An overview of the different types of automated campaigns you can build in Aloha, explaining what triggers each one to start and the different actions you can add as steps.
✨ When You Need This Guide
This guide is your go-to resource for understanding all the possibilities with campaign automation. Use this if:
You're ready to build a new automated workflow and want to understand your options.
You're not sure which type of campaign to create for your specific goal.
You want to see all the different ways a campaign can be automatically triggered.
You want to learn about the different kinds of steps you can add to a campaign.
What This Covers (And What It Doesn't)
✅ This article provides a high-level overview and definition for each type of campaign and campaign step.
❌ It does not provide detailed, step-by-step instructions for building a specific campaign. Each campaign type is a powerful tool with its own dedicated guide.
✅ Types of Campaigns (How a Campaign Starts)
The "type" of a campaign is defined by what triggers it to begin. Choose the type that matches your goal.
Triggered By: Scheduling a specific appointment type.
Best For: Automating communication before and after a visit, like sending new patient paperwork, pre-visit instructions, or post-visit follow-ups.
Triggered By: A patient texting a specific keyword (e.g., "WORKSHOP") and an Event Date to your office number.
Best For: Promoting special events like a "Dinner with the Doc" or a Patient Appreciation Day. You send a bulk message telling patients to text the keyword to RSVP and enroll.
Triggered By: An appointment being marked as "Missed" or not marked as "Attended" in your practice management system after the appointment time has passed.
Best For: Automatically reaching out to no-shows to encourage them to rebook immediately.
Triggered By: A set amount of time passing since a patient's last completed appointment.
Best For: Automatically reaching out to inactive patients to bring them back into the practice.
Triggered By: A specific tag being applied to a contact's profile (either manually or by another campaign).
Best For: Sending highly targeted messages. For example, applying a "Cash Patient" tag could trigger a campaign with information about payment plans.
Triggered By: A staff member manually enrolling a contact or a list of contacts (via CSV upload) into the campaign.
Best For: When you need to put a specific list of people through a multi-step sequence that doesn't have an automated trigger.
Triggered By: A person starting to book an appointment online but abandoning the process before confirming a time.
Best For: Automatically following up with potential new patients who showed interest but didn't complete their booking.
Optometry-Specific Campaigns
Order Campaigns: Triggered by the status of a glasses or contact lens order.
Use Cases:
Order Updates: Automatically notify patients when their glasses or contact lens orders have been placed, shipped, or are ready for pickup.
Eliminate Phone Calls: Reduce or eliminate the need for staff to call patients and manually update them on order status.
Recall Campaigns: Triggered by a patient's recall date in your EHR/PMS.
Use Cases:
High-Volume Communication: Reach a large number of patients at once to remind them of their upcoming recall appointment or need for an eye exam.
Reduce Phone Call Follow-Ups: Eliminate the need for manual follow-up calls by automating reminder messages for recalls.
Optical Sales Campaigns (Available with Active PracticePal Account): Triggered by patients who have received a Smart Cart quote but have not finalized their purchase.
Use Case:
Close the Gap on Incomplete Orders: Follow up with patients to remind them to complete their eyewear orders, increasing conversion rates from quotes to sales.
Common Actions:
Offer incentives or promotions to encourage completion of the order.
4. Optical Eligibility Campaign (Available with Active PracticePal Account): Triggered based on the renewal or expiration of a patient's optical benefits.
Use Case:
Increase Appointment Volume: Remind patients to schedule an appointment before their benefits expire, or when their benefits are about to renew, to ensure they take advantage of their coverage.
💡 Common Scenarios
What You Might Notice | Why It's Happening | What to Do |
My "Missed Appointment" campaign sent a message to a patient who actually attended. | This can happen if the campaign trigger is set too soon after the appointment time. The system needs a few minutes to sync with your EHR/PMS to confirm if the patient was marked as "Attended." | When setting up a Missed Appointment Campaign, it is recommended to set the first step to trigger no sooner than 20 minutes after the appointment start time. This gives both systems enough time to communicate and your front desk enough time to check patients in. This prevents sending messages to patients who did attend. |
I've created an 'Event Campaign' with a keyword, but how do patients know which keyword to text? | The Event Campaign feature is designed to 'listen' for the incoming keyword; it doesn't advertise it. You'll need to use a different feature to promote your event and keyword. | Use the Send Bulk Message feature. Send a text to your desired contacts inviting them to the event and instructing them to reply with the keyword (e.g., 'Text WORKSHOP to this number to RSVP!'). When they reply, the Event Campaign will automatically start for them.
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Can a patient be in more than one campaign at the same time? | Yes. The system is designed to allow a contact to be active in multiple campaigns simultaneously, as they may qualify for different triggers. | This is normal and powerful. A patient can be in a long-term "New Patient" campaign while also receiving messages from a short-term "Appointment" campaign for their visit next week. The system manages the steps from all campaigns independently. |
🎉 You'll Know It's Working When:
You have a clear understanding of which campaign type to use for your specific goal.
You are able to plan out a workflow, knowing what will trigger the campaign and what steps it will perform.
💬 Need Help? We're Here!
If you have other questions about which campaign type is right for you, our support team is ready to help. Contact us at 800-563-0469 or support@getaloha.com.
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