Schedule Templates in Marq Creative Studio

Admin-only feature: Template scheduling is only available to admins in Creative Studio. Users will simply see templates appear and disappear according to your schedule.

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What You'll Learn

In this article, you'll discover how to:

• Schedule templates to publish automatically at future dates
• Set expiration dates for templates to come down automatically
• Manage time zones for global campaign coordination
• Pre-configure template sharing before scheduled launches
• Use scheduling for seasonal campaigns and time-sensitive content
• Troubleshoot scheduling issues

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What is Template Scheduling?

Template scheduling lets you control exactly when templates become visible to users and when they're automatically removed—without manual intervention on launch day.

Key Benefits:

Set It and Forget It - Schedule templates days, weeks, or months in advance and they'll go live automatically

Perfect Timing - Launch campaigns at precise times, even when you're unavailable

Automatic Expiration - Templates automatically come down when campaigns end

Global Coordination - Set time zones for coordinated launches across regions

Campaign Management - Manage seasonal content, limited-time offers, and event templates effortlessly

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Scheduling Options

Creative Studio offers three scheduling configurations:

Publish Only

Set a future date when templates will automatically go live.

Use cases:

• Product launches scheduled for specific release dates
• Campaign content that goes live at a set time
• Templates waiting for approval or final review
• Coordinating launches when you'll be unavailable

Expire Only

Set a date when currently published templates will automatically come down.

Use cases:

• Limited-time offers with end dates
• Seasonal templates that should retire after the season
• Event templates that expire when events end
• Promotional content with defined end dates

Publish and Expire (Both)

Set both a start date and an end date for complete campaign lifecycle management.

Use cases:

• Holiday campaigns (go live November 1st, come down December 31st)
• Time-bound promotions (Black Friday templates)
• Seasonal templates with clear start and end dates
• Event campaigns (pre-event launch, post-event removal)

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How to Schedule Templates

Basic Scheduling Steps

1. Navigate to Creative Studio
2. Select one or more templates you want to schedule
3. Click More actions in the toolbar
4. Select Schedule
5. Configure your schedule:
   • Publish date (optional): When the template should go live
   • Expiration date (optional): When the template should come down
   • Time zone: Select the appropriate time zone
6. Click Schedule to confirm

Your templates are now scheduled and will automatically publish or expire at the specified times.

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Setting Publish Dates

How to Schedule a Template to Go Live

1. Select your template(s)
2. More actions Schedule
3. Set the Publish date:
   • Choose the date from the calendar
   • Set the specific time (down to the minute)
4. Select your time zone
5. Click Schedule

What happens:

• Before the publish date: Template status shows as "Scheduled" in Creative Studio
• Users don't see the template yet
• On the publish date/time: Template automatically becomes "Published"
• Users can now see and access the template (based on sharing settings)

Pre-Configuring Sharing for Scheduled Templates

You can set up who will have access to templates before they go live:

1. Select your scheduled template
2. Click Share
3. Choose the groups or users who should have access
4. The template remains invisible to them until the publish date
5. When it goes live, they'll automatically have access

Note: Pre-sharing is a powerful feature that lets you configure everything in advance. When the publish date arrives, templates appear instantly for the right users.

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Setting Expiration Dates

How to Schedule a Template to Expire

1. Select your template(s)
2. More actions Schedule
3. Set the Expiration date:
   • Choose the date from the calendar
   • Set the specific time
4. Select your time zone
5. Click Schedule

What happens:

• Template remains published and visible to users
• On the expiration date/time: Template automatically becomes "Expired"
• Users can no longer see or access the template
• The template remains in Creative Studio for admins to manage

What Happens to Expired Templates?

For users:

• Template disappears from their template library
• They can no longer create new projects from it
• Any projects already created remain accessible

For admins:

• Template status changes to "Expired" in Creative Studio
• Template remains in your library
• You can republish, reschedule, or delete as needed
• Sharing settings are preserved

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Time Zone Management

Understanding Time Zones in Scheduling

Scheduling defaults to your account owner's time zone. You can adjust the time zone when setting up each schedule to coordinate launches across regions.

