Overview
The Promotions page lets you send text messages to patients in two ways: as part of a promotion itself, or as a standalone one-off blast. Both options let you compose a message, choose an audience, select locations, and schedule delivery.
This article is for practice owners, managers, and admins who send text messages from the Admin Panel.
Why It Matters
Text messages are a direct line to patients. A well-timed text on launch day or a reminder before a promotion ends drives patients back to the app to browse and redeem. That makes it the tool for closing the loop on everything else in a Promotion: a Discover Card and a Custom Category only work if someone's already browsing; a text is what gets them there in the first place, or reminds them before a Promotion ends.
How It Works
Composing the message
The message field is a rich text editor with a Link to your app panel underneath it — pill buttons that insert a working link into your message without you having to type or know a URL:
Home and Shop — one-click inserts.
Discover Card — a searchable picker. If your Promotion has a Discover Card, "this Promotion" appears as an option (flagged as suggested if the Promotion has Offers); you can also search and link to any other live Discover Card on the platform, not just this Promotion's.
Shop Category — a searchable picker across your Shop categories, including "this Promotion's Custom Category" if one has been added.
Product or Service — a searchable picker across your individual services, products, and memberships.
Linking to "this Promotion" or "this Custom Category" before either exists on the Promotion blocks you from saving — you'll see an error until you either add the missing component or remove the link.
The 200-character counter tracks the message after links are resolved to their real URLs, not the raw text you typed — a short-looking chip in the editor can still cost more of your limit than it appears to.
Locations
Standard location picker — same component used everywhere else in the builder.
Audience
A three-way choice: All Patients, Members, or Non-Members.
Choosing Members reveals a second control you pick specific memberships from — it works the same way Offer eligibility does: leave it untouched and it implicitly means every active membership, or open the picker to select specific plans (with a "Select all memberships" shortcut and removable chips for what's currently selected).
Schedule
Two options, as radio buttons:
Now — sends at the current time, shown live in the option itself.
Set a date & time — opens a date/time picker. Only future times are selectable, only in 15-minute increments, and only within the 8 AM–9 PM local time window.
Send a test
Click Send a test to open a preview popover. It shows exactly how the message will read on a phone — practice name, your message, and the opt-out line — before you send anything to a real number. Type a phone number and click Preview test; nothing goes to patients, only to that number. This is disabled if your message still has an unresolved link (one pointing to a Promotion component that isn't ready yet).
Turn a standalone text into a Promotion
Only available on standalone texts, at the bottom of the compose window: "Turn this into a campaign" lets you add more pieces (an offer, a Discover Card, and so on) and group everything — including this text — into a full Promotion instead of sending it alone.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Schedule a text inside a Promotion
In your Admin Panel, go to MedCommerce Engine™ → Promotions.
Open an existing draft or click New promotion.
From the block picker, add Texts, then click to schedule one (or Schedule another text if one already exists).
Compose your message. Use the Link to your app pickers to insert links instead of typing URLs.
Set Locations and Audience.
Choose Now or Set a date & time to schedule the send.
(Optional) Click Send a test to preview it on your own phone number first.
Click Schedule Text Message.
Schedule a standalone text
In your Admin Panel, go to MedCommerce Engine™ → Promotions or.
Go to the Texts tab and click New text.
Enter a Text name for your own internal reference — this field only appears on standalone texts.
Follow the same steps as above: compose, set locations and audience, set the schedule, optionally send a test.
Click Schedule text.
To convert it into a full Promotion instead, use Turn this into a campaign before or after scheduling.
Best Practices and Pro Tips
Schedule a launch text and a reminder text. A text on the first day of a promotion drives initial traffic; a reminder text one to two days before the it ends creates urgency. Both can be scheduled inside the same promotion.
Keep messages under 200 characters. Short, direct messages perform best. Lead with the key detail and include a link to take patients directly to the relevant page in the app.
Always send a test first. Use Send Test to see exactly how the message reads on a phone before it goes out to patients.
Use audience targeting to match the promotion. If a promotion includes a members-only Offer, target Members Only so the message is relevant to who can actually redeem it.
Use "Link to your app" instead of typing URLs. Inserted links are formatted correctly and trackable. Typing raw URLs may not render as expected.
FAQs
Q: Why can I not schedule a text for a specific time I want?
A: Texts schedule in 15-minute intervals. Select the nearest available interval. Times outside 8 AM to 9 PM local time are not available.
Q: Can I send a text outside of 8 AM to 9 PM?
A: No. All texts are restricted to 8 AM to 9 PM in the patient's local time zone for compliance and best practices.
Q: Where do I find texts after they have been sent?
A: In the Texts tab on the Promotions page, use the Sent filter to view all texts that have already gone out.
Q: Can I edit a text after it has been scheduled?
A: Yes. Open the scheduled text from the Texts tab, make your changes, and save. Texts that have already been sent cannot be edited.
Q: Can I delete a scheduled text?
A: Yes. From the Texts tab, open the text and select Delete.
Q: Can I turn a standalone text into a campaign?
A: Yes. After composing a standalone text, click Turn this into a campaign to attach it to a new Campaign where you can add a Content Card, pop-up, banner, or Custom Category.
Support
Need help? Email support@repeatmd.com