Calendars are a popular marketing material because they’re useful, attractive gifts for your customers and professional colleagues. With the right calendar and a good calendar promotion strategy, you can be sure your name and company get looked at every day, day after day, all year. It’s hard to beat that kind of impact, which is why a new, unusual calendar promotion is a great way to jump-start your branding.
Calendar Promotion: 6 Reasons Why It Works
Businesses of all kinds use calendars. In many homes, you will see a free calendar hanging on the wall that was a gift from a local business.
1. Calendars are useful
A calendar is one of the most useful gifts a person can receive. While digital calendars have emerged as an alternative, most people still rely on old-fashioned paper calendars to keep themselves on track. Paper planners, desk calendars, and themed calendars are big sellers because most of us prefer seeing our plans, appointments, and important dates on paper.
2. They’re attractive
Calendars that feature artwork and photography are popular for a good reason. People enjoy looking at beautiful images. A calendar with high-quality, attractive pictures brightens their wall and their lives.
3. They stick around
Like a refrigerator magnet, a calendar is always present in a prominent place. However, a calendar is more useful than a magnet. It’s also more interactive because the user writes on it, flicks the pages, and looks at it daily.
4. You can advertise all year
Unlike a one-time promotional event or special, a calendar lasts all year. It’s a form of passive advertising that keeps your name, company, and brand in front of your customer every day for a year.
5. Referrals are quick and easy
If your client wants to refer you to someone, they don’t have to dig around their contact list or rack their brains trying to remember your name. All they have to do is check the calendar hanging on the wall. Your name and contact information are prominently displayed, and that makes it easy for your customer to make a referral.
6. Distribution is simple
Calendars are lightweight. Mailing them out won’t put a huge dent in your marketing budget. They’re also a fantastic giveaway to take to conventions, job fairs, and other networking events. Bring your calendars to press conferences and other public events. Keep them in your company’s reception area, or include a free calendar with every service.
5 Unusual Calendar Promotion Ideas
If your marketing and advertising aren’t having the impact you’d like, maybe it’s time for a new calendar promotion. Here are five steps you can take to increase the impact of your calendar promotion.
1. List important dates
Use your calendar to help customers keep track of deadlines and other important dates. For example, if your customer regularly orders certain products, list the dates when they need to order for regular shipping of these items. Mark the dates when your company will be closed for holidays or other dates.
2. Offer surprise specials as a calendar promotion
On certain dates, plan to offer your customers a special or sale. Pick out dates throughout the calendar where you offer a 20% discount, BOGO (buy one get one free) offer, or other special to anyone who orders on that day. You can spark your customers’ interest by letting them know that your calendar is filled with specials created just for them.
3. Choose a theme for your images in your calendar promotion
Make your calendar visually appealing by choosing images related to a theme. It could be the industry you’re in or the interests of your clients. If you sell sports-related equipment, choose a sports theme. If your customers work in education, choose pictures of schoolhouses and teachers in schoolrooms. A bicycle supply manufacturer might post pictures of famous bicycle races, vintage advertisements, or photos of bicycles against beautiful scenery.
4. Use your calendar promotion as a lead magnet
If you have a business website, lead magnets can help increase your visibility through increased site visits. A lead magnet is something you offer people for free in exchange for their email or mailing address. Email marketing works, but it only works if you build a solid email list. To do that, offer something free—like a beautiful calendar—that encourages people to sign up.
5. Highlight upcoming events in your calendar promotion
If your industry has regular events like conferences and conventions, use the calendar to highlight the dates and locations of these events. Note which ones your customers can attend, and mark the days when registration is due, when they need to make hotel reservations, and other key facts.
Unusual Calendar Promotion Facts
How much do you know about the history of calendars and advertising? Here are some unusual calendar promotion facts.
- A promotional calendar typically gets 850 impressions (looks) over the year that it’s being used.
- 76% of people who own calendars use them daily and display them in a prominent spot.
- Studies show that 72% of consumers believe a high-quality promotional product is a sign of a high-quality company.
- More than 80% of people have a promotional product in their kitchen.
- 60% of people keep promotional items that they consider attractive.
- Only 20% of people will throw away a promotional item they receive.
What does this mean for you? If your calendar is high in quality, people are more likely to think well of your company or organization. They’re also likely to keep it in a prominent place like the kitchen, where they see it every day.
A Brief History of Calendar Promotion
If it seems like promotional calendars have been around since the dawn of time, that’s because they have – or at least since the dawn of modern commerce.
Who invented calendar promotion? The idea of a promotional giveaway calendar came about in 1890, when two prominent Iowa businessmen, Thomas Murphy and Edward Burke Osborne, came up with the idea of “art calendars.” These were the first calendars to feature beautiful artwork on every page, including photographs and paintings.
Murphy and Osborne owned newspapers and printing presses, so they were able to make many copies of the new calendars. They offered advertising spots to businesses who could put their names on the calendar pads.
Their unusual calendar promotion was a huge success. By 1894, their company had 94 employees and printed more than 3 million calendars a year.
Iconic advertisements
One of their biggest and best-known customers was Coca-Cola. Asa Griggs Candler, the company’s new owner, began putting its name and advertising images on many promotional items, including posters, trays, matchbooks, playing cards, and calendars. These always featured bright red colors, white lettering, and beautiful images that made these ads iconic. Even today, those images are associated with Coca-Cola’s advertising artwork.
The following year, advances in letterpress printing allowed the two entrepreneurs to create full-color, high-quality calendars. The company later opened printing plants in New Jersey, London, Toronto, and Sydney, Australia.
These smart businessmen knew a good idea when it hit them. Calendars became a much-loved advertising tool that businesses gave away to customers or sold. Calendar promotion has remained a popular marketing tool ever since.
Get Great-Looking Printed Calendars
We hope you’ve enjoyed this guide to unusual calendar promotion. Do you want your printed calendar to look its best? Our fast, expert printing will help you create calendars with sharp text and vivid colors. Talk to us today about calendar printing.
