SMS campaigns

SMS campaigns in Synerise allow you to send campaigns to all customers who gave you their phone number and gave you permission to communicate with them using this channel.

Business profits

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You can send personalized SMS campaigns to a specific group of customers in the right moment (for example after making a specific action by them), this way it is much easier to reach customers with the right content.

An easy-to-use campaign builder allows you to save time and set up the moment of sending your campaign automatically. It means that it can be a part of your sales/communication cycle and it can be sent only to people who met specific conditions.

Analyses of SMS campaigns let you compare and analyze results achieved in every campaign in real time, collect information about the number of sent text messages, and so on. This makes text messages great for both advertising campaigns and collecting customer information.

Requirements

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Before you start sending SMS campaigns, you must configure SMS gateway ( Settings >  Apps & Integrations > Apps & Services). You can use the following SMS gateways:

• SMSAPI
• Twilio
• Materna
• Infobip
• TideMobile

Important: After you configure an SMS gateway, it will be available on the list here: Settings > Configuration > SMS > Add SMS account

Configuring SMS gateway

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An SMS gateway lets you send and receive SMS messages by providing a relay between your system and a telecom network. Synerise, thanks to the possibility of integration with SMS applications, can help you organize and effectively manage SMS campaigns.

1. Go to Settings >  Apps & Integrations > Apps & Services
2. Find the SMS gateway you want to configure and next to the name of the gateway, switch the toggle button on.
3. Enter the credentials of the gateway (available on your gateway account).
4. Confirm by clicking Save.
5. Go to Settings > Configuration > SMS > Add SMS account
6. In the Account name field, enter the name of the account. It will display on the list of SMS accounts.
7. In the From name/number field, enter the name or number that will be visible for the recipient of the text message (make sure the gateway plan covers this feature).
8. From the SMS provider list, select the SMS gateway.
9. Confirm by clicking Save.
   Result: The new account is visible on the list in Settings > Configuration > SMS.

Tip: Use the menu on the right to set one of the accounts as default, to test, edit, or remove them.

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SMS dashboard

In order to see a campaign overview, go to Campaigns > SMS.

The SMS campaign dashboard includes a list of all campaigns. Each campaign entry in the list contains basic information, such as the date of sending or modification, the number of text messages sent in the campaign, or the campaign author.

1. In the Filters section, you can filter the campaigns by the following conditions:

   • Recent - see the list of most recently sent campaigns
   • Draft - see the list of SMS campaign drafts
   • Scheduled - see the list of scheduled campaigns
   • Active - see the list of all currently active campaigns
   • Paused - see the list of all paused campaigns
   • Inactive - see the list of all inactive (finished) campaigns

2. In Templates section, you can find templates which you can use in your campaign.

3. The Folder section allows you to add folders to group and organize campaigns.

1. To add a campaign to folder, select the campaign.
2. Click Move to, and choose the folder.

Campaign basic statistics

1. Check the statistics for campaign status (how many of them are active/scheduled/paused), and see how many campaigns have been sent the last 24 hours. It’s an opportunity for comprehensive observation and interpretation of results from every campaign. Thanks to this, you can determine the optimal time for your shipments, analyze the behavioral, demographic and transactional data about the users, and personalize the content of your SMS campaigns.

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SMS template

You can create SMS templates which can be used further in the campaigns. This way you will not have to create campaigns from scratch.

In order to create a new template, go to Campaigns > SMS.

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Creating SMS template

In Synerise template builder you can create your SMS message.

WARNING: You can use up to 480 characters in the campaign, however, if you exceed 160, the campaign is going to be divided into at least two text messages (one text message consists of 160 characters).

1. Go to Campaigns → SMS.

2. In the menu on the left, click Templates.

3. Click Create new.

4. Click Text editor. The text editor and SMS preview open.

5. In the text box on the right, enter the contents of your message.

   

6. When your message is ready, choose one of the options:

   • If you want to save the template for later use, click Save the template.
   • If you want to use the template immediately, click Use in campaign.

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Creating from template

To use templates prepared previously:

1. Go to Campaigns > SMS.
2. In the menu on the left, click Templates.

1. Select the Templates option.
2. Choose the template you want to use.

If there are a lot of them, you can sort them by the name or the date of creation for easier browsing.

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Modifying SMS templates

If you want to modify a template, you need to copy it and modify the duplicated version.

1. Go to Campaign → SMS → Templates.
2. Select From templates.
3. Select the template you want to modify and click the three-button icon to expand the context menu.
4. Click the Duplicate button.

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Short links in SMS

If you send links in text messages, you can use a jinjava code to shorten the URL addresses to make the text message look professional and the link more reliable.

The jinjava code

{% shorturl %}{% endshorturl %}

Instruction

Place the URL between the opening and closing tag of the jinjava code as in the example below.

Example

{% shorturl %}https://example.com/season-discounts/?utm_source=examplecom&utm_medium=slider&utm_content=examplecom&utm_term=discount-amazon-perf-2_W3&utm_campaign=Campaign-OnGoing{% endshorturl %}

As an outcome, the customer will receive a message with the link:

WARNING: The link is valid for 14 days.

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SMS campaign

There a couple of ways to send SMS campaigns in Synerise. In this part we will show you the methods available, including:

• Manually
• Automatically

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Send manually

1. Go to Campaigns → SMS.
2. To create a new SMS campaign, click the Create campaign button.

1. Type the name of the campaign.
2. Additionally, you can add the description below. This way you let other users know what kind of content this campaign includes without going into the campaign details.

