Create a Broadcast

Create a Simple Broadcast

To create a broadcast from scratch, follow these steps:

1. Log in to our web interface, navigate to Moments > Communications > CREATE BROADCAST.
2. Choose a channel (in this case, SMS), name your broadcast and then add recipients from People or upload your own list of contacts. Select the sender and compose a message. To personalize your message, use placeholders. Click Advanced Options to set message delivery or scheduling.

3. Click ANALYZE and then if everything is alright, click LAUNCH.

Add Failover to SMS

Failovers allow you to set up a backup method of communication in case the primary method of communication fails. In Broadcast, you can enable failover to SMS so that end-user receive text messages if the first method of contact bounces.

You can use SMS failover with RCS and Viber broadcasts. More channels will be coming soon to work with SMS failover.

Failover to SMS enablement is done during the creation of a broadcast. Follow the steps below to enable it.

1. When creating a new broadcast, in the create screen, scroll down to the Failover to SMS section, and use the toggle to enable it.
2. On doing so you'll be able to set up failover parameters. Note that failover in Broadcast only offers the option to failover to SMS, unlike in Flow where you can failover to multiple channels.
   
   
    
3. Set the sender from which the failover SMS will be sent, and provide the message to be sent including and unique identifiers and placeholders in the body content.
4. Enable the URL shortening and tracking options as required.
5. Once you have hit Analyze and move into the next step, use the Failover view in the editor to get a preview of what your failover SMS will look like to end-users on their mobile device. You can go back and change the SMS before launching if required.

Send Messages From a File

The Upload File feature will help you to send messages to contacts that you have stored in a file.

Usually, you will want to export data from your database where your customer information is stored, and send messages to those recipients. To start, in the broadcast editing window click Import data and Upload file as it's shown in the short video below.

After you've uploaded the file, you will see the mapping data view. If possible, destinations will be mapped automatically. If not, you will be required to choose a column that contains the destination, such as a number or an email you are sending to.

Additional parameters include Skip rows, which will help you skip header rows with column names in your file. Also, if you don't have country prefixes added to the phone numbers, they can be added by clicking on the Add a country prefix, which is next to the number column.

Broadcast Templates

Create broadcast templates to reduce repetitive work.

You can create templates in two ways:

1. While creating a broadcast, you can save it as a template. All inputs except audience will be saved in the template.

2. Click Create template in the Templates tab.

Each template has an icon showing the channel, name, and number of communications in which it has been used. You can tag it, duplicate, edit and create broadcasts from templates.

Create Broadcasts Faster

If you are sending similar messages weekly or even daily, avoid repetitive work by:

• Loading templates in the new broadcast
• Loading existing broadcasts in the new one
• Duplicating existing communication on the All Communication screen

Loading Templates in the New Broadcast

Click on the Import data button and choose a template you would like to use from the list of templates that appear in the panel on the right-hand side. When using templates, you need to set the audience each time, since audiences are not stored in the template.

Loading Existing Broadcasts in the New One

Click on the Import data button and choose a template you would like to use from the list of existing broadcasts that appear in the panel on the right-hand side.

Duplicating Existing Communication in the All Communication Page

Once you are on the All Communications page, click on the three dots icon that appears once you hover your pointer over the specific communication. A small menu will show up, click Duplicate. The existing communication will be duplicated.

Personalize Messages with Placeholders

Messages can be personalized regardless of the channel if you use placeholders. Choose any number of placeholders to personalize your messages.

Placeholder values are filled from the Target profile of each person. If a value is not available, an empty space will be displayed instead. Placeholders can be default ones like first and last name, but you can also set anything your business case requires. This can be defined in the Custom Attributes section in the Target module.

Communication List

The communication you create will appear as a list and it will show the campaign status: active, paused, finished, canceled, and drafted. Any finished or drafted communication that has not been updated more than 90 days will be deleted. 

The broadcast will be paused for 7 days from the moment of pause. The broadcast will automatically be canceled if the communication is not resumed in this time.

 

If you have SMS Failover enabled for a broadcast, statistics in the list will be shown for both channels.