How to send 'Broadcast' Messages within LogixOne Chat
LogixOne Chat is a powerful omnichannel tool that allows you to communicate with your CRM leads and contacts via multiple channels. LogixOne Chat users often wish to send "Broadcast" or "Mass" messages via different channels, such as marketing messages via WhatsApp or product/service updates via SMS. Since every LogixOne message is stored as a unique record within the "Messages" module, you can create workflow rules via the CRM settings to achieve this. In fact, you can use this method to perform a wide range of automated messaging.
The following is a description of how to create a "Broadcast" message via a selected channel within the CRM.
PLEASE NOTE - SENDING BROADCAST MESSAGES SHOULD BE HANDLED VERY CAREFULLY. ONCE YOU START THE WORKFLOW AND BEGIN SENDING MESSAGES, YOU CANNOT STOP IT. LOGIXONE RECOMMENDS THAT YOU CHECK YOUR MESSAGE CONTENT VERY CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW ANY SPAM RULES FOR YOUR LOCAL AREA. IN ADDITION, ENSURE THAT YOU FOLLOW WHATSAPP AND TWILIO GUIDELINES FOR SENDING SUCH MESSAGES. WE SHALL ALSO PROVIDE SOME TYPICAL DIAGNOSES FOR ERRORS YOU MIGHT ENCOUNTER. OF COURSE, IF YOU WOULD LIKE OUR HELP TO SET UP A BROADCAST MESSAGE ON YOUR BEHALF, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US. Also please read the FAQ's below.
Step 1 - Create a trigger field
Workflow rules are like instructions that tell the CRM what to do, but they need a "trigger." A trigger is a modification to the CRM that can be changed. So, to instruct the CRM to run the workflow of sending the broadcast message, it requires some form of trigger. You could use a wide range of triggers, such as a field update, a date, field content, and so on. In this example, we shall use a simple "checkbox" field to trigger the broadcast message workflow.
Navigate to Settings > Customization > Modules and Fields > Leads and then edit the layout. Add a "checkbox" field and name the checkbox field whatever you like, for example, "Send Broadcast Message."
Step 2 - Create the workflow
Now that you have a trigger field you can begin to create the workflow rule. The workflow rule is basically the instruction that tells the CRM what to do when the trigger in actioned.
Navigate to settings>automation>worflow rules can click 'create rule:
Complete the worklow rule as per the following image. Note: in the 'When' picklist select the trigger field you create in step 1.
Now complete the 1st condition as per the image below:
Note: again please ensure you select the 'trigger' field you just created and the mobile field and mark it to 'is not empty' Remember you need a valid number for the message to actually go through.
In the 'Instant Actions' click '+ ACTION' and select 'Field Update' as per the image below:
provide a name and complete as per the image below:
Note: this step will return the 'Trigger' field to 'Un checked' so that you can re-run this workflow at any time in the future.
The next step is to create the actual message that will be broadcast. Click the '+ ACTION' again and click 'Create Record' as per image below:
Now create the actual message that you want to send. Please complete as per the image below:
Note: Please ensure you have selected all of the fields detailed so that the message can be sent correctly.
The following list will explain each field:
Record Type - Select 'Messaging'
Layout - Standard
Message Name - this can be whatever you like eg; 'WhatsApp broadcast message'
Message Owner - select from list of CRM owners (please note the message recipient does not see this)
Message Type - Select the message channel for the broadcast message eg WhatsApp or SMS
Lead - Select 'Current Record' from the list
Content - Enter your message content here. Please note: you can insert 'merge' fields here by typing the '#' button and selecting the record field you wish to merge.
Direction - Outbound
Phone Number - Type '#' then select 'Mobile' from the list.
Click Save. and your done creating the workflow.
Step 3 - Sending the Broadcast Message
To send the broadcast message all you need to do is for each record you want to send the message is 'Check' the 'trigger' field you just created. in this case the Leads 'Send Broadcast Message' field, by doing so with instruct the Workflow rule to run and send the selected Lead the message. There are a number of ways you can do this for multiple records. The easiest is using the record list 'Mass Update' feature.
To do this navigate to the 'Leads' module and select using the record filters the Leads you wish to send the Broadcast message to, In the example below we have create da simple filter that will only show Leads with a name that starts with 'P'. You can see that it has returned 72 records.
Now simply select all of those records and click the 'Actions>Mass Update' button as per image below:
Now simply select the 'Send Broadcast Message' field and click the checkbox and click 'Update' as per the image below.
This will trigger the workflow created above for all of the leads selected and send each of them the message created. If you have created any merge files within the message 'Content' the CRM will populate those correctly for each message'
Any message sent will also be displayed within LogixChat Chatbox.
FAQ's
- Ensure your content is correct. The best thing to do is create the message as detailed above then go to a test Lead or Contact and click the 'Trigger' field and see the result. Eg create a contact with your own details to test.
- You can create the same trigger field and workflow rule for the 'Contacts' module but you will need to trigger them separately.
- In this method you can only send 100 messages at a time because of the CRM's number of records to display. All you need to do is IF your view filter shows more than 100 records click the next button to run the mass update on the next 100 records. Alternatively, you can use the CRM's 'Actions' and workflow rules combined to send 1000's of messages in one go. Using this method you can add additional criteria to ensure you only send to the 'Leads' and 'Contacts' you require. But be very careful with this method.
- When sending WhatsApp messages we highly recommend not sending anymore that 500 to 1000 messages a day. Often what will happen is a number of recipients can reject or 'block' messages and this CAN cause the messages to be paused by WhatsApp and Twilio.
- Ensure that any Lead or Contact you wish to send a broadcast message is correctly formatted, ie. their mobile number field is complete and in the correct format eg +6149099390. IF it's not the message will fail to send. This is just like email, if the email address is incorrect it will not get through to the recipient.
- Once you have created a message, you can simple modify the workflow rules message 'content' and re run the rule. ie you really only need to do the above once.
- If you need help please submit a ticker and we would be happy to help but please note we will charge for setting up these types of automated messages. Typical cost is US$55 each message depending on the complexity.
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