Notificare is a big believer that every communication expression should contribute to customer engagement. This includes invitations by email for an event. Recently we've added the possibility to add vcards and calendar files in email attachments.
What is ICS?
The Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) is a media type which allows users to store and exchange calendaring and scheduling information such as events, to-dos, journal entries, and free/busy information. Files formatted according to the specification usually have an extension of .ics. With supporting software, such as an email reader or calendar application, recipients of an iCalendar data file can respond to the sender easily or counter-propose another meeting date/time. The file format is specified in a proposed Internet standard (RFC 5545) for calendar data exchange. Source: Wikipedia
Where to start?
There are several ways to drive engagement and increase attendance rates of your events by adding calendar invites to your emails. Either you can use one of the applications out there that allow the export of calendar information into ICS files like AddEvent. Just copy and paste the code into the message composer or create a partial out of it, and you are good to go.
Or you can create the information in iCalendar format, save it to the ICS file, and simply add it as an attachment to your marketing email. The email client will recognize it and let the user add the invite to their calendar. In the example below, you will see how Gmail displays it.
And here's how we created the file:
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20221205T142546Z
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SEQUENCE:0
DTSTART:20220602T070000Z
DTEND:20220602T160000Z
SUMMARY:Digital Marketing Live! with Notificare
DESCRIPTION:Emerce Digital Marketing Live is the event with thousands of curious and ambitious professionals in online marketing, advertising and interactive media. On June 2 brands\, companies and agencies talk and parade in a stimulating program of keynotes\, user cases\, workshops about the newest of the newest in digital marketing\, and we are happy to invite you to join us.\n\n---\n
X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:Emerce Digital Marketing Live is the event with thousands of curious and ambitious professionals in online marketing, advertising and interactive media. On June 2 brands, companies and agencies talk and parade in a stimulating program of keynotes, user cases, workshops about the newest of the newest in digital marketing, and we are happy to invite you to join us.
LOCATION:Amsterdam
ORGANIZER;CN=Notificare:MAILTO:info@notificare.com
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT2880M
ACTION:DISPLAY
END:VALARM
TRANSP:OPAQUE
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDARTry it for your next event.
As you can see, adding the right attachment is a best practice to get more engagement in your event emails. And, if you need any help, you can always contact our support for any questions you might have.