Bulk Messaging

Overview

Bulk messaging in MartialFlow means sending one message to a whole group of recipients at once — a class, a belt level, everyone with an overdue payment, or your entire school. It all happens on the Send tab of the Communications module, where a filter builder lets you define exactly who should receive the message.

There is no separate "campaign builder" module and no saved recipient lists to maintain — you build the audience with filters each time you send, which means it's always based on your live, up-to-date data.

Sending a Bulk Message

1. Open Communications → Send
2. Choose the channel: Email or SMS
3. Open the filter builder and set the criteria for your audience
4. Preview the matched recipients to confirm you're reaching the right people
5. Write your message (or load a template) and insert personalization variables like {{Customer.FirstName}}
6. Send

The Filter Builder

Filters are the heart of bulk messaging. You can combine multiple criteria to target precisely the right audience.

Student Filters

• Status — active, trial, inactive, etc.
• Class — students enrolled in specific classes
• Club / School — for multi-location organizations
• Group — instructor or student groupings
• Belt — current belt rank
• Next belt — students working toward a particular rank
• Gender and school year
• Age range — minimum and/or maximum age
• Attendance — minimum/maximum number of attended classes

Parent / Customer Filters

• Relationship — e.g. parent, guardian
• Payment method — how the account pays
• Payment status — e.g. target accounts that are overdue

Example Audiences

• Payment chase: payment status = Overdue → friendly email reminder
• Grading invite: next belt = Yellow, attended classes ≥ 20 → grading invitation
• Class cancellation: class = "Tuesday Juniors" → SMS alert
• Re-engagement: status = Active, attended classes ≤ 2 → "we miss you" email

Previewing Recipients

Before sending, always review the recipient preview. It shows who matched your filters so you can:

• Confirm the audience size is what you expected
• Spot filters that are too broad or too narrow
• For SMS, estimate the total credits the send will use (credits are consumed per recipient)

Email vs. SMS for Bulk Sends

• Email is included with your subscription — ideal for newsletters, announcements, and anything detailed
• SMS uses prepaid credits (1 credit = 160 characters, per recipient), so it's best for short, urgent group alerts. Check your credit balance — and top up via Buy Credits — before a large SMS send. See Email & SMS Setup

Best Practices

1. Filter tightly — send to the people the message is actually for; irrelevant messages train families to ignore you
2. Personalize — even a 500-recipient send can open with {{Customer.FirstName}}
3. Preview every time — a 10-second recipient check prevents embarrassing missends
4. Mind SMS credits — multiply message credits by recipient count before hitting send
5. Time it well — avoid very early mornings, late evenings, and holidays for non-urgent messages
6. Check the History tab afterward to confirm the send went out successfully
7. Respect consent — follow local regulations for marketing messages and honor opt-out requests

Troubleshooting

Issue: Fewer recipients matched than expected
Solution: Filters combine restrictively — remove criteria one at a time to find the one excluding people, and check that customer/student records have the data the filter relies on (e.g. belt, age).

Issue: Not enough SMS credits for the send
Solution: Use Buy Credits on the Send tab, shorten the message to fewer credits per recipient, or switch the message to email.

Next Steps

1. Message Templates - Save your recurring bulk messages as templates
2. Communication History - Review past sends and their status

Targeted, well-timed bulk messages keep families informed without overwhelming them — the filter builder makes sure every message lands with the right audience.