The Before Visit campaign type allows you to automatically send text messages before a customer's appointment or class session. The message can include anything from advertising products to be purchased in-store, a pre-visit form, or instructions on where to park and how to get to your business. Configure before-visit campaigns to only apply to a specific service or class or your entire service/class menu, and configure your campaign to send from 1 to 30 days before the customer's visit. Customers will receive this campaign only if they are scheduled for the applicable service or class. For instance, if you set up a before-visit campaign that only applies to "Hair Coloring" appointments, your customers won't receive this campaign before, for example, a "men's haircut." This campaign will also not apply to appointments or classes booked before this campaign was created.
Before sending out a text campaign, keep the following in mind:
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Text campaigns are limited to text only. Videos and photos are not allowed, but links can be included.
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Before-visit campaigns will continue sending messages for as long as they remain active, so you only have to create one before-visit campaign and let it run continuously. If you need to change the campaign, you can edit and reannounce it later.
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Campaigns will only be sent to customers with mobile phone numbers in their Customer Profile.
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Campaigns will not be sent to customers you have blocked from online booking.
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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.
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Campaign recipient lists will not include customers who have opted out of marketing on Vagaro. However, this does not apply to customers who have replied "STOP" to your previous campaigns or blocked your number. The system will attempt to send a campaign to these customers, resulting in a failed message. Vagaro will not refund any failed messages.
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You can't create a text campaign while the number provided by Vagaro is still being approved.
Prerequisites: This feature requires a text marketing plan with an approved phone number.
To set up a before-visit campaign:
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Go to → .
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Select Create Campaign.
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Under Select Delivery Method, select Text.
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Enter a Text Campaign Name. This title is not visible to your customers.
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Select the Before Visit campaign type.
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A slider will display to select how many days before a customer's appointment you want to send the message.
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You'll also have to select the services or classes that apply to this campaign.
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Select Apply to continue.
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Specify the customers to include in the campaign by selecting the gender, customers of a specific employee, and age, then select Create Text.
You can select Reset to clear all filters.
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In the campaign builder, compose a text message for the campaign. The text cannot exceed 306 characters.
When composing a message, you can:
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Select the Vagaro AI
button to enhance your message with AI.
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Select Insert Link to add a link to your booking page, service menu, products, forms, Daily Deal, etc.
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Select Insert First Name or Insert First & Last. The system will automatically put the customer's name into the message when it is sent.
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Select Next. A preview of your text message will display.
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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.
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Enter the phone numbers you want to send the preview to. Select Add Number to add another phone number.
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Select Send Preview Text.
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Select Next.
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Schedule and announce your campaign:
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Schedule: Set a time for when this campaign will usually be sent out. By default, it is set to 8:00 a.m.
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Agree to the acknowledgment.
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Select Announce.
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To set up a before-visit campaign:
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Select the Marketing tab at the top or bottom of the screen.
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Under the Email & Text Marketing heading, select Create Campaign to go to the marketing dashboard.
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In the marketing dashboard, select Create Campaign.
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Next to Select Delivery Method, choose Text.
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Enter a Campaign Title. This title is not visible to your customers.
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Select the Before Visit campaign type.
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A slider will display to select how many days before a customer's appointment you want to send the message.
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You'll also have to select the services or classes that apply to this campaign.
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Select the recipients for this campaign:
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All Customers: Send this campaign to all customers in your Customer List.
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Filtered List: Send this campaign to a specific, filtered list of customers.
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Specific Customers: Not available for this campaign type.
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Optionally, set a Schedule for when this campaign will be sent out to customers.
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Select Next to begin drafting your text campaign.
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In the campaign builder, compose a text message for the campaign. The text cannot exceed 306 characters.
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Select the Vagaro AI
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Select Insert Link to add a link to your booking page, service menu, products, forms, Daily Deal, etc.
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Select the Insert Name menu while drafting a message to insert a customer's First Name or First & Last Name. The system will automatically replace the filler text with the customer's name when you announce
A text preview will display on the right side of the screen.
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Optionally, to see what your text will look like on your phone, select Send Text Preview:
Warning
Sending a text preview will pull from your Text Messaging plan.
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In the Send Text Preview popup, enter the phone numbers (separated by commas) you want to receive the preview, then select Send.
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Agree to the acknowledgment, then select Announce.
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You can save a draft of your campaign by selecting Save for Later instead of announcing it right away.
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