Smart Messages - Best Practices and FAQ

Best Practices

When creating a smart message, do not type in a prompt such as "Reply Yes or No" at the end of the text of the message; there is a separate setting to automatically add that language into the text that you can enable when configuring the smart message (this setting is called Message Closing).

As with any text message, keep in mind that the use of links should be kept to a minimum. It is always a best practice to first ask if the recipient would like to receive a link to specific information, and if so, send the link as a one-off message afterwards. The same applies to smart messages. One way you could incorporate this best practice would be to set up one of your automatic replies with the link/information; the recipient would only receive it after sending in a valid yes/no response.

It may sound obvious, but before you create a smart message, make sure the message text you are sending actually warrants a yes or no response. If it does not, find a way to reword the message or question so that yes/no responses apply. We advise against using "Help" or "Info" in your yes/no responses to avoid accidental opt-outs. Remember that you are able to customize the automatic responses that recipients will receive after a yes/no response, so additional information can be provided at that time.

FAQ

How do I text all of the recipients who said "yes" (or "no") in response to my smart message? 

Navigate to the  Messages area from the inbox the smart message was sent and click on Sent. Click on the message/message batch you sent, then scroll down to the bottom of the sent message details page. You can use the filters next to Filter by to isolate a specific response, then click Export Results to generate a file of those recipients.

With your file, navigate to Segments > New Segment and create a new identifier-based segment based on the StudentId/ContactId or MobileNumbers in your file.

Are smart messages shared across the team or specific to each user?

Smart messages are only shared if they are sent out of a Shared Inbox and can be accessed by anyone using that Shared Inbox. Smart messages that are sent from a personal inbox are not shared with other users. 

What are the valid/acceptable responses to successfully trigger a smart message response?

The following responses from recipients will automatically be classified as "yes" responses:

• "Yes"
• "Y"
• "Yea"
• "Yup"
• "Yep"
• "Yeah"
• "1"
• "Ye"
• "Ya"
• "Absolutely"
• "Si" 
• "Sí"
• 

The following responses from recipients will automatically be classified as "no" responses:

• "No"
• "Nope"
• "N"
• "Nah"
• "Naw"
• "0"
• "Na"
• 

Can I use other words, such as HELP or INFO? And what reply will send?

"Help" and "info" are carrier trigger works that will flag carriers as questionable messages. Therefore, you will not see these replies in your inbox. We advise against including "help" and "info" in your yes/no smart message trigger words to prevent accidental opt-outs.

If a smart message automatic response is triggered, does the conversation stay in my inbox? Does it stay unread?

For smart messages that triggered an automatic reply, the conversation will not show up in unread status (because you sent a response back) and will automatically be moved to the  Archived area of the inbox. If the response to the smart message did not trigger an automatic reply, the message will show up in the Inbox.

Note: Some devices/mobile phones allow for reactions on received messages (ex: liking a message). When a contact reacts to a message, the reaction is treated as a response and the automatic response does not send.

How long do recipients have to respond in order to receive an auto-response?

Automatic responses will continue to go out for any replies received within 24 hours from when the original message was sent. If sending to a segment or large batch of contacts, the 24 hours starts when the first message in the batch sends.  After that, you would need to manually trigger follow up messages.

Note: For sending to large batches of contacts, the 24 hours does not start based on the time the student received the message but is based on the time of first outgoing message. 

For example: A batch of messages starts sending at 8am and a contact does not receive the message until 10am. 8am would start the 24 hour countdown. If that contact replies at 9:30am next day, they will not automatically receive the auto response.  

If I sent a smart message tracked as part of a campaign, are the initial responses and automatic responses automatically tracked in the campaign?

If you tracked the smart message as part of a campaign, both the recipient's initial reply and your automatic outgoing reply will be tracked as part of the campaign.

If a recipient replies with a valid yes/no response, then sends in another message, what do I see in the Response column on the sent message details page?

The sent message details page will only show the initial reply to your smart message; other replies can be viewed within the specific conversation.