How to Personalize Review Requests with Custom SMS Templates

Overview

Custom SMS templates within the CRM's Reputation Management feature provide a powerful way to send automated, personalized review requests to your contacts. This guide will walk you through setting up and managing these templates, allowing you to incorporate custom text, personalization tokens, and dynamic images to create compelling messages that reflect your brand's voice and increase customer engagement.

Accessing SMS Template Settings

To begin, navigate to the Reputation section from the main menu. Once there, click on the Settings tab at the top of the page. This area is your central hub for configuring all aspects of your review request campaigns.

Enable SMS Review Requests

Within the Settings, locate the SMS Requests option in the left-hand menu. You must first activate the feature by turning on the SMS Review Requests toggle. If this toggle is off, you will not be able to create or edit templates.

Configuring Campaign Timing and Frequency

Before creating your templates, you can define the behavior of your automated campaign.

• Send Timing: Use the When to send SMS after check-in? dropdown to select a delay. Options include sending immediately or after a set number of hours. A custom delay can also be specified.
• Repeat Frequency: The Until clicked, repeat this every dropdown lets you set how often a request is resent if the recipient does not interact. You can choose from preset intervals like 3 Days or 1 Week, or select Custom to define your own.
• Custom Interval: If you selected a custom frequency, you can set the exact number of hours or days between retries.
• Maximum Retries: Use the Maximum retries dropdown to set a limit on how many times a request will be resent, with options ranging from 1 to 5.

Setting Up Your SMS Templates

Click the Set SMS Templates button to assign a message template to each retry in your sequence. A window will open where you can select a template for the first retry, second retry, and so on. You can use the same template for multiple retries or choose different ones. Click Save to confirm your selections.

Creating a New Template

To create a new template, click the Create New button. You will be presented with two options:

• Create New from Scratch: This gives you a blank canvas to build a template entirely from scratch.
• Select from Pre-Built Templates: This option opens a library of pre-designed templates that you can use as a starting point and customize.

Building a Template from Scratch

If you choose to build from scratch, you will enter the SMS Template Builder. Here you can design every element of your message:

• Name Your Template: Provide a clear, descriptive name for easy identification.
• Enable an Image: Toggle the Request with Image option on if you wish to include a picture in your message.
• Upload an Image: You can upload an image file in SVG, PNG, or JPG format.
• Add a Custom Image URL: Alternatively, you can paste a URL to a dynamically generated image for personalized visuals.
• Write Your Message: Compose the text of your SMS. Use personalization tokens, such as {{contact.first_name}}, to automatically insert contact-specific details.
• Save the Template: Once you are satisfied with your design, click the Save button to store the template for future use.

Using a Pre-Built Template

If you select a pre-built template, you will be able to browse and search through a library of options. After choosing one, you can edit all of its elements—name, image, and message text—just as you would with a template built from scratch.