Configure Rebooking Reminders

Modified on Thu, 11 Sep at 8:28 AM

Rebooking reminders are a valuable tool for businesses looking to enhance client retention and streamline the appointment scheduling process. By leveraging automated marketing messages, businesses can ensure that clients are prompted to schedule their next appointments conveniently. In this article, we'll explore the steps to customize rebooking reminders

Things to know:

The ability to configure rebooking reminders is governed by the "Accessing Automated Messages" access control setting.
You can alter and personalize the content of your rebooking reminder templates if you subscribe to Growth, Premium, Enterprise, or Automated Email + SMS Marketing plans
For businesses not subscribed to the above plans, you will not be able to edit the templates, but you may still access your messages, change the reply-to and subject lines, and enable or disable automated messages.
Notification Requirements
- SMS Notifications: Clients must have a valid phone number on file and be double-opted in to receive marketing SMS. For more details on SMS double opt-in, learn more here.
- Email Notifications: Clients must have a valid email address on file and be opted in to receive marketing emails.
- Push Notifications: Can only be delivered to clients who have the custom MyTime Guest App installed on their mobile device.
SMS Segment Calculation & Billing:
- SMS costs are calculated per segment, not per message. Carriers treat each segment as a separate message for delivery and billing, so every segment is counted and charged individually. This billing method is determined by carriers and is not specific to MyTime.
- Segments per message are based on length and encoding
- Encoding Standards
  - GSM Encoding:
    - GSM-encoded messages (standard letters, numbers, and symbols) allow up to 160 characters per segment.
    - If the message is longer than 160 characters, it will be split into concatenated segments of 153 characters each.
  - UCS-2 Encoding:
    - UCS-2 messages (special characters, emojis, or non-Latin alphabets) allow up to 70 characters per segment.
    - If the message is longer than 70 characters, it will be split into concatenated segments of 67 characters each.
    - Even a single emoji forces UCS-2 encoding, reducing per-segment capacity and potentially doubling the number of segments.
  - Note: Concatenation headers are hidden data that let the recipient’s phone reassemble multiple segments into a single message.
- Each recipient receives their own copy, so the number of segments per message is multiplied by the number of recipients to calculate billing. Example: A 2-segment message sent to 50 recipients counts as 100 billable segments. If each segment costs $0.02, the total cost would be 100 × $0.02 = $2.00.
- Learn more about SMS segments & billing here
In MyTime, all months are standardized to 30 days, regardless of the actual number of days in the calendar month. For example, if you set a rebooking reminder for 1 month after an appointment, MyTime treats this as exactly 30 days later. This standardization prevents inconsistencies caused by months with 28, 29, or 31 days.
The rebooking reminder templates are automatically created and assigned to each active service category listed in your service menu. If service categories are marked as "Online Booking Disabled", a rebooking reminder will not be available for services under that category.
When viewing rebooking reminder templates, the subject line and template body may initially show the service category. Once the notification is sent, both the subject and body will display the correct service variation name. For example, a template might show “You're overdue for a Haircut appointment” when editing, but the recipient will receive “You're overdue for a Men's Cut appointment” in the actual notification. This ensures that clients always see the specific service they booked.

Customizing Rebooking Reminders

Navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages
Click the Marketing tab
Here you will see your rebooking reminder templates. Hover over the desired template to expose the option to View/Activate
- View - Click "View" to access the template and customize it
- Activate - Click on "Activate" to enable the template to be sent to your clients
On the template, you can customize the following:
- Service Frequency: This allows you to configure the timeframe in which this reminder should be sent if the client does not book this service category
- Delivery By: You can specify a fallback delivery method (email or SMS) when the primary method is unavailable.
  - Use if available: This is the primary method that will be attempted first
  - Use if other methods are 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 (prior to the introduction of fallback delivery methods) will have the following default settings:
  - Enabled delivery methods: ‘Use if available’ will be selected
  - Disabled delivery methods: ‘Use if others are not available’ will be selected
- 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.
- Reply-to-Email: By default, this is set to the location's email address.
  - If no email is configured for the location, the system will use the location owner's email instead.
  - If the hidden setting "Use a specific reply-to email for outbound emails" is enabled, the system will use the email address entered in the "Reply-To Email for Outbound Emails" field.
- Subject: The subject line of the email as it will appear in the client’s inbox.

To edit the body of the template:

Hover over the highlighted section
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 or emojis to make their emails more visually appealing
When you are finished editing the template, click Save

For more information, contact us at support@mytime.com.

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