50 Free Appointment Reminder Text Examples + Guide for 2025

Here's how a simple text message can go a long way…

Text messages are widely read

When people don't show up to their appointments, it hurts your bottom line. No-shows mean wasted time and missed opportunities.

So how can you get people to actually show up? SMS.

We're not talking about sending manual texts which is difficult, tedious, and most definitely not scalable. We're talking about an SMS system that allows you to schedule and automate confirmations and reminders in advance.

Because 97% of American adults own a cell phone. And 55% of text messages are read and up to 100% of text messages are at least "viewed."

So it makes sense that sending text reminders can go a long way toward reducing that dreaded no-show rate for appointments. In fact, one study of outpatient appointments found the show-up rate to be over double when using SMS reminders compared to the control group.

Since almost everyone has a cell phone and almost everyone at least sees all of their text messages, sending reminder texts becomes a simple yet profound way to reduce the show-up rates you're seeing in your own business.

Text messages are convenient

How handy (no pun intended) is it to not only get the reminder that helps make sure you remember to attend the appointment—but also to have all the details of your appointment easily accessible from the palm of your hand?

American consumers often lead hectic lives with lots and lots going on.

There's work and appointments and kids' activities and community events and date nights and work trips and everything else in between!

Many of us rely on reminders and calendar events to make sure we don't forget anything. So how convenient when a business takes it upon themselves to send a reminder to me!

Text messages can prompt rescheduling when needed

Another way that text message reminders have the potential to help prevent no-shows is that the act of reminding could prompt a person to easily reschedule or cancel if needed.

For example, they receive a text that tells them about their appointment tomorrow at 3:30pm and then they think, "Oh, wait, I forgot I was meeting Jenny for lunch…"

And if your text message contains instructions for how to reschedule, this could make it very easy for your recipients to reschedule or cancel with enough time for you to refill their slot—rather than them simply not showing up altogether.

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So now that we've gone over some of the ways that SMS appointment reminders help reduce no-shows, let's go over some specific examples of what appointment reminder texts can look like.

With appointment reminder texts, you don't have to send messages individually from your own personal phone.

You aren't confined to having to send messages in real time.

You don't need to manually do everything (although you can if you want!).

Instead, you're going to:

• Use an SMS platform or API (you can use the API to create very customized automations if you have developer resources)
• Schedule messages ahead of time OR…
• Create automations that you can set and forget

Your steps are to:

1. Select an SMS platform
2. Optionally, integrate with your scheduling platform via Zapier (which is coding-free), API (which requires developer resources), or direct integration
3. Set up the messages

Once the messages are scheduled or automated, they will be sent at the designated times to the designated recipients.

Your clients will then receive the text message reminder directly as an SMS on their phone.

(They won't need to download any additional apps or make sure to have push notifications turned on.)

If at any time your recipients want to opt out of receiving future appointment reminder texts, they can opt out by replying with the word STOP and their phone number will be automatically removed from your text message database.

If you're thinking about sending SMS appointment reminders, there are a few best practices to remember—beyond the basic, obvious communication tips.

1. Don't close off replies

Many businesses are tempted to restrict replies to their text messages, because they're concerned about the bandwidth of monitoring and responding to such replies. But if you can make it work, then try to make it work! It's much better to be able to use SMS to really engage with your customers and clients.

2. Keep time zones in mind

If your business is one that reaches people across time zones, make sure you keep that in mind as you implement your reminder messages. Not being aware of time zones can not only lead to messages being sent at the wrong times, but it can also lead to messages being sent at inappropriate times that actually violate regulations for sending SMS.

3. Don't neglect SMS marketing

As you're going about your appointment reminder efforts, don't neglect to take advantage of specific SMS marketing efforts as well. With SMS marketing, you can actively promote your brand, your products, and your services through a medium that really reaches and engages people.

4. Use enticing copy

Just because your message is an appointment reminder doesn't mean that it has to be lifeless. You can still use copywriting best practices to connect with your recipients in an enticing way and communicate the value of what you're giving them.

5. Make sure people know how to opt out

If people decide that they no longer want to receive reminder messages, they should be aware of an easy way to opt out. They can opt out by replying with the word STOP to any of your text messages, so you can make sure to give people those instructions.

6. Create auto-responses if you can't reply right away

If you're unable to reply to responses right away (or at all), you can create auto-responses that automatically send a text message to anyone who replies to your SMS. This auto-response can give people an immediate notice and could even offer a timeframe in which they can expect a response.