Sending Messages

Send ad hoc messages - fast!

Quick Message is an easy way to send ad hoc messages fast!

You'll find the Quick Message icon in the top left corner of every page so it's always one click away:

Click it to send a message in three simple steps:

1. To - enter a mobile number, contact name, group name, or even a combination.

2. Compose - type your message here, the character count and credits are calculated as you type.

3. Send - click the Send now button and your message will be processed. Simple!

Create a New Message Campaign

Use this option if you want to send more complex personalised and bulk messages.

1. In the menu, click on   Messaging, then select New Message.

2. To add recipients, you've got a few options:

A) Manual Entry - start typing the name of a saved contact and select them from the resulting list, or just enter a mobile number. You can also copy and paste a list of numbers from another source, like a spreadsheet, directly into the recipient field.
B) Contacts - select individual contacts from your master contact list by clicking Search contacts and ticking the ones you want to send to. You can also select all contacts from this option too.
C) Contact Lists - if you've already got contact groups saved, you can select them by clicking Search contact lists and ticking the ones you want to send to. Use the arrow to expand the contact group and uncheck the name of anyone in the group you'd like to exclude from the send.
D) Contact Segments - similar to lists, a contact segment is a group of contacts that are categorised based on shared characteristics or behaviours. If you've already got contact segments saved, you can select them by clicking Search contact segments and ticking the ones you want to send to. Again, you can use the arrow to expand the segment and uncheck the name of anyone you'd like to exclude from the send.
E) Import from File - if your contact lists are saved on a separate database, like an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file, you can click this option to import it.

4. Now you can compose your message in the Message Content field. You'll see that as you type, the message preview on the right will update in real-time.

5. When you're happy with your message, click the Send now button in the bottom right corner:

Start a 1:1 conversation from the Inbox

You can send a new message straight from the inbox to any recipient, without needing to receive an inbound message from them first.

To do this, select the Inbox from the left-hand menu, and then click the New button above the conversation list. A new conversation will open, and you can enter the recipient's name or number into the To field above the conversation thread.

If a name or number you enter matches a contact you have saved, you can select them from the automatic dropdown box:

If you are sending to a new number, you can easily add the recipient to your contacts by entering their details (including their subscription status) into the contact panel on the right and clicking Save.

Once you've added your recipient, type your message or select a template from the drop-down menu and hit Send:

For a more detailed look at all the bells and whistles the inbox has to offer, check out this article!

Adding Personalisation to your messages

When sending to saved contacts, you can personalise your messages by using any of the Custom Fields from the contact profile that have been populated with information. When writing your message, just click on the Personalisation tab and select which field(s) to drop into your message. The preview on the right will show you what your message will look like when the personalisation field pulls the data from the first recipient's contact information. Use the arrows below the message preview to scroll through the first five recipients to double check that the data is populating correctly:

Send a Campaign to a list of numbers - a.k.a Mail Merge

1. To send the same message content to a large list of numbers, click on   Messaging, then select New message.

2. Now, there are a few different ways you can add multiple numbers:

• Paste Numbers - if you have a list of numbers in a spreadsheet, you can copy them directly from the spreadsheet and paste them into the Recipients field:
  

• Add Contacts / Contact Lists / Contact Segments - depending on your needs, you can select any of these options from the buttons next to the Recipients field. Then all you have to do is tick the box next to each contact, list, or segment you want to message and click the Add Recipients button. You can also search for specific contacts using the search box:
  
   

  Note - this action allows you to select multiple of any desired combination of individual recipients, contact lists, and contact segments.

  Another way to send a bulk message to a specific List or Segment is from the Contacts page in the Hub. To do this, click on   Contacts and either Lists or Segments, then locate the list/segment you want to message and click on Send message in the corresponding ellipsis (three dots) menu:
  
   

  Note - this action allows you send a bulk message to a single list or segment.

• Import from file - this option is handy if you have a list of recipients that you want to message, but don't necessarily want to upload them to the Hub as actual contacts. To do this, click on Import from file above the Recipients field, then just drag & drop your contact list into the upload box, or click browse to search for your file:
  
   

  Note - you'll need to ensure each contact number has the leading Zero at the start, you can do this by formatting the CSV column as Text.

  The system will try to automatically detect the mobile number column from your imported data:
  

3. Like before, now you can write your message in the Message content field. You'll notice that the personalised fields are now mirroring the column headers in your imported data file:

4. Once you're happy, simply click Send now.

Save your message for later...

It's possible to create a draft of a message that can be saved and reviewed before sending. The Save as draft button will appear as an action on the bottom right of the New Message screen.

To view all draft messages, click on   Messaging and select Drafts in the resulting menu:

In the Draft messages list, you'll have the ability to Edit or Delete draft messages by clicking on the three dots to the right of each message:

Keep your team looped in with message forwarding

You can forward sent campaign messages without having to copy the content and paste it into a new message.

This is done by clicking on   Messaging, then selecting Campaign Reports, then clicking the three dots alongside the message you want to forward to a new recipient and clicking Forward:

This will then open a new message screen with the content field pre-populated with the message you want to forward.