Once you have subscribers in your account, it's time to send them a message. This short article will cover how to create a message, and some best practices for texting your church.
Steps
Go to the Messages page or select Create Message from the dashboard.
Write your message content.
Select the list you want to send your message to. If you need to send a message to one or a few subscribers, simply search for their name(s) or number(s).
Choose Send now or select Send later to schedule your message for a later date.
Click Preview Message. Double-check everything is correct, then click Send Message.
Once you send your message, you can view live, second-by-second metrics on the Message Details page by selecting your message from the dashboard or the Messages page. You can also see who responded, who opted out, and more on the Message Activity Table.
Note: You can quickly duplicate sent messages by selecting any sent message from the Messages page > Click the ⋮ icon in the top corner > Duplicate.
Best Practices
Send a maximum of 1-2 messages per week to your churchwide list. For communicating with smaller groups or for communicating with your volunteer teams, that of course doesn't apply.
Keep the wording human. No one enjoys receiving a robotic, spam-like text. To prevent this, try reading your message out loud before sending it.
Send messages during normal hours (8 am-8 pm). There instances when a message needs to be sent outside of this window, but it's generally best to stick to these hours.
Stay away from using lots of punctuation and line breaks. Instead, make your message concise and easy to read.
Reply to incoming responses. When you send a message, you'll typically receive replies in your inbox. Respond to these whenever you can. It helps people feel connected! Tip: Enable email and push notifications in your settings so you can know when new messages come in.