Introduction
The PDI Broadcast Texting Project allows users to send text messages to any universe within your voter database, people database, or imported lists of mobile phone numbers. This guide will walk you through the features and options available within the texting project, to efficiently manage and send your text campaigns.
With broadcast texting, you,
- Create a texting script.
- Choose the universe or list for sending the texts.
- Send the messages immediately or schedule them for later.
The system will handle the message delivery for the assigned list. Note that replies cannot be viewed with broadcast texting, but you can set up an auto-reply with a custom message.
To access the texting features, From the Online Campaign Tool, navigate to Outreach > Broadcast (Bulk) Texting
Here, you can create text messages and send them to any universe from your voter or people database or from imported mobile phone lists. You can also schedule messages to be sent at a specific time. Additionally, you can import an external list of phone numbers to send messages without adding individuals to the people database. For more targeted outreach, create a small recipient list of known individuals to include with your full universe when sending text messages.
Create Text Messages
To begin a text campaign, start by creating your message. To create a new text message or edit a previous message, click on the Create Text Messages box. Outreach> Texting> Create Text Messages
To create a new text message, click on the blue “Create New Text Message” box in the upper right corner.
“Create New Text Message” will bring you to the “Compose Message” page where you can begin to write your campaign message.
- Choose a name for your text message under the field “Name”.
- Click on the drop-down menu labeled “Category”.
- Choose a category that you have previously used or create a new category for your project. The category chosen should reflect the goal of the campaign. Examples of categories include Voter Registration, GOTV, Donation, etc.
To create a new category, click on the blue “Create New Category” option. Enter the name of your category and click “Save”.
Message Detail
Under “Message Detail”, compose the text message you want to send to campaign recipients. There is a character count in the top right corner of the “Message Detail” box to track the length of your message.
Text messages are calculated based on segments. For SMS, each segment is up to 160 characters, while MMS messages can be up to 1600 characters per segment. Special characters and emoticons are segmented differently. Select the icon to the right of the character count for the calculated per-send pricing of the message being composed.
Images and Emoticons
Images and emoticons may be included in your message using the icons circled in red. In the left corner of the “Message Detail” section, you may select the image icon to access the Image Manager to upload images or videos to your text. When images are included, the message becomes an MMS message costing $0.034 per segment. If no images are included, the message will remain a standard SMS message costing $0.014 per segment.
To upload an image, select “+Upload” to choose the image from your files and then select “Add Image” to add to the text.
The folder icon to the left of “+Upload” allows you to create folders to organize your images. If you would like to delete a folder, simply select the folder and click the X icon to the right of “+Upload”. A pop-up will appear to confirm that you wish to delete the folder.
When an image has been successfully added to a message, the MMS icon will appear at the top of the “Message Detail” box as well as a preview of the image in the bottom left corner. If you would like to remove the image, simply press the red X on the image preview.
Merge Tags
The “Merge Tags” menu allows you to address recipients by a variety of identifiers such as name, age, or polling place. Scroll down under the “Merge Tags” menu to see a complete list of tag options.
Response Strategy
Once a message is composed, select a response strategy to address replies from text recipients. Click “Select Response Strategy” to reveal possible responses. Choose either “Do not reply. Ignore all responses” or select “Auto-reply with custom message”. If you select to auto-reply, a box will appear to compose your custom message.
If you choose to auto-reply, a box will appear below to compose your custom message. This message will be automatically sent to any recipient that responds to the campaign message.
Opt-Out Language
All 10DLC campaigns require that recipients are given the option to opt out of receiving further messages from the campaign. Under “Opt Out Language”, click on the drop down menu labeled “Select Opt Out Language” to see a list of possible options for an opt out message. This language will appear at the bottom of your text message and will count towards the total length of your message.
Save Changes
Once your message is composed, there are four options at the bottom of the page to proceed.
1. Clicking “Cancel” will delete your progress and return you to the Create Text Messages page.
2. “Send Test” allows you to send a sample text message to the number of your choosing. Simply type in the number you would like to receive the sample text and press “Send”.
Please note that when sending test text messages, merge fields will not be automatically populated with their respective values.
3. “Proceed to Setup Full Universe Send” will redirect you to the page titled “Setup Delivery of Text Messages” which allows you to choose the recipients of the text campaign by selecting a saved universe or list.
