A Smart Keyword allows you to use a single Keyword as the call to action for your entire church, instead of having several separate Keywords for each ministry or department. Using conditions and/or menu options, you can route your members and guests to different endpoints within the same Keyword Workflow. Subscribers can interact with your Workflow, and you can direct their messages and paths more individually and intelligently.
Whether someone is looking for a growth track, sermon notes, or a donation link, they can text your one Smart Keyword to get exactly what they need. You can let people choose their own path (Send Menu) or automatically direct them based on their existing data (Branches).
Workflow Steps
You can add as many simple or advanced steps as you'd like to any Workflow. Simple Workflow steps usually work great when using a Keyword for just one event, or setting up your Workflow for the first time. Advanced Workflow steps are great if you're hoping to use one Keyword for multiple ministries or events.
Simple Workflow Steps:
Send Text - Type out a message to send back automatically when someone texts in your Keyword. You can add this step multiple times in your Workflow, and even schedule a specific time for when each message is sent.
Collect Name & Email - Add the collect name & email step to your workflow to send a form to your guests and members asking for their first name, last name, and email address. When they fill out the form, that info is automatically added to their Clearstream Subscriber profile.
Push to Planning Center - If your church uses Planning Center, you can automatically push any new Clearstream Subscribers into your Planning Center account. If a visitor texts in and submits their name they will automatically be created as a new Person in Planning Center People, and optionally added to a Workflow in Planning Center. Learn about our full integration with Planning Center here.
Advanced Workflow Steps:
Send Menu - Using the Send Menu step, Subscribers can text in your Keyword, and receive back a list of options. For example, "1) Sermon Notes 2) Giving 3) Serving". The subscriber then responds with their selection, and enters the path for that option. In this way, the Subscriber interacts with your Workflow to receive the exact info they're looking for. No need to promote 6 different Keywords. One Keyword; Multiple Paths.
Branches - Create custom conditions to split your Workflow into separate paths. Each branch has its own steps which allows you to send Subscribers targeted texts, add people to unique lists, and even send them to different workflows or subaccounts. Commonly used conditions: Missing First Name, Second Time Using Keyword, Planning Center Campus is ________ .
Transfer to Workflow - Use this step to transfer someone from your Keyword Workflow to an Automated Workflow. This is great if you've already set up an Automated Workflow, but want to create another way for people to join it - using a Keyword.
Transfer to Subaccount - Transfer to Subaccount is often used in tandem with branches or the send menu step. This step lets you use one Keyword to direct Subscribers to the right Subaccount. For example, you're livestreaming a service to 4 different campuses and only want to advertise one Keyword for everyone. Create a branch for each campus and transfer each person to their campus' Subaccount so each campus pastor can connect with their people. You can even transfer them to a Workflow within that Subaccount. If you haven't used a Subaccount yet, learn more here.
Smart Keywords can use all of these steps, just one, or a few. Many of these steps work well when paired together, like Collect Name and Email + Push to Planning Center, or Add Branch + Transfer to Workflow. If you ever have any questions on how to use any of these steps, feel free to reach out to our support team. We'd love to help you build a Smart Keyword that will work well for your specific church.