Sending Messages to Members

GymPoint lets you communicate with your members through email and SMS directly from the platform. Whether you need to reach one person or your entire membership base, the messaging tools make it straightforward.

Sending an Individual Message

To send a message to a single member:

1. Navigate to the member's profile by searching for them in Members.
2. Click the Message button on their profile page.
3. Choose your channel: Email or SMS.
4. Compose your message:
   • For email, enter a subject line and body text. You can use the rich text editor for formatting.
   • For SMS, type your message in the text field.
5. Click Send.

The message is sent immediately and recorded in the member's communication history.

Bulk Messaging to Filtered Groups

To send a message to multiple members at once:

1. Go to Marketing > Communications from the left sidebar and open the Compose tab.
2. Choose your channel: Email, SMS, or Portal Post.
3. Define your audience by selecting filters:
   • Membership status — active, past due, frozen, canceled
   • Membership plan — target specific plan holders
   • Join date — reach members who joined within a date range
   • Last check-in — contact members based on recent attendance
   • Tags — use member tags for pre-defined groups
   • Custom fields — filter by any custom field value
4. Review the recipient count displayed after applying filters.
5. Compose your message. You can use template variables like {{customer.first_name}} to personalize each message.
6. Click Preview to see how the message will look for a sample recipient.
7. Click Send to [X] Members.

GymPoint processes bulk messages in the background. You'll see a progress indicator and receive a notification when sending is complete.

Message History Per Member

Every message sent through GymPoint is logged on the member's profile:

1. Open a member's profile.
2. Click the Messages tab.
3. View a chronological list of all sent messages, including:
   • Date and time sent
   • Channel (email or SMS)
   • Subject line (for emails)
   • Message content
   • Delivery status (sent, delivered, failed, bounced)

This history ensures your team always knows what communications a member has received, even if the message was sent by another staff member.

Character Limits and Best Practices

SMS Messages

• Standard SMS messages are limited to 160 characters per segment.
• Messages longer than 160 characters are automatically split into multiple segments, which may incur additional charges from your SMS provider.
• Keep SMS messages concise and include a clear call to action.

Email Messages

• There is no strict character limit for email messages.
• Keep subject lines under 60 characters for best readability across email clients.
• Use the rich text editor to add formatting, links, and images, but avoid overly complex layouts that may not render well on mobile devices.

General Best Practices

1. Personalize your messages. Use template variables like {{customer.first_name}} to address members by name. Personalized messages see significantly higher engagement.
2. Respect frequency. Avoid messaging the same members too often. A good rule of thumb is no more than 2-3 promotional messages per month.
3. Be clear and actionable. Every message should have a purpose and make it obvious what the member should do next.
4. Test before bulk sending. Use the preview feature to check that your message looks right and variables resolve correctly.
5. Time it well. Avoid sending messages late at night or early in the morning. GymPoint respects quiet hours if configured under notification settings.
6. Review delivery status. After sending a bulk message, check the delivery report for bounces or failures and clean up invalid contact information.