Customers love discounts and whenever shopping season arrives they are on the lookout for best deals. Throughout the year, marketers look for opportunities to grab people’s attention and stand out from the competition.

Zoho Campaigns has come up with a solution for this need: Calendar -based Promotions, an autoresponder that allows you to plan email marketing campaigns for the whole year. If you plan a campaign for the busy shopping season ahead of time, you can avoid overloading your work and missing opportunities. In this ebook, we will examine the benefits of Calendar-based Promotions, when to use them, and how to target customers throughout the year.

The power of using Calendar-based Promotions, the clever autoresponder!

From acquiring a new customer base to utilizing clever branding, there is a lot to gain by using Calendar-based Promotions. Let’s take a closer look at some of the advantages.

• They reduce the headache of the peak season rush by letting you schedule campaigns in advance.
• You can inform your reliable customers of offers before everyone else. This helps generate buzz with your current customer base.
• You can creatively attract new visitors to your store.

Calendar based Promotions: – A Scenario

Bob is the owner of a new gym called “Fit Mantra.” Since opening in late 2013, it has steadily grown to 150 members. With the New Year around the corner, Bob wants to take advantage of the popular New Year’s resolution to get fit so he can increase his membership number and sell his other services like spa treatments and items from the Food Spot (a snackbar with health foods and supplements). Here is how Bob goes about executing his marketing plan:

• He creates an Autoresponder called “Get Fit 2015” and automates a series of marketing messages to be sent out from the last week of December up to January 2nd.
• The same marketing messages are scheduled to go on his company Facebook page and Twitter profile. He does this using the free Social Campaigns feature that comes standard with his Zoho Campaigns account.

His marketing messages:

• Members under the yearly plan can use the spa facility free for one month.
• Members get up to 50 percent discount at the Food Spot if they upgrade to a yearly membership.
• Members will get two months of free gym usage if they refer a new member in the second week of January.
• There will be an event called “Kickstart Fitness” on Jan. 2 that will feature nutritionists talking about the ideal diets for muscle building, weight loss, and weight maintenance.

Bob will end the marketing campaign on Jan. 3 by sending an email to all members asking for feedback. He expects positive outcomes despite his limited marketing budget.

What to do when a marketing campaign needs attention

Customers don’t just scout out discounts during the winter holidays anymore. Calendar- based Promotions can be planned year-round to catch a customer’s attention when they are most likely to look for deals. Let’s take a look at different occasions when you can use Calendar-based Promotions to create a marketing campaign.

Traditional holidays and festivals

The most popular holiday season goes from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Any amount of preparation you can do beforehand will lighten the load during this season. This is when Calendar-based promotions come in handy most.

Annual events

Depending on the product or service you sell, recurring events like back to school shopping and Summer Break are good opportunities to run these kinds of campaigns. Targeting a particular group of buyers with timely marketing campaigns is a great way to boost sales.

Sports events

It is always a great idea to maintain a calendar of big sporting evets and to center marketing campaign around these dates. For instance, baseball starts in April and runs through October. Football starts in early September and ends in December with the Super Bowl in late January or early February.

Anniversaries and days of national importance

You can promote your product or service on days of national importance such as Labor Day, Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Day, etc. People often get an extra day off at these times so they are more likely to look for sales.

Celebrating the change of seasons or weather

With changes in season, people like to change their look, diet and lifestyle. You can create promotions tailored to spring, summer, fall and winter.

Tips for Calendar-based Promotions

Here are few suggestions that you should keep in mind before starting calendar based promotions.

Plan in Advance

Create your marketing plan well ahead of the event. Also, decide on the promotional offers and deals to be offered during the period. The best way is to take a look at the calendar and start planning different types of offers and discounts at least a month in advance.

Segment Customers

It’s always smart to segregate the target audience and send messages tailored to their behavior and buying patterns.

Create your theme

A good way to start a campaign is to have a pre-designed template based on the event/season/holiday.

Timing is everything

The content of the message is important, but at the same time it’s also important when you send it. that message.

Promote in-store shopping

It’s a wise move to ask customers whether they want to go for in-store or online shopping if you provide both. Customers who only know your business by its physical locations may not realize you also offer online ordering.

The Calendar-based Promotions autoresponder reaches users with precision and on time. Use this feature to engage customers and develop your marketing efforts to produce better promotions. Good luck!