4. Clicking “Save Changes” will save your progress which can be found on the Create Text Messages page. From Create Text Messages, you can review and edit saved messages by selecting the name of the message.
Delete Message
To delete a message, select the box next to the name of the message and select “Deactivate Selected Messages”. A pop-up page will confirm that you want to delete the selected messages.
Deleted messages can be viewed by selecting the “Show Inactive Messages” box in the top left corner. Deleted messages can be reactivated at any time by opening the message and selecting the “Active” box towards the bottom of the page, then selecting “Save Changes”.
Send Text Messages
You can also reach “Setup Delivery of Text Messages” by navigating to Outreach> Broadcast (Bulk) Texting> Send Text Messages then select the blue “Schedule a Delivery” button in the top right corner.
Choose Message
On clicking, "Schedule a delivery", you are redirected to the Setup Delivery of Text Messages screen.
Enter a name and use the “Text Message” drop-down menu to select a script from your previously saved messages to be sent.
Send To
In the “Send To” section, you must select at least one database to send messages to using the drop down menus.
Make Exclusions
You may customize your list by selecting the box “Make Exclusions”. Additional drop down menus will appear to make changes to the selected database.
Calculate Unique Mobile Phones in Universe
Once you have chosen a database, select “Calculate Unique Mobile Phones in Universe” to view the number of phone numbers available to receive messages as well as the estimated cost of delivery of messages. Additionally in this section, you can review the type of message being sent, message length, and price per segment.
Scheduled Messages
At the bottom of the page, you may select “Save Changes and Send Now” to proceed with billing and send messages immediately. Alternatively, you may select “Schedule to Send Later” to select a future date and time to send your messages. Proceed by selecting “Save Changes and Send at Scheduled Time”.
Once you have saved changes, a “Final Confirmation” pop-up screen will appear to confirm the number of recipients, select “Confirm and Send” to proceed to billing.
Billing
Enter your Authorization Code and select a Billing Folder or “Add Billing Folder”. Select “Process File and Payment Now” to authorize payment and delivery of messages.
Import New Recipient List
To upload your own recipient list, navigate to Outreach> Texting> Import New Recipient List.
Select Your File
To import a new texting list, select the blue “Browse” button to view your files.
Use the “Select File Type” drop down menu to select a file type that matches your imported file.
The “First Row contains Column Title” box will be automatically checked. If the box is left unchecked, column titles will be included in the list.
To delete a saved file layout, use the drop down menu to select the layout you wish to delete. A button will appear to the right, select “Delete File Layout” and click Yes when prompted to confirm that you wish to delete the file layout.
Select “Load My File” to preview your list. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and select “Next” to continue.
Column Mapping
Name your file layout in the “Save Column Mapping As” box. If you have previously saved a column mapping layout, it will appear in the “Load a Saved File Layout” drop down menu.
Check each field to ensure highlighted columns match the drop down menu selection to the right of each column title. In the “Phone” column, select “Mobile phone” to ensure only mobile numbers are included in your texting list. When all fields are correct, select “Save” at the top of the page. Select “Next” at the bottom of the page to continue.
Mapping Preview
The next page will show a sample of your data, scroll down and select “Next” to continue.
Texting List
Use the drop down menu to select an existing texting list or select “Add New Texting List Name”.
Type the name of your texting list in the box and select the blue “Import” button at the bottom of the page. When your list has been successfully imported, you will be navigated back to the first page and a green box will appear temporarily with the message “Import Process Successful”.
Now your list will appear in the “Texting List (People List)” drop down menu on the “Setup Delivery of Text Messages” page.
Create Seed List
You can create a small list to send your message to a few individuals before sending it to an entire list or universe by creating a seed list. Choose recipients from your people list or universe to be added to your seed list. Navigate to Outreach> Texting> Create Seed List
Select the source of your list. Once selected, an additional drop down menu will appear where you may select your list. Your saved lists will be filed under “People List”. Once a list is selected, click “Search”.
Check the boxes next to the profiles you wish to add to the seed list, then press the arrow button to move profiles to the “Selected People” list. Remove profiles from the seed list by checking their box in the “Selected People” list and pressing the opposite arrow.
Once your list has been selected, scroll to the bottom of the page to name your list. Select “Create” to finalize your seed list. A green box will appear temporarily with the message “List Saved Successfully”.
Now your list will appear in the “Seed List” drop down menu on the “Setup Delivery of Text Messages” page.
