Creating Communication Campaigns

Communication Campaigns can be sent out in bulk to all clients or they can target a specific set of your client base simply by selecting from the Campaign Conditions available.  

Before sending a Communication Campaign you will need to set up a message template. Communications can be sent via E-mail, SMS or Push Notification (SimplyPortal App). If you have not created a message template, please follow the steps in this article: How to Create or Edit Message Templates

1. From your Administration tab, click on "Communication Campaigns".

2. Click on the green "Create Campaign" button.

3. Give your campaign a name. The name is for you information only, so make sure it is quite specific if this is a campaign you would send regularly.

Select the fields you would like the campaign to apply to:

Campaign Destination: E-Mail, SMS or SimplyPortal Push Notification.

Recipient Type: Billing Contact, Attendance Contact, or Both (generally recommended for both).

Message sent for each: Family (recommended) or student.

Click on blue "Save new campaign" button.

4. The top section is your Campaign Content. The bottom section is your Campaign Conditions (i.e. who it will send to). It is very important that both sections are saved.

Select your "Message Content Template" from the dropdown menu (the one you created in E-Mail / SMS Message Templates) and click on the blue "Save Campaign Content".

Note: Generally if you want to send to all active families you can leave the conditions to the standard. You can add conditions if needed by selecting from the dropdown and clicking the green plus sign. You can remove conditions by clicking on the red X.

Once you have finished adding all of your conditions click on the blue "Save Campaign Conditions".

5. It is a good idea to click on "Preview Recipient List" in the Campaign Conditions heading bar to check over the recipients.

6. When you have completed creating your campaign, click on "(Back to Campaigns)" at the top of the screen. 

This will bring you back to the main Communications Campaign screen. Your campaign will sit waiting to be sent. From here you have four actions available.

The yellow folder allows you to EDIT the campaign content and conditions.

The white scroll with the green arrow allows you to SEND the campaign.

The alarm clock with the green arrow allows you to SCHEDULE the campaign to send at a later date / time.

The red cross allows you to DELETE the campaign.

_____________________________________________________________________________

SENDING YOUR CAMPAIGN

1. Click on the white scroll with a green arrow to send the campaign.

2. Tick the box 'Are you sure you wish to send?' and then click "Send Campaign".

_____________________________________________________________________________

SCHEDULING YOUR CAMPAIGN

1. To schedule a later date and time, click on the Clock icon.

2. Complete the fields:

'Enable Scheduled Sending of Campaign' - TICK the box

'Date to Send on' - Select the date you want the campaign to go out.

'Time to Send' - Select a timeframe from the dropdown menu for the time you want the campaign to go out.

Click on 'Update Schedule Settings'.

Any scheduled campaigns will move into the 'Communication Campaigns - Scheduled to be Sent' section of your Communication Campaigns screen and will automatically send at the date and time selected.

To edit a scheduled campaign, click on the clock icon and untick the 'Enable Scheduled Sending of Campaign' box and 'Update Schedule Settings'. This will move the campaign back into the "Campaigns Not Sent" top section where you can edit the content and conditions.

You will then need to schedule the campaign again once you have made any changes.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Note: Once the campaign has been sent out it will move to the "Previously Sent Campaigns" section. You are able to view the details from the campaign you have sent by clicking on the white "View Campaigns" action.

From here you can view sent campaign details. Please allow at least 5 to 10 minutes for campaigns to send - they will be queued and sent and time can vary depending on the number of recipients.

Opens = How many customers have opened and viewed (note this only shows values for email campaigns).

Clicks = How many customers have clicked on a link (note this only shows values for email campaigns).

Go to Configuration and then click on the applicable log you wish to view to check your send logs under the "Logs" heading. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

TIP

If any red text is displaying, this indicates an error and your campaign will not send. Updating your email message template with a subject will correct the error in the campaign.

The below example shows the email template selected is missing a subject.

The below example shows an error that no message template has been selected and saved into the campaign. Note without a message template selected, you do not have the option to send or schedule the campaign.

Last updated 6 June 2025