How to trigger a campaign action x number of hours after date & time

Hong Vo

Hi there,

I am a therapist and see clients back to back. I want an email to be sent say 1 hour after each appointment ends. I can't see how to add appointment time as a field & campaign options only allow for days, weeks etc, not hours.

Is there a way I can make this work?

Thank you.

January 20, 2019 13:34 Completed

Official comment

Today we released a new custom field type named Date and Time. You can add fields of this type in your Contacts records by navigating to Contacts > Settings > Field Editor.

You can create a campaign to automate reminders using the exact time of a scheduled event by using the Date and Time field on your wait elements. This not only saves you time; it also lets you use the same campaign for multiple contacts with different scheduled appointment times saved in their records.

The Date and Time field also gives you more flexibility when you import and export contacts because you can choose between the standard date and time format or UNIX time. If you are importing from another service that does not use UNIX time, you don’t need to convert your data — just select standard time.

A new date and time picker is available anywhere one of the custom fields is used:

All of these settings are also available through the API so, regardless of the method you use for your scheduled events, you will be able to manage them with more control and ease.

Frank Hagan September 05, 2019 20:08

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2 comments

We don't have a specific Time field you can use right now, but do have one on the product roadmap to be added soon.

There may be other ways to accomplish this. One method would be to leverage the power of ONTRAPORT's Tasks to track the appointments.

If you create a Task for each appointment, and have you or a member of your team complete the Task when the client arrives for their appointment - this can be done using a form outside of ONTRAPORT - then your follow up email can be part of the "Appointment Campaign".

In our article on Tasks at this link, we include this image that shows how a Task being completed can have a Goal or Goals right after it based on the "Task Outcome". In this image the Goals are for the "Partner Application" being approved or not approved - "approved" is one possible Task Outcome and "not approved" is another. When the team member completes the Task the appropriate Goal is achieved and the automation below that Goal is started.

If you set a Task of "Showed Up for Appointment" with a "Yes" or "No" outcome, the "Task is Completed - Yes" Goal could lead to a Wait for one hour and then send the follow up email. The "Task is Completed - No Show" Goal would likewise allow you to send an email immediately that asks the client why they didn't show up, create a new Task for someone to bill the person for the no show, etc.

Frank Hagan January 22, 2019 15:41 0 votes