Do you send booking SMS notifications from your website?
Manual communication methods do not work any longer. Nowadays, you need fast and personalized communication tools to keep your customers loyal to your business.
When you want to update your customers about their orders or inform them about their bookings, you can rely on your employees. You have to use an automated SMS notification service to optimize your tasks and get higher ROI.
In this blog post, we’re going to introduce one of the best SMS notification tools for businesses of all sizes.
WP SMS offers a great SMS booking integration that allows you to send automated notifications to your customers.
So why wait? Read the article to get familiar with its features and try the demo to see if it’s suitable for your business.
Key Benefits of Automating Booking SMS Notifications
Here are the most important reasons why you need to use booking notifications for your business:
1. Improving Customer Communication
SMS notifications are a great way to stay in touch with customers and provide updates on their bookings. This can help to improve customer satisfaction and reduce the number of customer support inquiries.
2. Reducing Workload for Admins
SMS notifications can automate many of the tasks that admins typically perform manually, such as sending confirmation emails and reminders about upcoming appointments. This can free up admins to focus on other tasks.
3. Increasing Bookings
SMS notifications can help to increase bookings by reminding customers about upcoming appointments and encouraging them to book new appointments.
4. Reducing No-show Rates
No-shows are among the most important issues of some businesses like salons, healthcare, and Gyms.
Automated reminders can solve this problem by keeping appointments top-of-mind for customers. Studies show that appointment reminders via SMS can significantly reduce no-show rates.
By using booking notification plugins, you can ensure higher show rates without doing any manual tasks.
5. Scalability
You might be able to send reminders when you have a limited number of customers. However, when your business grows, you need a perfect tool like a plugin to send automated booking notifications.
Automation lets you handle increasing booking volumes without adding strain to your operational processes.
6. Better Record-Keeping and Accountability
The majority of SMS integrations keep detailed logs of sent messages. This record-keeping can be really helpful for resolving probable disputes.
Using WP SMS Booking Integrations to Send Notifications
WP SMS is one of the best WordPress SMS plugins that offers a wide range of features including booking notifications.
WP SMS Booking Integrations is a brand-new add-on that enables you to send SMS notifications to admins and customers. It allows you to set a variety of triggers such as:
- New appointments
- Approved appointments
- Canceled appointments
- Rescheduled appointments
How to Set Up WP SMS Booking Integrations
Here is a step-by-step guide to installing WP SMS Booking integrations:
Step 1: Make Sure about the Requirements
First, you need to choose an SMS plugin that fits your business needs and is compatible with WP SMS integrations. Fortunately, WP SMS is compatible with BookingPress, WooCommerce Appointments, and Booking Calendar.
Also, you have to make sure you have the following requirements:
- PHP version 7.4 or greater.
- MySQL version 5.7 or greater OR MariaDB version 10.2 or higher.
Step 2: Install and Configure the Plugin
- Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New.
- Search for your chosen SMS plugin and click “Install.”
- Activate the plugin and access its settings panel.
Step 3: Install WP SMS Booking Integrations
- Download the WP SMS Booking Integrations add-on from your account.
- Go to Plugins > Add New and upload the wp-sms-booking-integrations.zip.
- Click Install Now and then Activate.
- Add your domain to your WP SMS account under “Manage domain.”
Enter your license key in SMS > Settings > Licenses to enable automatic updates, or activate it through wp-config.php by adding the code:
define(‘WP_SMS_BOOKING_INTEGRATIONS_LICENSE’, ‘your-license-key’);
Step 4: Connect to an SMS Gateway
Sign up for an SMS gateway service that is compatible with a WP SMS plugin (e.g., Twilio or Nexmo). Fortunately, WP SMS supports more than 300 SMS gateways so you have lots of options.
Step 5: Set Up Automated Notifications
WP SMS allows you to define triggers for SMS notifications. For example, you can consider new bookings, reschedules, or cancellations.
Also, you can customize the message templates to include dynamic placeholders like customer name, booking date, and time.
Now, you can offer automated SMS notifications for booking events.
Pricing of WP SMS Booking Notifications
The cost of booking notifications depends on several factors, including the SMS gateway, the message volume, and the specific plugins used.
Here’s a summary of potential costs:
Cost Component | Details | Estimated Price |
Plugin Costs | WP SMS Booking Integrations add-on | Starting at $14/year |
Bookly Pro (one-time fee) | $89 | |
WooCommerce SMS Notifications | Around $49/year | |
SMS Gateway Costs | Twilio (U.S.) | $0.0079 per SMS |
Nexmo (U.S.) | $0.0065 per SMS | |
Integration Costs | Advanced customization or third-party setup (optional) | Varies by the service provider |
Volume Discounts | High-volume usage discounts offered by SMS gateways | Cost reductions depend on usage |
Top 5 Popular WordPress Booking Plugins
As said earlier, you need to use a WordPress booking plugin to use booking notifications integrations.
