Sometimes it's a good idea to send promotions only to clients who have agreed to receive marketing messages from you. People who have requested promotional material are expecting it, and are more likely to react positively. Furthermore, in some countries you are legally required to ask your clients for their consent before you can send them campaigns or promotions.

vCita makes the consent process easy by providing the Opt-in for Campaigns option in Client Card Settings. When you select this option, a consent area appears on the forms that clients fill out when they contact your business through the system (for instance, when they send you a message or schedule an appointment). For example:

This article explains how to activate the Opt-in feature and describes other considerations related to consent when sending promotions:

• Adding the Opt-in for Campaigns Field
• Sending Campaigns: Considering Client Consent

Adding the Opt-in for Campaigns Field

The Opt-in field is added from the Client Settings page, as an additional component to your Client Cards.  

To add the Opt-in for Campaigns field: 

1. At the left side of the vCita console, open the Settings menu and  click Client Card & Forms. 
   The Client Fields tab opens. 
2. At the bottom of the page, click Add Client Field.
   The Add Client Field dialog opens. 
3. Click the Field type line and select Opt-in for campaigns. 
   
   
   The Add client field dialog opens. 
4. On the Field name line, type a name (label) for the field. The text you type here is what clients will see on your online intake forms. For an example field name, see the figure below. 
5. To ensure that your promotions will be sent only to clients who have consented to receive them, select the Send campaigns only to opted-in clients checkbox.  
   
   
   For more information about the other options, click here. 
6. When you are finished competing the options, click Add.  

Once you've added the Opt-in field, the client's consent status is displayed in the Info tab of the Client Card. You are also able to search for clients who have given consent by filtering the Clients List for those who have agreed to receive promotions and special offers. Check the Advanced section of your client filters list:

Sending Promotions: Considering Client Consent

Since client consent is a significant issue that could have practical implications for your promotions, vCita helps make sure that you send your Announcements to the right clients.

If the Send campaigns only to opted-in clients checkbox in your Client Card Settings is checked (see Step 5 in the procedure above), a non-editable reminder message is displayed when you get ready to send Announcements. In addition, the system will not allow you to add clients who haven't given consent to your list of recipients. 

If you haven't checked the Send campaigns only to opted-in clients checkbox, vCita still reminds you to consider the consent issue before you send an Announcement.