You want to proactively send messages to your audience using text messages. This article details how to deploy this feature.

1. Prerequisites

In order to run a proactive messaging project with SMS, your brand must have:

• a phone number associated with the project,

• an opt-in collection strategy,
• an identification token,
• an opt-in and opt-out management system in its customer journey (iAdvize only intervenes to
• redirect the visitor to the place where he can unsubscribe),
• a specific distribution strategy for proactive messages

2. Create a text message phone number in iAdvize

This step takes place on the iAdvize platform (Engagement > Settings > SMS)
There is an article in the knowledge base that tells you how to activate the channel.

3. Customize your message templates

Unlike WhatsApp, it is not technically necessary to prepare and validate the content of the outbound message in advance. However, it is good to check with the client what the message will be because there is a limitation of 2 SMS segments (about 320 characters). An outbound message will not be longer than 2 SMS segments.

If you need to estimate the length of your SMS, you can use Twilio's SMS length calculator. This is the same criterion we will use in the API.

4. Gather consent from your visitors

4.1. Collect the opt-in

You have the option to include opt-in collection:

• in the purchase funnel,
• in the customer area of the site,
• via a dedicated landing page.

You must inform your visitors that they will receive messages. To do this:

• Group the different categories of messages sent in your consent request (e.g., order updates, relevant offers, product recommendations, etc.);
• However, make a separate request for each specific category of message. This limits the risk of being blocked by users because they receive unsolicited messages.
• Provide clear instructions on:
  
  • how your visitors can opt out of receiving specific categories of messages
  • the processes in place for giving or withdrawing consent
  • the benefits of receiving this information via SMS.

4.2. Collect the unsubscribe request

When a visitor asks to unsubscribe from proactive communications, the respondent (advisor or bot) must share an unsubscribe link with them. Some iAdvize features help your respondents in this process

• If the responder is a bot: provide an intent that detects the visitor's willingness to unsubscribe and the appropriate bot response (which includes, for example, the unsubscribe landing page url). To do this, go to the Automation section of the iadvize platform.
• If the respondent is an agent: write canned answers to send to the visitor to unsubscribe.

5. Set up the campaign in iAdvize

You need to launch an Outbound engagement campaign on iAdvize if you want to distinctly associate conversations originating from "outbound" messages in your reports, or if you want these conversations to be directed differently from conversations initiated by visitors.

First, create the campaign in Engagement > Campaigns > Create a campaign

Then, customize the campaign by giving it a name and select the Outbound strategy type :

Sélectionnez SMS as a channel :

Add a filtering rule :

Select your Text Message account :

If necessary, define an attribution period :

Set your campaign objective :

Finally, publish your campaign!

6. What is expected in the API call?

In order for iAdvize to send a proactive message to a visitor, your brand must send us specific data via an API call to iAdvize. You need to know the expected data in order to prepare the call in your IS (and to perform tests).

iAdvize expects the following data:

• the authentication token of the user on the project;
• [CampaignId] campaign identifier in the campaign creation interface
• [senderId] Sender identifier (SMS phone number of the brand)
• [recipientId] the phone number of the visitor to contact
• [text] content of the SMS that will be sent to the visitor by the brand, with a limit of 2 segments.

Complete example of a message send request:

Create your access token by following the dedicated documentation. You will need to authenticate with an account that has administrator rights on iAdvize for the project (sid) that holds the SMS account.

Answer:

7. Launch the project

Follow the steps below to launch your project:

• Make sure the campaign is active.
• Ensure all the rules are routed.
• Ensure API calls use the correct templateName and the correct campaign-names.
• Ensure the messages are successfully reaching the visitor (conduct a test).
• Ensure the visitors' responses are successfully reaching the operators.
• Ensure the conversations are correctly attached to the appropriate campaign.
• Launch the opt-in collection campaign.
• Launch API calls in production.
• Monitor the statistics.