Most clinics have a list of patients worth contacting, but few have a quick way to build it. Who came in last month? Who missed an appointment and never rebooked? Who needs to hear about new opening hours? Answering those questions by exporting reports and pasting numbers into a bulk SMS tool takes time that front-desk staff rarely have.
The DataFlows Cliniko integration includes a campaign builder that works from your Cliniko appointment data. You pick a date range, choose who to include, preview the audience and send. This guide explains how a Cliniko SMS campaign works, when to use each filter, and how to keep your messaging respectful and compliant.
By the end, you will know how to build reactivation and announcement campaigns, why the preview is fast, how large lists are sent in the background, and what consent rules apply.
What Is a Cliniko SMS Campaign?
A Cliniko SMS campaign is a bulk text message sent to a filtered group of patients selected from your Cliniko appointment records. Instead of exporting spreadsheets, you choose an appointment date range and an outcome, such as attended, no-shows or everyone, and DataFlows builds the audience directly from Cliniko data. You write one message, check a preview of who will receive it, and send. Large lists are processed in the background so your browser page does not hang while messages go out. Because the audience comes from real appointment history, the message can be relevant to each group: a thank-you or reactivation note for patients who attended, a gentle rebooking prompt for no-shows, or a general announcement for everyone who visited in a chosen period. It sits alongside reminders, follow-ups and recalls as another way to use your Cliniko data.
Why It Matters for Australian Clinics
Australian clinics run on repeat visits. A physio, psychologist, chiropractor or dentist often depends on patients returning, and a short, timely text is one of the most direct ways to prompt that.
SMS is also practical for announcements. Changes to opening hours, a new practitioner, a public holiday closure or a new service all reach patients faster by text than by a website update or a newsletter that may sit unread.
There is a compliance side too. Australian clinics must follow the Spam Act when sending commercial messages, which means having a valid basis to contact patients and including a way to opt out. A tool that builds audiences from your own records, and respects recorded consent settings, helps you stay organised. For a wider view, see our guide to SMS consent and opt-in in Australia.
Patients who have not visited for a while are also the easiest to lose track of. A campaign built from appointment history gives your team a repeatable way to find them, rather than relying on someone remembering to run a report.
Key Benefits of the Campaign Builder
- Audience built from appointment data. Filter by date range and outcome rather than maintaining separate lists by hand.
- Three outcome filters. Choose attended patients, no-shows or everyone, depending on the message you want to send.
- Fast preview. See the audience before you commit. The preview is calculated for the group as a whole, not patient by patient, so it comes back quickly.
- Background sending. Large lists are sent as a background job, so a campaign to thousands of patients does not freeze the page.
- Consent-aware sending. DataFlows respects each patient's Cliniko-recorded SMS consent setting before sending.
- Pay-as-you-go cost. You buy SMS credits and top up when needed, with no monthly or annual fees.
Step-by-Step: Building a Cliniko SMS Campaign
Before you start, connect Cliniko to DataFlows using a Cliniko API key (in Cliniko, go to My Info, then Manage API keys). DataFlows reads your Cliniko region from the key. If you are new to the integration, how to send SMS from Cliniko covers the connection in detail.
1. Choose the appointment date range
Pick the window of appointments you want to draw patients from. For example, choose the last 30 days to reach recent visitors, or a longer range to find people you have not seen for a while.
2. Select the outcome
Choose one of three options:
- Attended: patients who came to their appointment.
- No-shows: patients who did not attend.
- Everyone: all patients with appointments in the range, whatever the outcome.
3. Preview the audience
Run the preview to see who the filters will include. Because the preview is not built patient by patient, it returns fast even for busy clinics. Adjust the date range or outcome until the audience looks right.
4. Write your message
Keep it short, name your clinic and say what you want the patient to do. Read it aloud once: if it sounds like a clinic talking to a patient, it is probably right. Add a clear opt-out line for any message that promotes a service. You can use merge tags such as {patient_name} and {business} to personalise the text.
5. Send
Start the campaign. Large lists are sent in the background, so you can close the page or carry on with other work while DataFlows delivers the messages.
Handling large lists
Clinics with thousands of patients often hesitate to send a big batch from a browser. Because DataFlows sends campaigns as a background job, the page does not hang while messages are delivered. Start the send, then return to your day. Check your credit balance first so the full audience can be sent in one go.
Campaign Examples
Reactivation: patients who attended a while ago
Set the date range to appointments from four to six months ago and choose Attended. This gives you patients who visited and may not have returned.
An example message: "Hi {patient_name}, it has been a while since your last visit at {business}. If you would like to book a check-in, reply here or call us. Reply STOP to opt out."
Gentle rebooking: no-shows
Choose a recent date range and select No-shows. Keep the tone kind and free of blame, because there are many reasons someone misses an appointment.
An example message: "Hi {patient_name}, we missed you at {business} recently. If you would still like to be seen, call us and we will find a new time. Reply STOP to opt out."
Announcement: everyone seen this year
Choose a wide date range and select Everyone. This suits news that applies to all current patients, such as changed hours over the holidays or a new practitioner joining the team.
An example message: "Hi {patient_name}, {business} will be closed on the public holiday and open as normal the day after. Book online or call us. Thank you."
Recurring campaigns with human review
If you run the same campaign regularly, DataFlows can generate a draft on a daily or weekly schedule, for example every Monday for patients with appointments in the next 14 days. Drafts wait in a review queue until a person approves them. Nothing recurring sends unsupervised.
How DataFlows Helps
DataFlows is an Australian SMS platform, and the Cliniko integration is built natively. DataFlows polls the Cliniko API directly, so you do not need Zapier or any other tool in the middle.
Alongside the campaign builder, the integration covers appointment reminders, two-way reply handling, booking and cancellation notices, waitlist messages, post-appointment follow-ups, recall automation and a patient inbox. You can read the full overview in our complete guide to Cliniko SMS features.
Sending number matters for campaigns. A registered alpha Sender ID shows your clinic name to patients but is one-way only. A dedicated virtual number supports two-way messaging, so patients can reply to your campaign and you can see those threads in the patient inbox. If you want replies, use a virtual number.
Everything can be set per business location, so a multi-branch group can roll out campaigns one branch at a time. Pricing is pay-as-you-go, with no monthly or annual fees.
Best Practices
- Respect consent. DataFlows checks the SMS consent setting recorded in Cliniko. That setting is separate from the marketing opt-in field, so confirm you have a valid basis for any promotional message.
- Always include an opt-out. Promotional texts should tell patients how to stop receiving them.
- Segment by outcome. A no-show and a regular attender should not receive the same message.
- Preview before sending. Check the audience size and filters every time, especially for a wide date range.
- Keep messages short and specific. One message, one action, your clinic name.
- Send at sensible hours. Avoid early mornings, late evenings and public holidays.
- Space campaigns out. Too many texts leads to opt-outs. Use campaigns for moments that matter.
- Review recurring drafts carefully. The review queue exists so a person checks every scheduled campaign before it goes out.
Conclusion
A Cliniko SMS campaign turns your appointment history into targeted outreach. Pick a date range, choose attended patients, no-shows or everyone, check the preview and send, with large lists handled in the background.
Ready to try it? Sign up at dataflows.com.au, connect Cliniko with your API key and build your first campaign today.