In this article, you’ll learn about Announcements, and how to use them to promote your business.

Use announcements to spread the word about new things happening with your business, like new business hours & staff members, and to greet your clients with happy holiday specials and other attractive offers!

What are announcements?

Announcements look and feel like campaigns, with a colorful message and design that drive clients to click!

However, unlike Automated Campaigns, Announcements do not get sent out automatically based on conditions you set.

You choose to send an announcement out anytime you want, on any occasion you want.

You can send announcements in two ways (explained in detail below):

1. Create and send right away

2. Create and schedule to send later

Creating your own announcement

In this method, you create a new announcement yourself, without using the Template Library.

Here’s how to create your own announcement:

Step 1: Open the Marketing menu and select Announcements.

Step 2: Click New Announcement on the top.

Step 3: Give your announcement a name, choose a call-to-action link and click Create to further customize your announcement.

• The call-to-action button: The call-to-action button links your announcement to the specific action you want your clients to take.
  
  
  Note: You can edit the name and call-to-action again later.
  Choose from the following links:
  
  Visit your Client Portal, Schedule, Leave a Review, Pay, Share a Document, Visit your Social Media Profile, Custom URL.
  
  
  Note: If you want clients to be directed to an external site like your business website, select Custom URL.

Step 4: Customize your message, and design in the Edit Announcement page.
You can edit your announcement in the following ways:

• The heading and message (including colors and font)
  Note: The heading you give will appear as the announcement subject line in email or SMS
• The announcement image
• The call-to-action button (see above)

Sending & scheduling announcements

Announcements are best used when sent to a list or group of clients that you have defined as right for your marketing efforts.

You can send an Announcement to clients at any time.

Here’s how:

Step 1: Click Send on the Announcements page to go through the delivery process step-by-step.

Step 2: Select the delivery channel: Email or Text Message, and complete the other settings on the Send page.

Step 3: You’ll be asked to choose your recipients. You can search and select recipients by name from there, or filter for tags and client groups.

Step 4: Once you’ve selected your recipients click Continue and choose your delivery option:  

• Send now: The Announcement sends when you click Send now.
• Schedule for later: Lets you specify a future date and time for sending the Announcement. Choose a date and time for delivery and click Schedule Now.
  
  
  Note: Announcements that are scheduled for future delivery are listed in the Scheduled Deliveries tab of the Announcements menu.