This article outlines how to schedule an automatic birthday message to your clients.
Feature Launch in Progress
The ability to send repeat campaigns in the current editor is being launched to all Phorest clients and will be available to everyone by the end of July 2024. If you do not see the option to Repeat your campaign, please see further down in this guide for information on using the Old Editor to create your aftercare email.
Creating Your Email
Go to Marketing > Compose Email or Compose SMS > Choose a template to work with, or click Create Blank Email to start from scratch.
On the next screen, create your birthday message.
It is recommended that you Rename your email to something familiar for future reference, in case you ever wish to edit it or stop it from sending.
Once you're happy with your email, click Preview Email.
Next, you will see a preview showing how the email will look on a desktop and mobile device.
If you wish, you can click Send a test to send yourself a test email. Then, click Select Recipients to continue.
Setting Your Filters
Next, you'll need to ensure the email is sent only to clients whose birthday is coming up in [x] number of days.
First, if you have multiple locations in Phorest, choose whether to send the email only to clients of This Location, All Locations, or Selected Locations. You will not see this option if you only have one location in Phorest.
You can only choose All Locations if you are an active staff member in all of your locations. Click here to learn how to add staff to locations.
Next, select Filter Clients.
Keep the Match All Filters toggle on, and then click the Birthday filter.
Change the filter to Their birthday is in, then set the number of days in advance you would like to send your clients their birthday email, and click Save.
Click Show Matching Clients to Continue.
On the next screen, you will see a list of clients who currently match your filter. If you don't see any clients, that is OK. Click Next to continue.
If you're sending an email, choose whether you want to include enable SMS as a backup and then click Next.
Scheduling Your Campaign to Repeat Send
Lastly, change Schedule campaign to Yes.
Adjust the Date to choose when you want to start sending this email and set the Time to specify the time of day for sending it.
Set Repeat campaign to Yes, set the Frequency to Daily Every 1 Day, and then set the Duration to Run continuously.
This means that your Phorest system will check for clients who match your filter at the specified time every day from the given Date onward. If matching clients are found, the email will be sent to them.
When you're ready, click Schedule Campaign to finish.
Stopping a Scheduled Email
If you ever wish to stop a scheduled email, check out this guide to find out how.
Using the Old Email Editor
To start, go to Marketing > Compose Email/Compose SMS > Use Old Email/SMS Editor
Enter a name for your name Template, In this example, we'll name it ‘Birthday Gift Email’
Add a Subject, then create your message using the editor.
If you're sending an Email you can press the Send Test Email to send a preview of the email to yourself and make sure it looks the way you'd like it to look!
Once you're happy with your message, click Next to continue to the Filters screen, where you'll set filters to ensure the message is only sent to clients 3 days before their birthday.
Click on Advanced.
Then set the rule [Client Birthday] [Days Ahead] [3].
Feel free to change the 3 to however many days in advance of a client's birthday you would like them to receive this message. Setting the Days Ahead to 0 will send the message on the day of their birthday, and you can also set the number to -1, -2 etc. to send the message after their birthday.
Click on Show Recipients, and a list of clients who currently match the rules will be shown on the right-hand side. If no clients show up, don't worry! This just means nobody's birthday is in 3 days.
The message will only be sent to clients who have opted in for marketing communications.
If you want to save this Filter to be used in other future campaigns, enter a Filter Name.
When you're ready, click Next to continue.
Next, give your email/SMS a Name (for your own reference only), then Schedule your message to Repeat Daily at whatever time you'd like it to be sent. We recommend sending it in the morning time, so it's a nice way for your clients to start their day!
Finally, click Send to finish. This email will now be scheduled to be sent every day but only to clients whose birthday is 3 days away.
If you ever want to stop this email from sending, check out this guide to find out how.
Appointment Calendar Birthday Reminder
You can set up a prompt to appear on your Appointments screen to remind you and your staff of your client's birthdays. Check out this guide to find out how.