Now that you have subscribers in your List, it's time to send them a message. This short article will cover how to create a message, and best practices to use when sending messages.
To Create a New Message
- Go to Messages (or Create Message from the Dashboard)
- Write your message content. Click Update Header to change your message header. Click Shorten URL to create a trackable bit.ly URL.
- Select the List(s) you'll send your message to. If you need to send a message to only a few subscribers, click the right dropdown, select Recipients, and select your specific recipients.
- Choose whether to send your message now or schedule for a later date.
- Click Preview Message. Double check everything, and click Send Message.
Once you send your message, you can view live second-by-second metrics on the Message View page. You'll also be able to see how many people responded, clicked on your link, and opted out.
P.S. - You can quickly duplicate sent messages. To duplicate a sent message: select any sent message from the Messages page and click Duplicate.
Best Practices
Following these guidelines will keep your opt-out rate lower and subscriber engagement higher.
- For most use-cases, we recommend sending 1-2 messages per week max to your main church-wide List. For communicating with small groups like scheduling, that of course doesn't apply.
- Keep the wording human. No one enjoys a spammy-worded text message. A simple way to gauge this: try reading your message out loud before sending.
- Send messages during normal hours: 8am-8pm. There are of course instances when a message needs to be delivered outside this window, but generally it's best to stick to these hours.
- Stay away from too much punctuation and line breaks. Make it concise and easy to read.
- Reply to incoming responses. When you send your message, you'll typically receive replies. All replies go into your Inbox. You can reply back to subscribers from your Inbox. Tip: make sure you have email notifications enabled in your Account Settings (bottom of page) so you can know when you have a new inbox message.