Cut Through The Clutter: 9 Appointment Reminder Text Message Templates

How often do you pick up your phone? 

If you’re like most people, the answer is a lot. In fact, 32% of consumers check their text messages 6-10 times per day.

From the newsletters we sign up for to the promotional emails that flood our inbox (clothes, skincare, or whatever your vibe is), emails tend to pile up fast. That means important emails, like appointment reminders, slip through the cracks of our inbox. But text messages are less cluttered and a place we look at at multiple times throughout the day. That’s why opting for SMS as a channel for appointment reminders can be so effective. 

Transactional SMS messages that go straight to the recipient’s phone are a great avenue to remind people of their upcoming appointment or send a post-visit survey. 

Let’s take a look at how to write an appointment reminder text message that grabs a client’s attention and gets them to take action. 

The advantage of sending appointment reminder text messages

Consumer SMS opt-ins are particularly popular in the healthcare (55%), banking/finance (46%), and e-commerce/retail (46%) industries. But when done right, they can benefit businesses in any niche, large or small.

Similar to how your marketing emails are likely set up, transactional SMS messages can be pre-scheduled to send at a certain time or after a client has taken a certain action. Unlike emails, however, text messages that go straight to the recipient’s phone are more likely to be seen. 

Appointment reminder text messages help you:

• Cut through the noise. Consumers check their text messages more than any other app on their phones (including their email app). If you’re looking for a direct line to your clients, SMS is the way to go.

• Get a faster response time. SMS reminders often become a two-way conversation—and fast. 77% of consumers answer a text within 10 minutes. Compare this to email, where only 28% of people respond in the same time frame. 
• Provide a better customer experience. Giving customers options for how they prefer to receive communications allows them to enjoy a tailored, personalized experience, which means they’re more likely to stick around. 

Bridget Harris, Founder and CEO of YouCanBookMe, agrees—saying that not only do her SMS meeting reminders have significantly higher open rates, but they’ve also “been instrumental in reducing no-shows.”

The data is clear: Sending appointment reminder text messages can help get your message across quickly, directly, and most importantly, read.

Important considerations and best practices with SMS reminders

Follow these key considerations and best practices to send strong appointment reminder text messages.

Considerations for SMS appointment reminders

Before doing anything else, ask for permission to text your customers. During the booking process, ask how they want to receive notifications—for example, via SMS, a phone call, or an email (or all of the above). 

For example, when we look at Greg Schwartz’s booking page, you’ll see that a phone number is required to make a booking. He’s also included a note on why the phone number is needed, as well as a heads up that the booker will receive an SMS reminder for the call.

You’ll also need to decide what your most important touchpoints are. Do you want to send clients a reminder two days ahead of time, or the same day? How about a post-visit survey? Don’t dilute your high-priority text messages. Pick the most crucial moments to send SMS. Otherwise, like the boy who cried wolf, people will start to ignore them.

Automate SMS reminders

Keep your clients in the loop by automatically sending SMS confirmations and reminders for every appointment.

Best practices for SMS appointment reminders

Once you’ve mapped out your SMS strategy, follow these best practices to send text messages your clients will want to read:

• Consider length. If you’re sending texts using YouCanBookMe, one SMS credit is 160 characters, or about 20-40 words. Fit your message into this concise frame. 

• Personalize each message. Remember to add your customer’s first name and, of course, any other pertinent information. 

• Include a CTA. Ask your client to take an action, such as texting you back or tapping a link to confirm their appointment. If needed, give them a timeline for this response (“Please confirm 24h before appointment time”).

• Introduce yourself. If appropriate, reassure your recipient that “this is a human.” People like to know they’re talking to a friendly face, not a bot.

• Include an unsubscribe option. Finally, give people the option to unsubscribe from SMS updates if desired. This doesn’t have to be elaborate or cut into your character count too much—simply add at the end, “Text ‘Stop’ to unsubscribe.’”

Appointment reminder text message templates

Ready to see some real-world examples? Take a look at these reminder text message examples that you can use to inspire your own. 

Scheduling an appointment

If a client needs to schedule their next appointment, send them a text as a reminder. Include a link that takes them directly to your booking page or wherever they can immediately schedule the appointment. 

Appointment confirmation

Once an appointment is on the calendar, consider sending an SMS message asking the client to confirm. This can increase engagement while reducing cancellations and no-shows. A simple “Reply Y to confirm,” like this medical appointment reminder text message sample, will do the trick.

In other contexts, like this registration confirmation message from a gym, it might be appropriate to get more personal. Reassure the client that you’re excited to work together and you’re available to answer any questions. 

Appointment reminder

In this appointment reminder text message template, the clinic includes links to additional information on parking and further details about the appointment. 

If your character count allows, give the customer all of the information they need to show up prepared and ready to go. You can also briefly state your cancellation policy. 

Feedback request

Send a follow-up text a day or two after the appointment asking for feedback. You can ask your client to write a review of their experience. Or provide a link to a web-based survey, like these post-appointment text message examples:

Looking for the perfect follow-up email template for your biz? Check out our guide to crafting a strong meeting follow-up email (examples included).

Sending manual texts is awful: That’s why you should automate this process

It might not seem like a big deal to shoot off SMS reminders yourself. But doing this manually is tedious and time-intensive. Especially when you’re running your own business and trying to do a million and one things at any given time.

By going the manual route, you also run the risk of forgetting to send a message. Sending SMS reminders manually just isn’t sustainable—especially as your business continues to grow and scale. 

Instead, tap into the accuracy and convenience of automation. YouCanBookMe makes the process easy by offering automatic SMS reminders. 

Purchase a set number of SMS credits and add them to your YCBM booking form, allowing clients to select text message as a communication preference. Then write a personalized text, decide when you want it to be triggered, and your client will receive the message on their phone. 

Best of all? With SMS reminders, your no-shows are likely to drastically decrease — meaning your clients will show up and let you do what you do best.  

Start automating your SMS reminder with YouCanBookMe.