Promotions and texts
A promotion is an offer, like 20% off drinks this weekend, that the Register applies by itself while it runs. You can tell your customers about it by text, or run it quietly. You can also send a text with no offer attached, such as holiday hours.
Turn on the Promotions app under Settings›Apps. On the Register, open Promotions from the Apps drawer. On the web it's Promotions under Manage, and in the Paybrain app it's under Manage on the POS tab. Creating promotions and sending texts needs the Send Marketing Campaigns permission.
Start a promotion
Tap New promotion on the Register or the web, or New on Promotions in the Paybrain app. The steps are the same on all three. You may first see Ideas for you: offers suggested from your last few weeks of sales. Tap one to start from it, or tap Start from scratch.
The offer
Pick one and adjust it in place:
- A percent off, like "15% off any purchase, up to $10". Switch any purchase to certain items to pick categories or items and set a limit per visit.
- A dollar amount off, like "$5 off any purchase".
- A free item, limited to 1, 2 or 3 per visit. Pick the item, or a category to let customers choose from it.
Each value has a custom… option for any other amount.
When
- Right now: a flash sale that starts as soon as you finish. Choose how long it runs, such as for 3 hours, the rest of today or through a date.
- Later this week: pick the day, start time and length. The text goes out right when it starts.
- Pick dates: a longer run, From one date To another.
Who hears about it
- Everyone
- Recent: visited in the last 30 days
- Lapsed: visited before, but not in 60 days
- No text — run it quietly: the offer just applies at the register
Each option shows how many customers are in it. If you have more than one location, choose All locations or just this one. That sets where the offer applies and whose customers get the text.
Review
See how many customers will get the text and what it costs in credits. Under THE TEXT, edit the message or leave it blank to send the suggestion. The Register counts the characters and warns you if it splits into more than one text. Under SAVED AS, rename the promotion if you like.
Tap Start & send the text, Start & schedule the text if it starts later, or Start promotion if it runs quietly.
How a promotion applies
Each promotion creates an automatic discount, so the Register takes it off every qualifying sale while it runs, with nothing for staff to do. It shows in your Discounts too. To change the value, items, dates or limits, open the promotion and tap Edit the discount — value, items, dates, limits.
The list shows each promotion as LIVE, SCHEDULED or ENDED, with running ones at the top. Filter by Live or Ended. Open a promotion to:
- Tell customers by SMS if you ran it quietly
- End promotion now to stop the offer straight away. It stays in your list as ended.
- Delete promotion to remove it and its discount. A text that's already gone out can't be unsent.
Send a text without an offer
On the Register, tap Or just write a custom message instead on the first step of a new promotion. On the web and in the Paybrain app, tap Send a message on Promotions.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Campaign name | For your list only, like "Holiday hours" |
| Message body | Up to 280 characters. Tap {{firstName}} or {{businessName}} to drop in the customer's first name or your business name. |
| Preview | Recipients, Segments / msg (how many texts each message takes), Total length and Est. cost |
| When to send | Save as draft, Schedule for a date and time, or Send now |
Open a sent message to see Recipients, Delivered, Failed and Opted out. A draft can be edited, sent or deleted. A scheduled message can be edited or cancelled with Cancel send.
Who gets your texts
Texts go to customers with a phone number on file, in the group you picked, except anyone who has opted out. Each phone number gets one text even if it's on more than one profile.
Every text ends with "Reply STOP to opt out". A customer who replies STOP is unsubscribed straight away and never texted again, unless they reply START. To see who's unsubscribed, tap the block icon on Promotions to open Opt-outs. They're also marked Unsubscribed in Customers.
Pay for texts with credits
Texts are paid for from a prepaid balance of marketing credits. Your balance shows at the top of Promotions. On the Register, tap it to open Marketing credits, which shows the price of each text and how many full sends your balance covers.
- Under Payment method, tap Add card.
- Under One-time top-up, pick an amount and tap Top up $….
- Optional: turn on Automatic top-up, set Threshold ($) and Refill ($), and tap Save auto top-up. When your balance falls below the threshold, it refills by that amount.
- On Promotions, click SMS credits.
- Under Payment method, click Add card.
- Under Balance, enter an amount in Add and click Top up.
- Optional: turn on Auto top-up, set When balance falls below and Add, and click Save.
The app shows your SMS credits balance at the top of Promotions, but can't add a card or top up. Use the Register or the web.
If you run out partway through a send, the rest of the texts can fail, so top up before a big send. Credits are non-refundable and only pay for marketing messages sent through Paybrain.