Appointment reminder

An appointment reminder is the message — SMS in the vast majority of cases — sent before an appointment to bring it back to mind: date, time, address, and preferably a way to act (confirm, cancel, reschedule). Effective practices often combine two touches: a reminder the evening before, and one the same morning for afternoon appointments.

Its effectiveness against no-shows is one of the most solid results in service marketing: well-designed reminders cut absences significantly, at marginal cost. The key is in the format: short (under 160 characters), actionable (one-click confirmation), and two-way — the ability to cancel easily is part of the setup, because a warned cancellation beats a silent absence by a mile.