How to Set Time Zones

1. When scheduling, look for the time zone selector
2. Choose from the dropdown menu:
   • Your local time zone
   • User time zones (EST, PST, GMT, etc.)
   • Target market time zones for campaigns
3. The selected time zone applies to both publish and expiration dates

Global Campaign Coordination

Scenario: You want templates to go live at 9:00 AM local time in different regions.

Solution: Create separate schedules for each region:

• APAC templates: Schedule for 9:00 AM JST
• EMEA templates: Schedule for 9:00 AM CET
• Americas templates: Schedule for 9:00 AM EST

This ensures users in each region see templates at appropriate local times.

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Managing Scheduled Templates

Viewing Scheduled Templates

1. Go to Creative Studio
2. Click Filter by status
3. Select Scheduled
4. All upcoming scheduled templates appear

You'll see:

• Template name and thumbnail
• Current status (Scheduled)
• Scheduled publish date (if set)
• Scheduled expiration date (if set)

Editing Scheduled Dates

To change scheduled dates:

1. Select the scheduled template
2. Click More actions Schedule
3. Modify the publish or expiration dates
4. Click Update Schedule

The new dates will take effect immediately.

Canceling Scheduled Publishing

To stop a template from auto-publishing:

1. Select the scheduled template
2. Change its schedule settings to remove the publish date
3. Or manually Unpublish the template to cancel the schedule entirely

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Best Practices for Scheduling

Plan Ahead

Schedule early - Build and schedule templates well in advance of launch dates. This gives you time to review and reduces last-minute rushes.

Buffer time - Schedule launches with some buffer time before critical deadlines. If issues arise, you have time to fix them.

Review regularly - Check your scheduled templates weekly to ensure upcoming launches are ready.

Use Expiration Dates Strategically

Set expiration dates upfront - When creating seasonal or time-sensitive templates, set expiration dates from the start. They'll automatically come down when no longer needed.

Avoid clutter - Expired templates don't clutter user template libraries. Use expiration to keep user views clean and relevant.

Batch seasonal templates - Schedule all holiday templates to expire on the same date for easy management.

Pre-Share for Smooth Launches

Configure sharing in advance - Set up all group access before the publish date. When templates go live, they're immediately available to the right users.

Test with one group first - For critical launches, consider scheduling for a pilot group first, then expanding access after verification.

Notify teams - Even with automatic scheduling, communicate with teams about upcoming template launches.

Time Zone Considerations

Know your audience - Schedule based on when your target users will need the templates, not just your local time.

Document time zones - Keep notes about which time zone you used for each campaign schedule.

Coordinate global launches - For worldwide campaigns, decide if you want simultaneous global launch or rolling regional launches.

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Common Scheduling Use Cases

Holiday Campaign Templates

Scenario: You have Valentine's Day templates that should go live January 15th and come down February 15th.

Solution:

1. Select all Valentine's templates
2. Schedule Set publish date: January 15, 9:00 AM
3. Set expiration date: February 15, 11:59 PM
4. Pre-share with Marketing and Sales teams
5. Templates automatically go live and come down on schedule

Product Launch Coordination

Scenario: Product launch is scheduled for March 1st at 9:00 AM EST. Marketing materials must go live exactly then.

Solution:

1. Build product launch templates in advance
2. Schedule publish date: March 1, 9:00 AM EST
3. Pre-configure all sharing settings
4. On launch day, templates appear automatically—no manual work needed

Seasonal Template Management

Scenario: You have templates for all four seasons that need to rotate automatically.

Solution:

1. Spring templates: Publish March 1 Expire May 31
2. Summer templates: Publish June 1 Expire August 31
3. Fall templates: Publish September 1 Expire November 30
4. Winter templates: Publish December 1 Expire February 28

Schedule all dates at once at the beginning of the year. Templates rotate automatically all year.

