TimeTrade Launches “Events & Classes” Offering to Strengthen Brand-Buyer Connections Through Meaningful Live Interactions

Corporate brands can now offer events and classes at scale with location-level execution

BOSTON, MA – September 20, 2018 –  TimeTrade, the leader in omnichannel Intelligent Appointment Scheduling, today launched its Events & Classes product expansion to extend the company’s intelligent scheduling solutions so brands can more easily promote their events and classes. This enables brands to make events and classes a central part of their strategy for having meaningful live interactions and stronger connections with customers through each phase of the buying journey.

Developed and tested with leading retail and financial services partners, these new TimeTrade capabilities are especially valuable to any location-based business seeking compelling ways to engage customers through classes and branded events and experiences.

“Marketers are tapping into the power of experiential marketing to create strong connections with their consumers, and using on-location events and classes to introduce products and build a strong community,” said Gary Ambrosino, CEO of TimeTrade. “The results include increased share of wallet, fewer returns, and increased loyalty – all of which are enhanced by Intelligent Appointment Scheduling.”

Events and classes are an emerging way for brands to create direct connections and more meaningful relationships with consumers, giving them a major advantage over digital-only competitors. By directly engaging buyers through in-person, and often in-store, experiences like events or classes, brands can accelerate and convert buyer interest.

This enhanced conversion is supported by results from TimeTrade’s recent survey – “What Buyers Want: The State of the B2C Buyer Experience” – which indicate that buyers demand increased engagement from companies, specifically in ways that make it easier for them to interact and schedule meetings. According to TimeTrade survey data, 79 percent of buyers say it is important to be able to attend events or classes to learn more about a product or service prior to purchasing. Buyers are also more likely to buy, or buy more, if a brand offers events or classes relating to the product

“Brick-and-mortar banks and retail stores must now engage their customers in live interactions and personalized experiences to turn their physical presence into a competitive advantage,” said Ambrosino. “TimeTrade’s pioneering work with Intelligent Appointment Scheduling uniquely positions us to help brands offer experiential marketing programs that are integrated with their ‘smart’ appointment platform, letting salespeople and staff advance the next best action with each customer by optimizing consistency and connection with the brand across locations and over the full span of the customer life cycle.”

Events & Classes from TimeTrade is available as both a stand-alone offering for new customers, and as an add-on for existing customers. This product expansion allows organizations to rapidly scale their events and/or classes offerings through centralized control with store-level execution. Scalability is achieved by providing consistent messaging while ensuring store-level execution through a range of templates, automated publishing tools, click-to-schedule registration, and demand analytics that allow program coordinators to tailor events or classes to match consumer demand. Moreover, integration APIs allow businesses to easily incorporate experiential marketing programs into their mobile app, customer portal, or e-commerce experience.

“Events & Classes complement the customer journey by offering consumers a way to engage with the brand in a more anonymous way than simply booking a 1-on-1 appointment,” said Ambrosino. “These new capabilities will help our clients provide consistent engagement and rapidly scale their experiential marketing programs, while allowing them to manage brand interaction at the local level.”

About TimeTrade
TimeTrade helps leading brands optimize engagement through all phases of the customer relationship. TimeTrade’s Intelligent Appointment Scheduling platform harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to improve meeting scheduling strategies through real-time customer insights and actions, producing better meetings and higher growth businesses, with TimeTrade customers outpacing their peers by nearly 3X. Tens of thousands of businesses – including leading global banks, retailers, and software companies – use TimeTrade’s Appointments-as-a-Service platform to deliver the personalized attention expected by today’s on-demand consumers.