Messages and Campaigns (Automated Notifications) | Passtastic Help
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Messages and Campaigns (Automated Notifications)

Looking for the Automations page? It's been replaced. Automated notifications now live inside each program as Messages and Campaigns. Open a program and switch to the Campaigns tab to manage them.

Messages vs. Campaigns

Both are automated — they fire on their own when a condition is met. The difference is what the customer receives:

  • Message — a push notification only. Good for reminders, greetings, and gentle nudges.
  • Campaign — a push notification plus a reward. The reward can be automatic (add stamps or points), or a message your staff sees on the scanner when the customer visits (e.g. "15% off — birthday").

Both types appear side by side in the Campaigns tab with a small `MESSAGE` or `CAMPAIGN` badge so you can tell them apart.

Where to find them

1. Click Programs in the sidebar.

2. Open the program you want to edit.

3. Switch to the Campaigns tab.

You'll see all the campaigns and messages for that program grouped by trigger type (Always-on, Scheduled, Event-triggered).

How to create one

Creating a campaign takes two screens: pick a goal, then review and turn it on.

1. From the Campaigns tab, click New campaign.

2. Pick a goal — choose a ready-made recipe (Win back quiet customers, Birthday treat, Welcome new customers, and more) or click Start from a blank campaign to pick any trigger yourself — see trigger types below. Recipes your plan doesn't include show a 🔒 lock; clicking one opens the upgrade prompt instead of the editor.

3. Review & turn on — one screen with everything pre-filled from the recipe you picked, so mostly you're just confirming and adjusting words:

  • Campaign name — for your eyes only, the customer never sees it.
  • 📱 The message on their phone — the push notification. A live lock-screen preview updates as you type; longer messages get trimmed on the lock screen, though the full text still shows on the card.
  • Include an offer with this message — a toggle. Turn it off and the campaign becomes a push-only `MESSAGE`. Leave it on and two more fields appear right underneath it: 💳 What appears on their card (optional text shown on the front of the wallet pass while the offer is active — see Campaign Rewards: Push, Pass, and Staff Messages for how to write each field well) and 🧑‍💼 What your staff sees at the counter (what your cashier sees on the scanner when they scan this customer and apply the reward — required whenever this offer toggle is on).
  • When & how often — one compact card with sensible defaults already picked: the trigger's own rule (e.g. *Send it when there's been no activity for* 30 days); a delivery time and timezone picker (9:00, 12:00, 18:00, or a custom hour, in a single timezone you choose — this is the ONE zone every customer's notification sends in, not each customer's own; the event-triggered campaigns under After an event and Balance threshold don't show this row — they fire immediately, or as soon as the condition is met, so there's no daily schedule to set. Welcome and Post visit are the exception within that group: they show a When the push arrives setting instead (Right away, 1 hour later, 4 hours later, or Next day) — the reward still lands on the customer's wallet card right away either way, only the notification itself waits); Each customer can get this (Once ever, Once a year, Every time, or Once every… a custom number of days); and The reward stays valid for (3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, no limit, or a custom number of hours).
  • More options — a collapsed section for Also add stamps or points automatically (off by default) and any further trigger-specific tuning. Most businesses never need to open it.

A HOW THIS WILL WORK summary reads the whole campaign back as a sentence before you commit. At the top of the page, click Turn it on 🚀 to activate immediately, or Keep as draft to save it without activating — turn it on later from the Campaigns tab.

Your progress autosaves locally as you go. If you leave partway through, reopening New campaign offers to pick up where you left off.

Trigger types

Campaigns are grouped into three categories in the picker:

On a date

TriggerWhen it fires
BirthdayOn a customer's birthday (with day-offset: day before, on the day, or day after)
AnniversaryOn each customer's signup anniversary
Calendar dateSpecific dates you pick (e.g. 03-08 for Women's Day, 12-25 for Christmas)
Weekly recurringOn specific days of the week (e.g. every Friday)

Based on behavior

TriggerWhen it fires
WinbackWhen a customer hasn't visited in X days
Visit milestoneAfter a customer reaches N visits (e.g. 10th visit)
Balance thresholdWhen stamps or points reach a certain level
Expiration reminderX days before a customer's card or coupon expires

After an event

TriggerWhen it fires
WelcomeWhen a new customer adds the card — right away or a few hours later (you pick when the push arrives)
First visitOn the customer's first scan
Post visitAfter each scan — right away or a few hours later (you pick when the push arrives)
Card completedWhen a customer fills their stamp card
Coupon redeemedAfter a customer redeems a coupon
Level upWhen a customer reaches a new membership level

Plan availability

TriggerSingle LocationMulti-LocationGroups & Brands
Birthday
All other triggers

Customers on the free plan can browse the campaign editor but cannot activate a campaign. A 🔒 lock icon marks any recipe or trigger your plan doesn't include — clicking it opens the upgrade prompt.

Managing campaigns and messages

From the Campaigns tab inside a program you can:

  • Activate / Pause — turn a campaign on or off without deleting it.
  • Edit — change the reward, timing, or eligibility.
  • Delete — found under the menu on the campaign row. Removes it from any customer cards that currently have it; sent history is kept for your records. This cannot be undone, and requires Editor role or higher — see Team Roles & Permissions.
  • View claim stats — see how many customers received it and how many were actually claimed at the counter.

Common questions

Where did the Automations page go?
Automations are now part of each program. Open a program and switch to the Campaigns tab. Push-only automations now appear with a `MESSAGE` badge; the ones with rewards appear with a `CAMPAIGN` badge.
Can I send a campaign across all my programs at once?
Yes. In the editor, check Apply to all programs and the campaign will run for customers on any of your cards.
Can I test a campaign before it goes live?
Save it as a draft, install the card on your own phone, and trigger the condition (e.g. scan yourself). Once it behaves as expected, switch it to active.
Why didn't my campaign send?
Check that: - The campaign is Active (not draft or paused). - The delivery time and timezone are set the way you expect — a scheduled campaign sends at that hour in the ONE timezone you picked, the same moment for every customer, not each customer's own local time. - The eligibility rule hasn't already been exhausted (e.g. "Once ever" means each customer gets it one time). - The customer matches the trigger — for birthdays, the card must collect birthday data.
Can a customer receive multiple campaigns at once?
Each customer receives at most one campaign or message every 4 hours, even if several would fire at the same time. This prevents notification fatigue. The rest are skipped until the cooldown expires.
What's the difference between a Message and a Campaign, again?
A Message sends a push notification only. A Campaign sends a push and does something more — shows a reward on the wallet card, adds stamps/points automatically, or tells your staff to apply a discount at the counter.