Customizing Automated Messages

Modified on Sun, 7 Jun at 11:37 AM

Your ability to edit and customize automated messages depends on your subscription plan. If you have a Growth, Premium, Enterprise, or Automated Email + SMS Marketing subscription, you can edit and customize all content of most of your automated messages. If you don't have these packages, you can still view your messages, edit the subject line and reply-to name, and turn the automated messages on or off.

Things to know:

The ability to view and customize automated messages is governed by the "Accessing Automated Messages" access control setting.
By default, all class and booking notifications are enabled
You can filter templates by category directly from the main page. Select a single category, such as Booking Notifications, or select multiple categories at once to narrow down your view and find exactly what you need without scrolling through the full list.
Notification Requirements
- SMS Notifications: Clients must have a valid phone number on file and be single-opted in to receive transactional SMS.
- Email Notifications: Clients must have a valid email address on file and be opted in to receive transactional emails.
- Push Notifications: Can only be delivered to clients who have the custom MyTime Guest App installed on their mobile device.
SMS Segments & Billing
SMS billing is calculated per segment, not per message.
Encoding Types
GSM Encoding
Up to 160 characters per segment
Long messages split into 153-character segments
UCS-2 Encoding
Used when messages include emojis or special characters
Up to 70 characters per segment
Long messages split into 67-character segments
Note: Even a single emoji forces UCS-2 encoding.
Billing Rules
Each segment is billed individually
Each recipient receives their own copy of the message
Total cost = segments × recipients × rate. Example: 2-segment message sent to 50 recipients = 100 billable segments
Learn more about SMS Segments & Billing here.
Automated text messages cannot be sent from the dedicated phone number because these are two-way messages. Since SMS messages don’t carry any metadata, MyTime needs to rotate phone numbers in order to determine which message someone is replying to
Clients associated with a specific location under a multi-location account will receive automated messages customized for that location. The From field and Reply-To name in these emails display the location’s nickname by default, as defined in Business Setup > Business Profile > Edit Location. For example, a business named Urban Spa has two locations: Downtown and Westside. If a client is associated only with the Westside location, any automated appointment reminders they receive will appear with the Westside location nickname. The name displayed in the "Sender Label" is determined based on the following hierarchy (order of priority):
- Location Nickname: If a nickname is configured for a specific location, this will always be the primary sender name.
- Reply-To Name: If no location nickname exists, the system will fall back to the Reply-To Name configured in your messaging settings.
- Company Name: If neither a nickname nor a Reply-To Name is found, the system will use your overall Company Name as the final fallback.
By default, this is set to the location’s email address configured under Business Setup > Business Profile > Edit Location.
If no email is configured for the location, the system will use the location owner’s email address instead.
If the “Use a specific reply-to email for outbound emails” hidden setting is enabled, the system will use the email address entered in the “Reply-To Email for Outbound Emails” field.
Booking notifications are displayed in alphabetical order
Curly braces {} are reserved characters in MyTime’s email template system and are used as variable placeholders. If a client’s pet name contains curly braces (for example, {Bella}), any automated message or notification that references the pet’s name may fail to send.
Automated messages can be sorted and deleted directly from the Edit Template view. This functionality is controlled by the hidden setting “New Marketing Page Design,” which can only be enabled by the MyTime team. To enable this setting, please contact support@mytime.com.
When enabled: Automated messages that allow for duplicates (such as Post-Appointment Message) will appear within expandable sections. You can sort messages within these sections and use the “+ Add Instance” button to create additional automated messages.
When disabled: All automated messages are displayed at the same level. The “+ Add Another Message” button remains visible without needing to expand any sections.
The marketing editor automatically detects and retains line breaks and paragraph spacing when you paste content from external sources. This removes the need for manual reformatting and ensures your newsletters and SMS campaigns appear exactly as intended.

To view and customize your automated messages:

Navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages
Hover over the desired template and select View
From here, you can edit the following (if your subscription allows):
- Reply-to name: This is the name that appears when clients reply to an automated email. By default, it is pulled from the business name set on the Business Profile page.
- Delivery By: You can specify a fallback delivery method (email, SMS, or push notification) when the primary method is unavailable. Learn more here
  - Use if available: This is the primary method that will be attempted first
  - Use if other methods not available: This method will be attempted if the primary option is unavailable (because contact information is not on file or the user opted out)
  - Never Use: This method will not be used, even if none of the other options are available
  - Delivery methods configured before February 3, 2025 (when fallback delivery methods were introduced), will have the following default selections:
    - For enabled delivery methods, the 'Use if available' option will be selected
    - For disabled delivery methods, the 'Use if others are not available' option will be selected
- Add Directions: You can add directions for each of your locations. They will be featured in clients’ appointment-related emails.
- Service-specific Instructions: You can add instructions for each of your services. They will be featured in clients’ appointment-related emails and SMS. Learn more here
- The header contains your location information. You can edit this information from your business profile. Learn how to here
- The appointment details, such as service, date, and time, etc., cannot be edited. These are custom contents that will be set on delivery.

To edit the body of the email:

Hover over the highlighted sections
Click on the edit icon
You can choose various options from the editor to design your template. Hover over each icon for a description. Advanced users can insert HTML to make their emails more visually appealing.
When you are finished editing the template, select Save at the bottom

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