Limited-Time Promotion

Scenario: Week-long flash sale needs templates available only during the sale period.

Solution:

1. Create flash sale templates
2. Schedule publish: Monday 12:00 AM
3. Schedule expire: Sunday 11:59 PM
4. Templates are automatically available only during the sale

Event Templates

Scenario: Annual conference has pre-event, during-event, and post-event templates.

Solution:

1. Pre-event templates (registration, save the date):
   • Publish: 3 months before Expire: Day before event
2. Event templates (schedules, maps, badges):
   • Publish: Week before Expire: Day after event
3. Post-event templates (thank you, feedback):
   • Publish: Day after event Expire: 1 month later

All templates automatically manage themselves around the event timeline.

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Troubleshooting Scheduling

Template Didn't Publish at Scheduled Time

Possible causes:

• Time zone was set incorrectly
• Template had no sharing settings (nobody had access)
• Scheduling was canceled accidentally

Solutions:

• Verify the time zone matches your intended launch time
• Check that the template is shared with at least one group
• Review the template's status to see if it's still scheduled

Template Is Published But Users Can't See It

Possible causes:

• Template isn't shared with any groups
• Template was unpublished manually after scheduling

Solutions:

• Check sharing settings—add groups if needed
• Verify the template status is "Published" not "Scheduled"

Need to Change Schedule Last Minute

Solution:

1. Select the template
2. More actions Schedule
3. Update the dates and times
4. Click Update Schedule

Changes take effect immediately. If the publish time has passed, you may need to manually publish the template.

Scheduled Template Still Shows as Scheduled After Publish Time

Possible causes:

• Time zone difference
• System delay (rare)

Solutions:

• Check the time zone setting—it may be in a different zone than expected
• Refresh the page
• If issue persists, manually publish the template and contact support

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I make scheduling recur automatically each year?

Not currently. You'll need to reschedule templates each year. Recurring scheduling is planned for a future Creative Studio update.

What time zone is used for scheduled publishing?

Scheduling defaults to your account owner's time zone. You can adjust the time zone when setting up each schedule.

Will users be notified when scheduled templates go live?

No. Templates simply appear in their library at the scheduled time. If you want to notify users, check "Notify new groups via email" when configuring sharing settings, or send a separate communication.

Can I schedule individual templates and bulk templates differently?

Yes. Each template (or group of templates) can have its own unique schedule. You can have different templates going live at different times.

What happens if I delete a scheduled template before it publishes?

The template is permanently deleted and will never publish. Always unpublish instead of delete if you want to cancel a schedule but keep the template.

Can I see all my scheduled templates in one view?

Yes. Filter by status Select "Scheduled" to see all templates with upcoming publish or expiration dates.

Do scheduled templates count toward my template limit?

Yes. Scheduled templates are still templates in your account and count toward any template limits.

Can I schedule templates to republish after they expire?

Not automatically. Once expired, you'll need to manually reschedule or republish templates if you want to use them again.

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Quick Reference

Schedule templates to go live
Select templates More actions Schedule Set publish date Schedule

Schedule templates to expire
Select templates More actions Schedule Set expiration date Schedule

Set both publish and expire
Select templates More actions Schedule Set both dates Schedule

Change scheduled dates
Select templates More actions Schedule Update dates Update Schedule

View all scheduled templates
Filter by status Select "Scheduled" Apply

Cancel scheduled publishing
Select template More actions Unpublish (or remove schedule dates)

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Next Steps

Explore more Creative Studio features:

Creative Studio - Overview & Getting Started - Learn the basics of Creative Studio

Bulk Update Templates in Creative Studio - Update multiple templates at once

Admin panel overview

How to create and edit templates

Questions or feedback? Contact your Customer Success Manager or reach out to Marq Support.