Here are the top WordPress booking plugins you can use for your website:
1. WooCommerce Bookings
One of the best booking tools you can use as a WordPress website owner. As you know, WooCommerce is a famous ecommerce platform with lots of features. Its booking plugin enables you to offer time/date-based bookings and appointments directly on your website. Here are some key services you get from this SMS booking plugin:
- It allows customers to book classes, schedule appointments, or reserve items
- WooCommerce Bookings lets you book one-on-one appointments or multi-person events
- Special pricing for groups, days, or individuals
- Showing availability in the customer’s time zone
- Sending confirmation and offering free cancellations
- Sending reminders and reducing no-shows
- Never get double-booked
- Managing your calendar, your way – including syncing with Google Calendar
WP SMS perfectly integrates with this booking plugin, offering more options to you.
2. Amelia
It’s also a powerful and user-friendly booking plugin for WordPress websites. Various service-oriented businesses such as salons, gyms, and medical offices are using it to book more than 16,000 appointments every week and 20,000 events every month.
3. Bookly
This is a highly customizable booking plugin that is suitable for various industries, including health, beauty, and professional services.
It’s great for your business if you’re looking for the following features:
- Mobile-Friendly Design
- Google Calendar Sync
- Diverse Payment Options
- No Code Required
- 6 Months Support Included 24/7
- One-Time Payment
- 11 Payment Methods
- 43 Available Add-Ons
- Flexible Customizations
- Full Mobile Integration
- Automated Emails & SMS Notifications
4. Booking Calendar
Booking Calendar is one of the original booking plugins for WordPress. It’s great for sending booking SMS notifications and is useful for managing appointments, rentals, and events.
Here is a summary of why you need to use this plugin:
- It’s modern and easy to use.
- Suitable for a vast array of businesses.
- Great for mobile users
- Storing all data.
- Multi-language support.
WP SMS is compatible with this WordPress booking plugin so you can easily go for it.
5. BookingPress
Last but not least, BookingPress is a great booking SMS notification tool that offers a smooth online appointment booking process.
It’s compatible with WP SMS. Here are some other reasons why you have to go for this plugin:
- 24/7 Appointment Scheduling
- Unlimited Services & Bookings
- Any Appointment Duration
- Handy Admin Tools
- Booking with Calendar View
- Agile Schedule
- Customized Email Notifications
SMS Booking Notification Examples
SMS notifications are versatile and can be used in different industries. Here are some SMS templates you can use for booking notifications:
1. Healthcare Appointments
Message
2. Salon and Spa Bookings
Message
3. Gym Class Reservations
Message
4. Event Reminders
Message
Best Practices for Effective SMS Notifications
Here are some tips to optimize your SMS notifications and get higher conversion rates:
1. Keep Notifications Short and Clear
As you know, SMS has a 160-character limit. So try to keep your messages concise while including all essential details, such as the date, time, and venue. Of course, sometimes you might have to send your message as 2 or 3 SMS.
2. Use Personalization
Try to talk to your customers at a personal level. For example, address customers by their names and include specific booking details to make the message feel personalized.
3. Use a Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA)
Encourage customers to confirm, cancel, or reschedule their appointments via a simple reply or clicking a link.
4. Timing Matters
Send reminders at appropriate times to make sure your customer reads them. For example, 24 hours and 1 hour before an appointment are great.
5. Test Your Messages
You can conduct A/B tests to make sure about the best version of your notifications.
6. Provide Opt-out Options
Make sure about compliance with GDPR and TCPA to avoid legal fines and customer annoyance. One of the most important matters regarding compliance is providing a way to unsubscribe.
Final Thoughts
Booking SMS notifications are essential for some businesses like healthcare, restaurants, hotels, and beauty.
If you have a booking in your business procedures, you’d better use a booking notification tool like WP SMS.
You just need to install this add-on and also integrate it with compatible WordPress bookings like BookingPress, WooCommerce Appointments, or Booking Calendar.
Then, you can automate your booking notification process and offer instant updates to your customers. So why wait? Try WP SMS booking integrations to boost your business communication and build customer loyalty.
FAQs
How to integrate SMS in WordPress?
You need to install an SMS plugin like WP SMS. It allows you to run SMS campaigns directly from your WordPress dashboard.
What is an SMS order notification?
An SMS order notification is a text message you send to customers to confirm, update, or inform them about the status of their orders.
How do I create a booking system in WordPress?
Use a booking plugin such as BookingPress, Booking Calendar, or WooCommerce Appointments. Also, install WP SMS on your WordPress to automate your booking SMS notifications.