The Announcements feature enables you to easily create and send beautiful, mobile-friendly messages to engage your clients and increase revenue. vCita's built-in templates, tips and Image Library help you to achieve a polished and professional look. Here are just a few examples of how Announcements can be useful:

• To advertise a holiday special
• To introduce a new staff member
• To announce a change in business hours or rates
• To promote a special class or workshop
• To invite clients to rate and review your business

Since the goal is all about getting clients to interact with your business, Announcements are built around a specific call-to-action (Book, Pay, Visit Portal, etc.). You can target both existing clients and new prospects. Supported delivery channels are email or SMS, allowing you to interact with your clients in the most effective manner. You will also be able to track results in real time, including delivery stats and client actions.

The following topics provide more information about working with Announcements:

• The Life Cycle of an Announcement
• Understanding the Announcements Menu
• Creating a New Announcement
• Editing Announcement Settings
• Sending Announcements

The Life Cycle of an Announcement

Every Announcement progresses through the following distinct phases:

1. Create Announcement: In this initial phase, you choose an Announcement type from the large selection provided in our Template Library. If you'd prefer to create your Announcement manually, in this phase you give the Announcement a name and select the relevant Call-to-Action (Visit Client Portal, Schedule, etc.).
2. Edit Announcement: In this stage you set or update the wording of the message, the look and feel of the text, the image that is displayed, and more. You can edit the Announcement immediately after creating it, or at any later time. 
   Note: If the Announcement was created from the Template Library, this stage is optional. 
3. Send Announcement: In this phase, you choose a delivery channel (email or SMS) and create the list of recipients. You can then send the Announcement immediately, or schedule it to be sent at a later time. For more details, refer to Sending Announcements.
4. View Statistics: Lastly, check the effectiveness of your Announcement using vCita's analysis tools. You may then decide to edit the Announcement some more, resend it, create tags for clients who responded, and so on.

Watch this short video to learn more about how you can use Announcements.