What are calendar campaigns

Overview#

A calendar campaign reaches your prospects with a Google Calendar invitation instead of a plain email. Tantra creates a calendar event, then adds your contacts as attendees. Google sends each attendee the invitation. The message that lands in the prospect's inbox is a real calendar invite, so it shows up on their agenda.

The engagement signal for a calendar campaign is the RSVP. You see who accepted, who declined, and who has not answered yet. This makes calendar campaigns a strong fit for webinars, live events, demos, and any offer where getting on someone's calendar is the goal.

How it works#

Tantra sends from your own Google Workspace mailboxes. You connect a Google service account once and grant it domain-wide delegation, a permission you set in your Google admin console. Tantra then sends as your mailboxes using short-lived tokens. There is no personal password or sign-in. To set this up, see How Tantra sends as your mailboxes.

When a calendar campaign runs, three things happen in order:

1. Tantra creates a Google Calendar event on a sender's calendar, with no attendees yet.
2. It adds your contacts to that event as attendees, a batch at a time.
3. The moment attendees are added, Google emails them the invitation.

Adding attendees is what triggers the invitation email. Tantra spreads this work out over time so that Google's own limits and spam filters stay happy. You can read the full timing model in How invitations are batched and sent.

Once invitations go out, Tantra checks each event's RSVPs on a schedule and records who accepted, declined, marked maybe, or has not responded.

Before you start#

You need three things in place before you create a calendar campaign:

• At least one connected sender. See Add and verify your senders.
• At least one contact list with real contacts.
• An event to invite people to, meaning a title, a time zone, a start and end time, and optionally a location or meeting link.

Screens and controls#

You manage calendar campaigns from the Campaigns page, on the Calendar Campaigns tab. The list shows each campaign's name, tags, status, contact count, and a live RSVP breakdown under the Yes, Maybe, No, and Waiting columns, plus Sent and Not Sent counts.

To create one, use the Create Campaign button and choose Smart Google Calendar.

Field reference#

What happens next#

After you launch, the campaign appears in your list right away while Tantra finishes building it in the background. Invitations then go out in batches over the following days, not all at once. Watch the Yes, Maybe, No, and Waiting columns fill in as prospects respond. RSVP counts refresh on a schedule, so give them a few minutes to update after a response.

Best practices#

• Give each event a clear title and a working meeting link so invitations look trustworthy.
• Start with a small list to confirm your event details and sender setup before scaling up.
• Choose a time zone that matches your audience so start times read correctly.

Common mistakes#

• Expecting every invitation to send the instant you launch. Invitations are staged in batches over days.
• Looking for free-text reply tracking. Calendar campaigns track RSVPs, not written replies.

FAQ#

How is a calendar campaign different from cold email?#

A calendar campaign sends a Google Calendar invitation and measures RSVPs. Cold email sends a sequence of emails and measures replies, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes. See Calendar campaigns vs cold email.

Who actually sends the invitation?#

Google sends it, from the calendar event on your sender's calendar. Tantra creates the event and adds attendees.

Do prospects need a Google account to get the invite?#

No. Google emails the invitation to any address. A Google user also sees it on their calendar.

Can I personalize the invitation for each prospect?#

Yes. You can use merge tags and optional AI personalization. See Personalize your calendar invitations with AI.

Where do I see results?#

RSVP counts appear on the Campaigns list and on each campaign's detail page. Broadcast-level analytics live on the Reports page. See Track RSVPs and campaign results.

Related articles#

• Create a smart calendar campaign
• How invitations are batched and sent
• Calendar campaigns vs cold email