Creating your ThruText campaign


Opening a new campaign page

To create a new campaign, click the "New Campaign" button:


Setting up a new campaign

Campaign Details

When creating a ThruText campaign, you'll start by specifying the following parameters: 

  • General campaign details
    • Name - Make sure to use consistent naming conventions. Message senders can see the names of campaigns.
    • Description - The description is visible to senders, so you can use it to give them brief instructions to guide their texting. This is also a great place to let your senders know who to contact if they have assignment questions.
  • Campaign Date & Time 
    • Country - This will dictate what Groups will be shown at Targeting and what area codes can be selected.
    • Time zone - The time zone where your campaign targets are located, which is used to determine when the campaign is open for messaging.
  • Initial Message Sending Window 
    • Start and End Dates - The window in which initial messages can be sent through the Messenger. The End date can be edited after launch, but the Start date cannot. Choose your Start date carefully accounting for campaign provisioning time.
  • Daily Open Hours 
    • Open and Close Times - Settings default to 9 am to 9 pm local time.
  • Region Area Codes 
    • Area Codes - elects the local area codes for the numbers from which messages will be sent. The regions work in priority order, so you will choose your first and second priority area codes for Region 1 and Region 2. We recommend using a broader selection for Region 3, like State (All) or US (All).
  • Use Case Selection 
    • Selecting a use case tells the carriers why you are sending your campaign.
    • NOTE - If you do not have a use case and are texting US contacts, check that your Brand Registration and Use Case forms are filled out and your use case is marked "Approved."
  • Organization ID and Opt Out Language 
    • Both the Organization Display Name and Opt Out language are sent to the contact in your initial message script. They identify who the message is from and how to opt out of text messaging.
  • Build Your Target List 
    • Add previously created Groups or Past Campaigns to build your contact list.
    • NOTE - If no Groups are in your "Select a Group" drop-down, new Groups will need to be added to your account.

NOTE - If you are prevented from moving to the next campaign creation page, check that all required fields have been filled out, including having clicked Targeting's "Set Base Segment" button.


Senders

You can add senders before or after a campaign is launched. If you would like your message senders to use Self Assignment with a Campaign Sender Invite Link, you can enable those options now and skip adding senders before launching.


Only senders who have a GetThru user profile AND have accepted an invitation to your organization can be added to the campaign. Message senders can be added and removed manually by clicking the check box next to their name. If you do not see the sender you are looking for, send an Invitation. Senders who have accepted an invite can also be added in bulk by email using a comma-separated list.


If QuickSend is enabled on your account, you can toggle the feature on and off at the bottom of the Senders page.


NOTE - If you are prevented from moving to the Initial Message page, check that your Campaign Targeting on the Campaign Details page is greater than 0 contacts.


Initial Message

To create a new campaign, you must write an initial message that includes who the message is from and how a contact can opt out, if they wish. To assist in starting an engaging conversation with your contacts, use Custom Fields to personalize the conversation! Please refer to our Tips for Initial Message Creation for more best practices. The message preview window visible during campaign creation will allow you to estimate segments for your SMS initial message. Initial messages can be a maximum of 1,600 characters, but the best initial messages are short and invite conversation!

You can also create MMS initial messages that include pictures or GIFs for US contacts. For details on this feature, please check out our guides What is MMS in ThruText and How to Add MMS to Your Initial Message.


NOTE - If the option to add MMS to your initial message is not visible, check that you have added to your Media Library and applied an image to your Use Case.


Recommended Replies

After all initial messages are sent, Recommended Replies become visible to message senders. They are saved replies that appear within the texter's reply screen as optional responses to commonly asked questions and phrases. Please refer to our recommended replies guide for more tips and tricks! 


Survey Questions

Survey questions are the data points your texters collect during conversations. Please see our survey questions guide for additional details! Survey questions can be created within ThruText or be imported from VAN or ActionKit.


Review

During the review stage of campaign creation, you should double-check all of your work to ensure that everything looks good. If you need to make a change, you can go back to that step via links at the top of the page. After editing, be sure to click the "Save" or "Next" button at the bottom of the page before moving on. Once your campaign review is complete, scroll to the bottom of the Review page and click the "Launch" button. At the top of the page, you will see the status of your campaign change from "Draft" to "Launching" and then to "Active."


NOTE - It is best practice to wait until the campaign's phone number has completed phone number provisioning.


Launching will notify any senders added during the "Senders" step via email that they now have an assignment. This will also make their assignment visible when they log into ThruText.


For a walk-through of launching a ThruText campaign, please check out our video How to Launch a Campaign.

Larger campaigns can take longer to launch than smaller campaigns. If you have any concerns, please write to support@getthru.io.