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Send a One-Time Text Marketing Blast

Jamie B
Jamie B
• Updated

The Text Blast campaign type is a one-time message sent to your customers. The message can include anything from information about a store closure, upcoming sales and events, a daily deal, and so on.

Before sending out a text campaign, keep the following in mind:

  • Text blasts are one-time messages. To send them again, you'll need to edit and reannounce the campaign or create an automated campaign.

  • Each message you send costs credits. Messages you send to customers are divided into parts, also known as "segments." The number of segments per message determines the number of credits used. Check out this article to learn more about how credits are calculated.

  • Campaigns will only be sent to customers with mobile phone numbers in their Customer Profile. Vagaro won't use the day or night phone numbers on the profile.

  • Campaigns will not be sent to customers you have blocked from online booking.

  • Campaigns may be rejected if they break Vagaro's text guidelines or are flagged by phone carriers. Vagaro will not refund text messages used for flagged or rejected campaigns.

  • Campaigns will not be sent to customers who have opted out of text marketing.

Prerequisites: This feature requires a text marketing plan with an approved phone number.

Step One: Go to Marketing and Create a Text Campaign

Start by going to Marketing and creating a new campaign. You'll set your delivery method to text and add a subject line that only you can see.

On a Phone

To start your campaign:

  1. Select More This is an icon used to go to the More initial navigation step on the Vagaro website and the Vagaro Pro app. → Email & Text Marketing.

  2. At the bottom of the screen, select Create Campaign.

  3. Select Text as the delivery method.

  4. Enter the Text Subject Line. This subject line is visible only to you, not to customers. You can customize the header with the following options:

    • Select Enhance with Vera Vera_Still_01__1_.png to write your subject with AI.

    • While editing the subject line, select Insert First Name or Insert First & Last to add a placeholder.

  5. Select Next.

On a Computer, Tablet, Pay Desk, or PayPro

To start your campaign:

  1. Go to Marketing megaphone_icon.png, then select Create Campaign under Email & Text Marketing.

  2. On the campaign dashboard, select Create Campaign in the top-left corner. The Delivery Method pop-up appears.

    create_campaign_dashboard_web_2x.png

  3. Select Text as the delivery method.

  4. Enter the Text Subject Line. This subject line is visible only to you, not to customers. You can customize the header with the following options:

    • Select Enhance with Vera Vera_Still_01__1_.png to write your subject with AI.

    • Select Emoji face-smile-regular.png to add emojis to your subject.

    • Select Name app_profile-bn.png to auto-populate the customer's First Name and First & Last Name in the subject.

    delivery_method_text_web_2x.png

  5. Select Save.

You'll return to the main campaign setup screen.

text_builder_web_2x.png

Step Two: Choose Campaign Type

Next, change the campaign type to One-Time Campaign and decide when it goes out. You can send the blast immediately or schedule it for a specific date and time. These steps are the same on all devices. Your screen may look slightly different from the screenshots shown here.

To choose the campaign type:

  1. From the campaign setup screen, select Campaign Type.

  2. Select One-Time Campaign, then select Next.

    one_time_campaign_type_web_2x.png

  3. Choose whether to Send Now or Schedule.

    schedule_campaign_send_now_web_2x.png

  4. Optionally, complete the following additional steps:

    • If you Schedule your campaign, set the Send Out date and time.

    • If you Send Now, turn on Post on Facebook to connect your Facebook account and post on your page.

  5. Select Save.

Step Three: Choose Campaign Recipients

Now choose who receives your text blast. Use a quick filter to target a common group, such as new or high-spending customers, or build custom filters to reach an audience that meets the exact criteria you set.

A filter is a rule that picks out a group of customers, such as everyone who spent over $100 in the last year. Bundle several filters into a filter group to define exactly who receives your campaign, or add more groups to target several audiences at once.

On a Phone

To choose the recipients:

  1. From the campaign setup screen, select Recipients.

  2. Next to Quick Filters, select All Customers.

  3. Choose from the preset filters or create a custom one:

    • All customers: Send this campaign to all customers in your Customer List.

    • Specific customers: Choose who you want to send this campaign to.

    • Customers who aren't currently booked: Filter this campaign to customers with no upcoming bookings.

    • Customers who haven't visited in a while: Filter this campaign to customers who haven't visited in a set number of months. A customer's last visited is their last completed or checked-out appointment.

    • New customers: Filter this campaign to customers who have no or very few bookings.

    • High-spending customers: Filter this campaign to customers who've spent more than a certain amount.

    • Custom: Create your own filters for this campaign.

  4. If you're a multi-location business, use the Locations list to select which location's customer list you want to use. It can be one location or all locations.

  5. If you choose a filter other than All Customers, customize the campaign filters as needed.

    1. Configure Filter Group 1:

      • Attribute: The customer data you're filtering for. It's the "what" you're checking, like Customer Info, Things We Sell, Activity, Employee/Customers and Custom Fields.

      • Operator: The comparison or logic applied to that attribute. It's the "how" you're checking for and defines the relationship between the attribute and the value.

      • Value: The specific input you're comparing against. It's the "what to match" and the target the operator measures the attribute against. This option may not appear if a value isn't required.

      • Add Filter: Add an additional filter.

