The Truth About Declining Calendar Sales

The truth is that sales are not declining! What appears to be a bit of self fulfilling prophecy for some distributors is simply that if you don’t discuss calendars with your clients, they will likely find them elsewhere. 

Don’t stop reading! I am about to give you several hundred million reasons to hopefully convince you that there is money to be made while your clients get excellent marketing for pennies.

According to an in depth report from Business Research Insights, calendars in 2021 were a 682.91 million dollar market. Their projection is that there will be annual growth of 3.52% reaching the billion dollar mark in 2032. Dataintelo calculates reaching 1.58 billion dollars by then. Walmart currently has hundreds of calendars available with individual retail prices from about $4.50 to $25.00! A search on Amazon for calendars brings back more than 70,000 results.

The fourth quarter always sees the mall kiosks popping up with great calendars in similar piece points as Walmart. Add to this the multitude of online sellers and factory direct sources and it becomes impossible to ignore the tremendous market appetite for calendars.

What is referred to as “traditional appeal” is why most people appreciate receiving a calendar. There are studies that suggest that nearly 100% of calendars will get hung, placed on a desk or shelf, or carried as is the case with diaries and planners. People refer to calendars 5 to more than a dozen times a day, each time giving your client another ad impression. 

When your client selects a calendar to present to their customers and prospects, they are essentially renting a square foot or more of wall space in the customer’s business or home, for an entire year, for just pennies a day.  When visitors see your client’s calendar there is an implied referral that adds additional value and delivers marketing messages to even more people.

Calendars were one of the original promotional products that gave birth to our industry more than a century ago. That they are still a desirable ‘gift’ and finding a growing demand all these years later, dispels any notion that the use of physical calendars is declining. 

While there is a huge selection of calendars available to promote your client’s business, custom calendars are also an option. Depending on what custom features are incorporated into the calendar and the number of calendars produced, the cost for custom calendars are economically comparative to stock designs. For the right customer perhaps a custom 2031 calendar might get extra attention. It is identical to a 2025!

There are three promotional products that will always be retained and used. A pen that still writes will never be discarded. Even if it is not used and eventually has a dried up ink supply, until that happens, the pen and the message continue to generate ad impressions.

The second item is a watch or clock. Human nature makes people uncomfortable to have a time keeping device that can’t be seen. To avoid hiding the ‘face’, watch storage cases are made with a glass window! Watches and clocks will guarantee that a client’s logo is always seen.                                          

The third is obviously a calendar. People will find a place to hang a wall calendar even if that requires being creative. A realtor friend gave me a 65 year old calendar that was hanging in the workshop of a house she just sold. Certain vintage calendars are sold at auction for (sometimes) hundreds of dollars. These vintage calendars in perfect shape owe their preservation to being hung in an obscure place like the inside of a closet door and then forgotten. While the grand majority of promotional calendars will be prominently displayed, the fact that a few were ‘preserved’ illustrates that people almost never discard a current calendar.

The time to sell next year’s calendars is growing short. If you want to establish a great profit center that tends to be annual repeat sales, talk to your clients today!