How can I add a link to a calendar event to an email campaign?

Sometimes you will want to add a link to a calendar event in your email campaign and it's entirely possible!

Here is how to get a calendar link from the top four calendar applications and how to add this link to your email campaign.

Creating the shareable links

Outlook

To create the calendar invite link:

• Open your Outlook calendar.
• Click the New Appointment button at the top left of the calendar or click the New Items button and select Appointment from the dropdown menu.

[Note: Ensure the calendar event is set up as an appointment, not a meeting.]

• Add the details for your event in the pop-up window that appears.
• In the upper left corner of the window, click Save and Close to save the event to the calendar.

• Next, you have to create an .ics file from the event.
  • If you're using Outlook for Windows, select the appointment on your calendar. Then click the down arrow below the Forward button in the top left and select the Forward as iCalendar option. Outlook will attach an iCalendar to your appointment, that you are able to right-click and save to your desktop. 

 

• • If you're using Outlook for Mac, click and hold on the appointment, and drag and drop it out of the Outlook calendar and onto your desktop. This will create an .ics file on your desktop.
• Refer to the "Adding the share links to an email" section below for how to add the .ics file to your email campaign.

Gmail

To create the calendar invite link:

• Open Google Calendar.
• In the upper left corber of the screen, click the Create button.

• A pop-up window will appear where you can add the details for your event.

• Make sure the individual event's visibility is set to Public by clicking the Default Visibility option in the window to produce a dropdown with options.

• Alternatively, you can edit your default calendar share settings to make your entire calendar public.
• Click the Save button in the pop-up window to save your event. 
• Open the event in Google Calendar by selecting it. In the upper right, click the Options button (three vertical dots) and select the Publish event option from the dropdown that appears.

• In the new pop-up window that appears, click the Copy button next to the "Link to event" field. 

• Refer to the "Adding the share links to an email" section for how to add this link to your email campaign.

Apple 

To create the calendar invite link:

• Open Apple Calendar.
• Select a date block in the calendar and then click the + button in the top left corner of the calendar.
• In the pop-up window that appears, name your event and click the Enter or Return key on your keyboard to create the event on the currently-selected date.
• Click on the event in the calendar to add additional details, such as a description and click Done to save calendar event.
• To create the .ics file, click and drag the new event in Apple Calendar, from the calendar and onto your desktop. The file will be created automatically.
• Refer to the "Adding the share links to an email" section below for how to add this link to your email campaign.

Yahoo

[Note: Yahoo limits you to sharing your entire calendar via email rather than a single event.]

To create the calendar share link:

• Open Yahoo Calendar.
• Locate the My Calendars section on the left side of the calendar and find the calendar you wish to share.

• Click the arrow button next to the calendar you want to share and select the Edit Calendar option.
• Select the "Enable my public calendar" toggle underneath the Sharing section.
• Choose the "View events" visibility level from the dropdown menu next to the calendar link.

• Click Save to update the calendar.
• Re-open the Edit Calendar window again.
• Refer to the "Adding the share links to an email" section below for how to add this calendar share link to your email campaign.

Adding the share links to an email

To add a calendar event link (or a calendar link in Yahoo's case) to a SimplyCast email:

• Create a new email campaign in the SimplyCast Email Editor.
• Build and design the email campaign however you wish using the drag-and-drop elements and associated tools.
• When you are ready to add a link to a calendar/calendar event to the body of a text block element, put your cursor where you wish the link to be inserted.
• Next, click on the Link button located at the right in the text editor toolkit appearing above the email campaign.

• Choose the Insert Link option to bring up a pop-up where you can insert the link to the calendar or calendar event.
  • To link an Outlook .ics file, click Browse Server and locate the .ics file on your desktop and select it.
  • To link a Gmail event, copy and paste the "link to event" into the URL field from the Publish Event window.
  • To link an Apple .ics file, click Browse Server and locate the .ics file on your desktop and select it.
  • To link a Yahoo calendar, enable the  "Get shareable link" option in the Edit Calendar window and copy and paste this link into the URL field.

• In the field below the URL field in your email campaign, modify the linked text if you like. Check off the checkbox in this window if you do not want the system to track the link clicks, opens, or other engagements.
• Click Insert to add the hyperlink or click Cancel to close the window without adding a calendar hyperlink to your email.
• To remove a hyperlink from a piece of text, highlight the hyperlinked text, click the Link option, and then Unlink.