Rokt Calendar: 4 Ways to Grow Subscribers Before the New Season of a Show

Drive excitement and engagement of a new show by encouraging fans to add the schedule to their calendar

Before a new season or show begins, fans love knowing the schedule and sorting out their plans. So why not offer them a tool that allows them to add the schedules and events to their calendar?

Rokt Calendar accounts generally see the largest spike in subscriber growth in the 4-6 weeks leading up to a new season, so we highly recommend implementing the following action plan to maximize your subscriber growth during this crucial period.

1. Dedicated email blast
Sending a dedicated email to your user database is one of the most effective and low-cost ways to grow subscribers. Emails have proven to have a higher return on investment than social media and any other form of digital engagement. Across a large cohort of clients, email marketing tends to be the highest converting channel for calendar promotion with over 35% of e-mail click throughs resulting in a calendar subscribe. Given that a single subscribe results in multiple real-time event reminders, converting email audiences into calendar subscribers is a powerful strategy.

Send your fans an email with a subject that says something like “Add the new schedule of The Handmaid’s Tale to your calendar and never miss an episode!”. Be sure to Include a large “Add to Calendar” button in the body of the email so fans can click the button to go directly to the calendar page.

2. Promote frequently on social media
Promotion on social media is one of the most effective ways to gain exposure for your calendars and grow subscribers, so it is imperative that you promote heavily in the days and weeks leading up to the new season.

Generally you can promote more frequently via Twitter versus Facebook as Tweets move through the stream over time. Approximately 4-6% of your followers see any given Tweet so we recommend promoting frequently on Twitter (at least 3-4x a day) especially if you have a lot of other content flowing through.

For Facebook, we recommend sending out a dedicated calendar post each day to promote upcoming content and to increase the frequency of the promotion closer to the start of the season.

You should also pin your Tweets and Facebook posts to the top of the page to ensure that the link is always visible and accessible to fans. Be sure to use compelling imagery and creative copy to keep fans interested and engaged.

If you have a marketing budget, it is also a great idea to promote your Facebook and Tweets to reach a wider audience.

3. Social promotion countdown strategy
Use a promotion countdown strategy to build excitement and encourage viewers to subscribe before the show premieres. Include a daily countdown with the calendar URL on all of your social media pages including Facebook and Twitter. For example, a post may say “Empire premieres in just 3 days and it’s going to be the best season yet! Add every episode to your calendar now so you don’t miss a minute! – on.fox.com/Empire”

4. Digital and In-App Integrations
Ensure that all digital integrations on your website and in your app are in place at least 3-4 weeks before the season begins. Given that fans are most likely to check the website and app for scheduling information before the show airs, it is crucial that the “Add to Calendar” button is available ahead of time. This will enable your fans to to download the schedule, instead of attempting to commit your dates to memory.

Timing is a crucial factor in the success of your Rokt Calendar account, so don’t miss the boat by waiting to promote until after the season has already begun. Use the buzz and excitement of a new season to grow subscribers and promote, promote, promote!