Delivering messages to a decision point

I like receiving meeting requests in my Outlook instead of a regular email that says something like: “how about we meet 2pm Friday at Trolls Restaurant”.

With the regular email I open it, switch to my calendar, check Friday, make a new event, switch back to the email, copy the relevant info, switch back to the event and paste, save the event, switch back to the email, hit Reply and type my response, hit Send.  Lots of steps.

With the meeting request I simply view my calendar, make  decision, click Accept. All done.

Now imagine advertising messages that I am genuinely interested in that involve dates and times e.g. a special tee time offer at my favourite golf course or a weekend special at the Whistler Fairmont Hotel. It’s much easier for me to view the offer in my calendar which is the place where I make scheduling decisions. I can act on the opportunity with only a few clicks.  This is the type of service I would use enthusiastically.

The problems with email marketing

Are we reaching saturation point with email as a medium? Spam filters, ISP controls, image blocking are examples of barriers to deliverability. And what about the sheer volume of emails many of us receive on a daily basis? In my working day if I leave the office a 1 hour meeting by the time I return many of the new messages in my inbox have already scrolled off screen.

Is it time for an uncluttered medium that is unplagued by these kinds of deliverability problems?

And what about “timeliness”? Email marketers tell us that Tue and Wed are optimal days to improve readability and action. But if you’re marketing an event or time-sensitive promotion, wouldn’t it make sense to present it in an uncluttered medium where people actually make scheduling decisions?

At Calgoo we’re working on these problems and will be launching a new service in October.

Calgoo Core Customers Growing

A few months ago we decided to package up our core calendar sync / share technology in the form of an API and release it as a commercial product. One of our motives was to ensure our own technology would continue to be developed in a modular and scalable approach with good separation of concerns. Using an API approach assists us in meeting these goals.

Our other motivation of course was to generate revenue. I have been surprised at the almost daily inquiries about our calendar sync / share technology and the variety of products and services that prospective customers are developing with calendar inter-operability requirements. This is where Calgoo Core fills a unique need and position in the market for software development components.

First live customer for In-Calendar Marketing

www.teetimes.net has gone live with Calgoo In-Calendar Marketing. I am pleased to welcome them as a Calgoo client. Teetimes.net offers online tee times bookings for Canadian golf course and will shortly add US golf courses. They have access to live data for thousands of golf courses. A key differentiator for teetimes.net is the ability to allow users to create live calendar feeds of the golf courses they select. This allows users to see the available tee times right from within their Outlook, iCal, Google Calendar etc and plan a golf came based on their personal schedule. Once the teetime is selected from the calendar view, it can be booked with a single click.

I am confident In-Calendar Marketing will be a major competitive differentiator for teetimes.net and I wish them success in their business.

Calendar Advertising

We’re still largely in stealth mode on this, but I can say our first customer will go live in approx. 1 week. I am really pleased with the technical progress and we are on track for a public release in early fall. In the same way people will buy niche magazines replete with advertising, I believe there will be an appetite for highly targeted and relevant calendar advertisements.