This guide provides an overview of the automated campaign types available in ALOHA®, what triggers them, and how to use them effectively to streamline patient communication.
✨ When You Need This Guide
You are building a new automated workflow and need to choose the correct trigger.
You want to understand how different actions (Text, Email, Adding Tags) work within campaigns.
You want to learn about "Optometry-Specific" or specialized campaign logic.
✅ 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 (e.g., "New Patient," "Adjustment").
Best For: Automating communication before and after a specific visit.
Key Detail: You can set Conditional Steps (e.g., "Only send if NOT confirmed") to ensure patients only get reminders if they haven't responded yet.
Pro Tip: If an appointment type doesn't appear in your list, ensure the "Patient Visit" toggle is ON in your integration settings
Triggered By: A patient texting a specific Keyword (e.g., "WORKSHOP") to your office number.
Best For: Promoting special events like Patient Appreciation Days or Wellness Seminars.
Strategy: Use the "Send Bulk Message" feature to promote the keyword or Event. When a patient replies with that keyword, they are automatically enrolled in the campaign.
Triggered By: An appointment being marked as "Missed" or simply NOT marked as "Attended" after the start time has passed.
Best For: Automatically reaching out to no-shows to encourage rebooking.
Critical Timing: Set the first step to trigger at least 20–30 minutes after the appointment start time to give your staff time to check patients in and avoid "false" missed messages.
Triggered By: A set amount of time passing since a patient's last completed appointment.
Best For: Bringing back inactive patients (e.g., "It's been 6 months since your last adjustment").
Customization: You can make these provider-specific or limit them to certain appointment types only.
Triggered By: A specific tag being applied to a contact’s profile (manually or by another campaign).
Best For: Highly targeted niche marketing (e.g., tagging someone as a "Weight Loss Lead" to start a weight loss education sequence).
Note: You can also use campaign steps in any campaign type to add tags to patients automatically as they progress through a sequence.
Triggered By: A staff member manually enrolling a contact, a CSV list upload, or a Keyword opt-in.
Best For: One-off sequences (newsletters) or "Branching Logic" where a patient decides to opt into a specific sub-topic.
Example: You can assign a keyword (e.g., 'HEAL') to a Manual Campaign designed to send a specific guide. If you include a step in your New Patient campaign asking patients, 'Reply HEAL if you want our free stretching guide,' the patient’s response will automatically trigger the Manual Campaign.
Triggered By: A person starts an online booking but abandons the process before confirming a time.
Best For: Automatically following up with potential patients who showed interest but didn't complete their booking.
Pro Tip: Set your first campaign step to trigger at least 2 hours later. This avoids overlapping with the system’s default "Scheduling Abandoned" notification, which sends automatically within 20 minutes of abandonment.
👓 Optometry-Specific Campaigns
Order Campaigns: Triggered by the status of a glasses or contact lens order (Placed, Shipped, Ready for Pickup).
Recall Campaigns: Triggered by the patient's recall date in your EHR/PMS.
Optical Sales (Insurance Verification Account Required): Targets patients with a "Smart Cart" quote who haven't purchased yet.
Optical Eligibility (Insurance Verification Account Required): Reminds patients to use their benefits before they expire or when they renew.
💬 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.