Creating and Sending Text Messages

The process for creating messages is simple:

Step 1. Click the “Messaging” tab. You will go to the “New Message” page.
Step 2. Select one or more groups.
Step 3. Enter a name for the message, so you can track it on the “Message Activity” page.
Step 4. Enter the text of the message, using the “Custom Fields” table.

Note: As a best practice the first word of your text message should be the keyword followed by a colon, which is followed by a space. This tells the receiver which business has sent the message. For example, a customer might see this:
 

LennysPizza: Come in today! Show this text message and receive 10% off!!!
 

Below the text box is a character-count line that tells you how many of the 160 characters allowed in text message you have used. As you enter text, the 0 changes to the number of characters, including spaces.
 

Custom Fields: Notice that under the character-count line, there is a “Custom Fields” table. This table has two purposes: 1) to help you enter variables into the text message and 2) to help you count the number of characters in the message.



To enter the variables, you simply click the name in the “Tag” column, and the tag appears in the message. For example, you have a group that includes everyone’s first name. If you click the tag %%firstname%%, that text will appear in the text message box, and each message you send will include the receiver’s first name.  When you add a tag to the text box, the 0 in the character-count line changes. How much it changes depends on what is in the “Max Chars” column in the “Custom Fields” table.

Note: If you plan to use a group that is not associated with a keyword, do not use

%%keyword%%:
 

The system will not have a keyword to enter, and your message will begin with just the colon. In cases such as this, you can type in a keyword instead of using the custom field.

Note: It is best practice to include the opt-out text (reply stop2stop), which will be inserted automatically when you click %%opt OutText%%.

A “Max Chars” number is a tag’s maximum number of characters before the system cuts it off. For example, if the maximum number of characters for a last name is 10 and one of your contact’s last names is Von Snowden, the message the contact receives will show Von Snowde.

You can change the number of characters allowed simply by changing the number in the “Max Chars” column.

The example below shows how to build a message:

Step 5. After you create a message, scroll below the “Custom Fields” table and indicate whether you want the message sent out immediately or at a later time and date.

Note: Even if you select “Immediate,” you will still be able to change your mind, because the next step is to either to confirm the send the message or to edit it.


Here is what a text message might look like:
 

%%keyword%%: Come in today! Show this text message and receive 10% off!!! %%optOutText%%
 

The receiver of the text message will see the following:
 

LennysPizza: Come in today! Show this text message and receive 10% off!!! reply stop2stop
 

Step 6. Click the “Continue” button.
Step 7. On the “Review” page, either click the “Confirm” button or the “Edit Message” button.
Step 8. If you click “Confirm, you will go to the “Message Sent” page, where you can view all your scheduled messages or select “Send New Campaign” to return to the “New Message” page and start a new campaign.
 

Testing Your Message

Before you send a message to a group, you can send it to yourself to see how it looks. Use the “Send a test message” button on the left of the “New Message” page, enter your phone number, message name, and the text. (Or copy your message text from the “New Message” window and paste it in the “Message Body” field.) You can then schedule it to go out immediately or at a future date and time.