Configure the campaign in 4 steps:

• In the Audience section, choose the campaign recipients.
• In the Content section, create the text of your SMS campaign.
• In the Schedule section, set the time when your campaign will be sent.
• In the Test section, check the campaign before you send it.

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Audience

Define the recipients of your campaign.

You can choose one of three options:

1. Everyone - The text message will be sent to each customer in your contact base who left a phone number in any of your contact forms and who agreed to receive marketing content in the mobile channel.
2. Segment - You can send the campaign to one or more segments you created in the application previously.
3. New Audience - You can create a new segment and specify conditions which should be met by your target.

WARNING: Remember that you can send the SMS campaign only to users who gave you their phone number and permission. This is the reason why estimated reach is lower than total audience.

You can additionally add advanced options which are visible below, after clicking an arrow. In advanced options you can find two options to choose:

1. Batch delivery - This option enables you to deliver text messages to a large audience in batches sent in a specified time range to prevent website-crushing click floods. If you decide to use this option, you can additionally choose the number of batches in the specific time range.
2. Enable a control group - A control group is a defined percentage of your audience who won’t receive this campaign so you can better understand performance. The not send blabla event is available on the cards of customers who do not receive any version of the campaign. You can define the percentage of the control group in the Content section.
3. To complete the process, click the Apply button.

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Content

At this stage, you can choose the template which will be sent or create an A/B test to check the effectiveness of every version of your campaign.

1. From the dropdown list, choose the Sender name. This is the list of the SMS accounts described in the Configuring SMS gateway step.
2. Create the content of your campaign. You can choose a ready-made template or create a new one. Even when you add the template, you can always modify it when you click Duplicate and edit the copied version, or delete when you click Remove.

Note:

1. By choosing more than one version of the A/B test, you will be able to set the size of groups to which the given message of the campaign will be sent. The control group (if you ticked the option Enable a control group in the previous step) is already excluded from the recipient database.
2. The maximum number of versions sent within one campaign is 3.

1. To add another version click the plus button on the upper part of the content box.
2. Add Sender name. This is the list of the SMS accounts described in the Configuring SMS gateway step.
3. Add another template in the same way like before and make your changes.
4. Use Customer allocation and choose the audience size for each version.
5. To complete the process, click the Apply button.

WARNING: You can send up to 3 versions of A/B tests.

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Schedule

This is where you can set the start date for your campaign.

1. You can choose between two options:

   • To send your campaign after clicking the Send button on the upper right corner, use the Immediately option.
   • To plan a campaign to be sent at a future date, use the Scheduled option. Set the start time and the time zone.
     Additionally, the AI algorithm calculates the optimal time to send a campaign on the basis of the customer activities such as page.visit events. It estimates the best date for the following seven days.
     To set the Start date defined in the Optimal sendig time, click the icon.
     Important: When you schedule the date of sending on a particular date, the Send button saves the settings and the campaign is sent at the chosen date.

2. To complete the process, click the Send button.

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Test

Test your campaign to check whether the message displays correctly.

1. Add phone number to which the test message will be sent.
2. You can add as many phone numbers as you want by clicking Add phone number button.
3. If you want to use the same list to test all your campaigns in the future, click Save list. The list will be visible in the Saved list.
4. To complete the process, click the Send test button.

If you have received a test message and it meets your expectations, then you can proceed to further configuration of the campaign.

Note: There is no limit on SMS tests.

Perform one of the following actions:

1. If you want to save your campaign without sending and finish your work later, click Finish later.
2. If you completed the configuration and want to launch it (now or at the scheduled time), click Save and send.

Note: Send button remains inactive active until you fill out all sections described above.

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Send automatically

You can send text messages automatically as an effect of the automation process (sales funnel, customer journey, etc.). Your campaign will be sent to all customers who met the specified conditions in described order.

In order to use automation for SMS campaigns, go to Automation > Journeys > New journey.

You can create an automation process in which you can include the SMS campaign launch as one of the activities.

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Example of use

Create SMS Campaign

Send personalized SMS messages to people who are in specific location today.

It can be useful if you want to inform them about current event or promotion in your offline shop.

1. Create a segment based on Geoanalytics.
2. Choose the area close to your offline store.
3. Go to the Analytics module.

1. Create a new segmentation and then set up the details.
2. Except the location, add more specified conditions e.g. you can find people who have visited your page during last month or made a purchase during last 3 months.

1. Remember to select date range.
2. Specify the date when customers are expected to visit the chosen location. In this case it can be today.

After saving your changes, you can find this segment in Analytics → Segmentation.

Go to Campaigns → SMS and create a new campaign in the same way as described in this article.

1. In Audience section choose the segment created earlier based on location. It will be the target group for your campaign.
2. Save the changes and set up other options including content, schedule and test.

Your campaign will be ready.

Business benefits from this use case:

• Those kind of campaigns can be useful in the case of time-limited promotions in offline stores. Text messages have better reach and can achieve better conversion than other marketing channels. For this purpose, you can use them in case of special offers to inform only the users who are expected to visit the store.
• Based on other possible conditions you can send your campaign to people who have recently met other conditions such as purchase during last month or visited your page. It lets you boost your profits and effectiveness of reaching the target group.

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