• Treat all calendars the same. Your customers may use a variety of calendars like Google Calendar, Outlook or iOS. Make sure that, whatever they’re using, it’s easy for them to add your events.
• Segmentalize properly. Don’t send all calendar content to everyone who’s shown interest in your brand. Target effectively by separating customers by interests, location, behavior, and whatever other factors seem important. You won’t get as much engagement if you randomly send out calendar invites to everyone. Only the right people should be receiving calendar push notifications on their phones.
• Take notes. After you’ve run calendar-based marketing for a while, look at your numbers. You should be able to see link clicks, social shares, and other data. Look at what’s worked and what hasn’t, and keep updating from there.

Create a strategy for calendars and eCommerce that works, with the help of Bright Vessel. Our team of experts has years of combined experience working in all areas of digital marketing. Check out our website for more information about our services, or directly contact us for a more personalized approach!