        • AND/OR: Choose whether both of these filters should apply (AND) or whether they're separate (OR) and only one needs to apply to capture the cohort.

        • Delete: Remove the additional filter you added.

    2. Optionally, select Add Filter Group to configure another group of filters.

      • AND/OR: Choose whether both of these filter groups should apply (AND) or whether they're separate (OR) and only one needs to apply to capture the cohort.

      • Delete trash-regular.png: Remove this filter group.

  6. Select Apply Filters and review the Customers and Employees you'll send this campaign to and the customers who have Opted Out.

  7. Optionally, select Include customers with failed phone numbers and emails to send this campaign to customers even if their information is invalid.

  8. Select Save.

On a Computer, Tablet, Pay Desk, or PayPro

To choose the recipients:

  1. From the campaign setup screen, select Recipients.

  2. Choose from the preset filters or create a custom one:

    • All customers: Send this campaign to all customers in your Customer List.

    • Specific customers: Choose who you want to send this campaign to.

    • Customers who aren't currently booked: Filter this campaign to customers with no upcoming bookings.

    • Customers who haven't visited in a while: Filter this campaign to customers who haven't visited in a set number of months. A customer's last visited is their last completed or checked-out appointment.

    • New customers: Filter this campaign to customers who have no or very few bookings.

    • High-spending customers: Filter this campaign to customers who've spent more than a certain amount.

    • Custom: Create your own filters for this campaign.

  3. If you're a multi-location business, use the Locations list to select which location's customer list you want to use. It can be one location or all locations.

  4. If you choose a filter other than All Customers, customize the campaign filters as needed.

    1. Configure Filter Group 1:

      • Attribute: The customer data you're filtering for. It's the "what" you're checking, like Customer Info, Things We Sell, Activity, Employee/Customers and Custom Fields.

      • Operator: The comparison or logic applied to that attribute. It's the "how" you're checking for and defines the relationship between the attribute and the value.

      • Value: The specific input you're comparing against. It's the "what to match" and the target the operator measures the attribute against. This option may not appear if a value isn't required.

      • Add Filter: Add an additional filter.

        • AND/OR: Choose whether both of these filters should apply (AND) or whether they're separate (OR) and only one needs to apply to capture the cohort.

        • Delete: Remove the additional filter you added.

    2. Optionally, select Add Filter Group to configure another group of filters.

      • AND/OR: Choose whether both of these filter groups should apply (AND) or whether they're separate (OR) and only one needs to apply to capture the cohort.

      • Delete trash-regular.png: Remove this filter group.

  5. Select Apply Filters and review the Customers and Employees you'll send this campaign to and the customers who have Opted Out.

  6. Optionally, select Include customers with failed phone numbers and emails to send this campaign to customers even if their information is invalid.

  7. Select Save.

Step Four: Write the Text Message

This is where you compose the message your customers will receive. Along with your text, you can add links, images, GIFs, emojis, and personalized names, then send yourself a preview to see how it looks before it goes out.

When you send a text campaign, the cost for each message is measured in credits from your Text Messaging plan. The number of credits required for each message depends on how many segments it contains. To learn more about how segments work and how much you'll be charged for messages, see How Vagaro Calculates Credit Usage for Text Messages.

These steps are the same on all devices. Your screen may look slightly different from the screenshots shown here.

To draft your message:

  1. From the campaign setup screen, select Text Message.

  2. In the Compose Text field, enter your text message. A preview of your message appears.

    draft_campaign_web_2x.png

  3. In addition to drafting your message, you have the following options in the text box:

    • Emoji face-smile-regular.png: Add an emoji to your message

    • Insert Link link-regular.png: Add a link to your booking page, service menu, products, forms, Daily Deals, and so on.

      Note

      Adding links to your campaigns allows for tracking how many customers book through the link. Links to websites outside of Vagaro won't be tracked.

    • Insert Name user-light.png: Dynamically add your customers' First Name or First & Last Name. The system will automatically replace the filler text "{first_name}" and "{last_name}" when sending the message.

    • Add Image image-regular.png: Upload an image from your computer or choose one from your Image Gallery to add to your message. You can only add one image or GIF at a time, and images will always be shown at the top of any plain text you add.

    • Add GIF gif-regular.png: Choose from thousands of GIFs with Giphy and add one to your message.

    • Vera Vera_Still_01__1_.png: Use AI to help write and edit your message.

  4. Optionally, select Send Text Preview to send a preview text to your phone.

    Warning

    Sending a text preview will pull from your Text Messaging plan.

    1. Enter the phone numbers you want to send the preview to. Select Add Number to add another phone number.

    2. Select Send Preview Text.

  5. Select Save.

You'll return to the main campaign setup screen.

Step Five: Confirm and Send Campaign

Finally, review your campaign one last time and send it. You can also save it as a draft to finish later, or handle a credit shortfall if one comes up before your blast goes out.

To confirm and send the campaign:

  1. From the campaign setup screen, select the checkbox to confirm you've reviewed all changes for accuracy.

  2. Select Send.

    Note

    You can save a draft of your campaign by selecting Save as Draft instead of announcing it right away.

  3. If you don't have enough credits for the campaign, the Usage Alert popup will appear. You can choose to Upgrade Plan or Announce your campaign and accept the extra charge.

    usage_alert_web_2x.png

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