How Cefaly Guides Patients From Device Setup to Daily Use With Attentive Email and SMS

The challenge: staying connected after the box ships

A delivered device doesn't tell the team whether a patient knows how to use it. Once an order shipped, Cefaly had little visibility into whether people were setting up correctly or building a daily habit. Yet Danielle saw those first few weeks as decisive: someone struggling quietly might stop using the device before ever asking for help.

“Patients who struggle quietly early on are the ones who give up. We needed our messaging to work like a support system, not a sales channel.”

— Danielle Vinci, Senior Brand Manager, Cefaly

The channels also needed to work together. Cefaly had used Attentive for SMS since August 2022, while email ran through a separate platform. That separation made it harder to deliver the cohesive patient experience Danielle wanted. Her goal was to stay connected through the channel each patient preferred, with guidance that continued beyond the first purchase.

One connected SMS and email program

In fall 2023, Cefaly moved email to Attentive just before Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With the holidays approaching, getting the transition right mattered. Danielle credits the Attentive team with preparing Cefaly ahead of the season. Bringing SMS and Attentive Email together gave her team a way to build the connected lifecycle program she had envisioned.

The work has clear owners. Danielle sets the strategy and patient journey, connecting lifecycle messaging to Cefaly's support programs and other direct-to-consumer channels. Cefaly’s Lifecycle agency partner puts that strategy into practice, building flows, producing campaigns, and managing sends. That division gives a small in-house team a way to carry a consistent patient focus into day-to-day execution.

Building the post-purchase journey around patient care

Cefaly's post-purchase program treats marketing as part of the care patients receive. From the moment an order ships, messages guide people through setup, early use, and a daily routine. 

The content draws on three groups close to the patient experience:

1. Customer Success identifies where patients get stuck through daily conversations.
2. Influencers share what the migraine community wants to hear in weekly conversations with Danielle.
3. The medical advisory board helps the team understand progress from a clinical perspective and set realistic expectations.

Those perspectives influence both the practical guidance and the expectations that come with it. Danielle describes Cefaly as one part of a broader treatment toolkit and says that, with migraine, “any decrease is a win.” The journey helps patients recognize progress as they learn to use the device and build a habit, instead of waiting for perfection.

A personal connection from the first use

The most important message, in Danielle's view, is the invitation to book a Quick Start Session with a Cefaly expert. Every new customer can book a one-on-one call. Reaching someone while they're opening the box creates an opportunity to guide that first experience before they try a treatment on their own. It also gives them a person to turn to as they get started.

“They start with confidence, they know what success looks like, and they know they're not doing this alone.”

— Danielle Vinci, Senior Brand Manager, Cefaly

That commitment to accessible, personal help also runs through Cefaly's veterans program. Veterans can get Cefaly at no cost through the VA, and a dedicated phone line connects them with help for questions about their device or treatment. For Danielle and the team, that access carries a personal meaning.

“After everything they've given, our veterans deserve options that help them feel better and live a full life after serving.”

— Danielle Vinci, Senior Brand Manager, Cefaly

Patient experiences shape the message

The team also listens to which messages patients value. Danielle repeatedly heard that stories from other people living with migraine resonated most. That feedback led to Influencer of the Week, a weekly campaign featuring a real person's experience and how Cefaly had helped them. Hearing from someone with a shared experience gave patients a connection that brand messaging alone couldn't provide, in Danielle's view.

AI Pro gives a small team more time to act

Danielle and a part-time copywriter run Cefaly's in-house direct-to-consumer marketing across three regions. Alongside strategy, creative, and multiple channels, there was limited time to search through data for useful patterns. Danielle turned to AI Pro to take some of that analysis off her plate so she could spend more time deciding what to do with the insights.

Reach people who want to hear from Cefaly

For Danielle, audience decisions connect a business goal with a patient need. She wants more people living with migraine to know Cefaly is a resource, while respecting that some aren't ready to hear more. Audiences AI helps the team focus its sends on people who want to hear from the brand, reducing the need to send to everyone and hope the message lands.

“For us, conversion isn't just a revenue metric. It's how we get a treatment option into the hands of people who need it.”

— Danielle Vinci, Senior Brand Manager, Cefaly

Give message timing the same care as the content

Timing is another part of that responsibility. As Danielle puts it, “Migraine patients are really big on routine. It helps our brains stay calm in the storm of pain.” A message arriving during an attack can feel intrusive, even when its content is relevant. Send Time AI helps Cefaly address that timing concern. Danielle says her Customer Success team now hears from fewer people upset about receiving a message in the middle of an attack.

Use what patients share to improve their next interaction

Cefaly's broader use of AI follows the same patient focus. Beyond the AI Pro use cases above, the team analyzes return reasons and customer service calls with AI to understand where patients get stuck. Those findings help refine marketing and make one-on-one coaching calls more useful. With AI handling day-to-day data analysis, the team has more time to personally guide patients through using their device.

Results: revenue growth and fewer opt-outs

Danielle reports a 20.3% lift in revenue year to date, which she attributes to AI Pro. She also says Send Time AI cut Cefaly's opt-out rate “roughly in half.” Alongside those figures, she points to fewer complaints about message timing and more time to act on insights.

Together, those observations reflect the priorities behind Cefaly's program: reaching interested patients, being thoughtful about when messages arrive, and giving a small team time to apply what it learns. The commercial results sit alongside the work of helping people feel supported after they buy.

The patient experience behind the program

For Danielle, individual patient stories give that work its meaning. One experience that stayed with her began with a training call when a patient received her device:

“One story that's always stuck with me is a patient who began having debilitating chronic migraine after her first child was born. She did a training call with us when she got her device, learned how to get the most out of her treatments, and found real success. She credits Cefaly with giving her the relief she needed to have her second child, and we got to watch her life flourish because of it.

She's not the only one. We've heard from many patients about how Cefaly got them through pregnancy. It's already a stressful time, and with medication options so limited, Cefaly was there for them when they needed it most.”

— Danielle Vinci, Senior Brand Manager, Cefaly

The program keeps that human connection at its center, from the first invitation to speak with an expert to the guidance that follows. For Danielle, a call that leaves someone feeling supported, and the follow-up conversations weeks later, are what make the time worthwhile.

Advice for small teams: make room to act

Her advice to another small team considering AI Pro is direct: “Don't wait.” For Cefaly, the benefit is having more time to apply insights while keeping strategy, creative, and patient experience in the team's hands.

“Instead of spending hours finding the insights, I get to spend my time acting on them, and for a small team, that's a game changer.”

— Danielle Vinci, Senior Brand Manager, Cefaly