Our step-by-step SMS builder makes it so easy. You'll be guided through the process and there are handy explanations at the bottom of each screen to answer any questions you might have.
But just in case you need it, here's a step-by-step written guide.
1. Click on the Send SMS tab in Peptalkr
2. Click the Add New button
3. Give your SMS a descriptive name so you can recognise it in the dashboard (see above).
4. Select A one off blast from the two options
5. Select whether the SMS should only send to patients who have opted in to SMS marketing.
6. Select whether the SMS is to go to all patients in your database (not recommended) or a filtered segment of your patient database.
7. Select your filters from the options displayed. You can select multiple options per filter (so you can target multiple appointment categories, appointment types and practitioners at once). You must select a date range for either Next Appointment or Last Appointment. This ensures your sms only sends to patients who had an appointment within the specified range (we recommend a maximum of 1 year).
8. Type in your SMS content and use the available variables if you'd like to insert dynamic values such as the patient's first name, their appointment start date and time or the appointment category.
Keep in mind that dynamic variables vary in length, and may make your SMS longer than the estimate. SMS messages over 160 characters will cost an extra credit.
9. Press finish to review a summary of your settings, and finally hit the send SMS button and your message will be on its way!
Can I view my history of send one-off blasts?
Yep. From the Send SMS tab there is a table (see the screenshot at the top of this article) where you can press the details icon to view a summary of every blast you've sent, and how many people it was sent to.
Can I send a one-off blast again?
Yep, simply use the duplicate button to copy a past one-off blast. You'll have the opporunity to change any of the settings for it before you hit send.
How do the custom variables work?
The variable data is specific to the appointment that most closely matches your filter. If the patient has multiple appointments which match the filter (e.g they've have 5 appointments in the last 6 months) then most recent appointment data will display. If you based your date range on future appointments and the patient has multiple booked - the most near appointment data will display.
Use the 'category' and 'type' filter to narrow the appointments down further if you want to be super specific with your messages.
[patient] will display the full name of the patient including title.
[patientfirstname] will display the first name only.
[patientfirstname] will display the last name only.
[appointmenttype] will display the appointment type set up in Cliniko such as 'Initial Consultation'.
[appointmentcategory] will display the appointment category set up in Cliniko such as 'Chiropractic' - if no category is set up, nothing will display.
[practitioner] will display the full name of the practitioner for the appointment.
[practitionerfirstname] as above, but the practitioner's first name only.
[appointmentstart] the date and time of the appoinment in the following format: Friday, 24 May 10:45am
[business] will display the name of the clinic the appointment was booked at.