Run a monthly reminder campaign

Once a month, many practices text every family a reminder about the coming month's appointments. This guide runs that campaign from start to finish: create it, pick the families, write a personal message, send it, and answer the replies.

Before you start

• You need to be on a team that has a business phone number. The texts go out from that team's number.
• Your plan needs SMS Messaging, and BloomText must have verified your organization. Until then, Campaigns says "Broadcasts unlock once BloomText verifies your account". See Before you start.
• Know who gets this month's reminder: patients already in BloomText, or a .csv export from your scheduling system. See Upload a CSV and map its columns.

Create this month's campaign

1. At the start of the month, click Campaigns in the left bar.
2. Past campaigns are listed with their results. Click +.
3. Type a Campaign Name the team will recognize, for example "November appointment reminders". It goes out from your team's number.
4. Click Continue.

Pick the families

1. Click Add patients.
2. Choose Add existing to pick from your patients. With a CSV export, choose Add from CSV instead (see Add recipients to a broadcast).
3. Search or filter by tag, then tick patients. The checkbox at the top of the list selects the whole page.
4. Click Add N patients.
5. Every recipient is listed. Click Continue to write the message.

Write a personal message

1. Start typing the reminder, for example "Hi ".
2. Click Insert variable.
3. Choose First name. Each family gets their own first name there.
4. Finish the reminder. The card says it's ready when every recipient has a value.
5. Click Preview to read it as each patient will.
6. Check that Maria Gonzalez's reads "Hi Maria", then use the arrows to check the others.
7. Click Save campaign. The campaign page opens, ready to send.

For next month, see Reuse a message.

Send it

1. Click Send… at the top of the campaign page.
2. Check who gets it and the pace, then click Send now. To send it later instead, use the arrow next to Send now (see Send now or schedule).
3. The bar fills as each text goes out.

Follow it as it goes out

1. Watch each row move from Queued to Processing to Completed.
2. If you spot a mistake, click Pause next to Running and confirm. Fix the text with Edit message, then click Resume… and Resume now.
3. When it finishes, pick Failed in the filter above the table. Text those families yourself, or add them to a new campaign.

See Pause and resume for more.

Answer the replies

1. Click Chats in the left bar. Each family's reply arrives as its own one-to-one chat with your team.
2. Open each reply and answer it the same day.
3. If a family replies STOP, see When a patient replies STOP.
4. Fix any wrong numbers in your scheduling system or the Directory before next month.

Good to know

• Give First name a default, such as "there", for families without a first name on file. See Personalize a broadcast with variables.
• Keep reminders free of health details, or choose Secure text with link for the message type on the Details step.
• On send day, replies can arrive quickly. Agree who on the team answers them.

Related

• Create a broadcast campaign
• Add recipients to a broadcast
• Personalize a broadcast with variables
• Send, edit and track a broadcast
• See new texts and reply
• When a patient replies STOP