Launching Text Sequences

Launching text sequences typically refers to the process of sending a certain number of text messages to one or a group of recipients all at once, using an automated messaging system.

Those messages are typically pre-written (text templates) and scheduled in sequences in advance. And, ultimately, aNinja takes care of launching  those text sequences at the designated time or interval.

However, it is important to ensure that the messages comply with applicable laws and regulations, to avoid your messages being marked as SPAM.

Text sequences can be sent individually to a single lead, in Bulk to a group of leads, or to all the leads at once.

Creating text sequences

  • First, prepare the text template(s) that you want to include in the sequence.
  • Then, go to Settings > Automations > Text Sequences

Launching a Text Sequence to a single lead

Launching a Text sequence to a single lead is done from the lead view

  • ( + ) Active Text Sequence,
  • Or from the Toolbar > Text dropdown > Text Sequences

Launching a bulk text sequence

After creating templates and sequences, you can launch bulk sequences to your leads.

Follow links in the article above to get full instructions.

Or, browse aNinja Knowledge Base for more articles.

Updating Templates and Signatures in in-queue messages

Updating templates and signatures in in-queue messages ensures that the messages being sent to customers are up-to-date.

Outdated templates and signatures can lead to confusion and inaccuracies.

Overview

To launch bulk text sequences, you want to start by creating templates and sequences. Then you set the launching date.

Once a text sequence is created, the system retrieves

  • the corresponding template(s),
  • the phone number used to initiate the sequence,
  • and the lead info available at the time of creation.

Modifications made to the template(s) or the signature of the phone number used to launch this text sequence can be reflected in the sequence, post-launching.

However, any changes made to the lead info are not currently being updated in the queued-up texts.

How to include template updates in the sequence

When editing a template’s content, you can choose to update all in-queue texts that are using this template.

  • Go to Settings > Automations > Text or Email Templates

  • Click on the pencil next to the template to go to the edit view

  • Make your changes.
  • And click Save.
  • Afterward, go back to the edit view once again to click on Update in-queue texts or emails.
  • Otherwise, the template’s updates will be saved but changes will not reflected in in-queue texts and emails.
  • In case there are no messages in queue using this template, the update in-queue button is disabled.

Note: The update might take several minutes depending on the size of the in-queue messages.

How to include Signature updates in the sequence

Update Text signatures in-queue

When editing a signature saved in a phone number, you can choose to update all in-queue text templates that were sent from this number.

  • Go to Settings > Phone Numbers
  • Click on the pencil next to the phone number to go to the edit view

  • Type in the new signature,
  • And click Update.
  • Then, you should go back to the edit view once again to click on Update in-queue texts.
  • Otherwise, the signature updates will be saved but changes will not reflected in the in-queue texts.
  • You can also see the number of in-queue texts that are using this phone number.
  • In case there are no messages in queue using this template, the update in-queue button is disabled.

Note: The update might take several minutes depending on the size of the in-queue texts

Update Email Signatures in-queue

When editing a signature saved in a email account, you can choose to update all in-queue email templates that were sent from this email account.

  • Go to Settings > Email Accounts
  • Click on the pencil next to the email to go to the edit view

  • Type in the new signature,
  • And click Update.
  • Then, you should go back to the edit view once again to click on Update in-queue emails.
  • Otherwise, the signature updates will be saved but changes will not reflected in the in-queue emails.
  • You can also see the number of in-queue emails that are using this email account.

Note: The update might take several minutes depending on the size of the in-queue texts

Re-launching expired or cancelled text sequence

In-queue text sequences expire if they were not sent for over 36 hours past the intended launch time of the sequence step. To re-launch expired or cancelled text sequence, follow the instructions in this article.

Re-launch expired or cancelled text sequence

If the sequence expired (not sent for over 36 hours past the intended launch time of the sequence step) or was cancelled, and you want to continue sending the steps to the leads, you want to:

1- Cancel the Bulk sequence:

  • Just click on the X next to the Bulk text sequence in the Dashboard Widget “Bulk Sequences”

2- Create a Smartlist with the leads that did not receive all the text sequence steps, by typing this query in the top navigation bar:

text.cancelled.bulksequence.id=[TYPE HERE THE BULK TEXT SEQUENCE ID]

Note!

This query identifies leads who have not received ALL the steps before the sequence expired or was cancelled. And relaunching the sequence for these leads would result in resending the steps from the beginning.

3- Save the results as Smartlist.

4- Then launch a new text sequence for this Smartlist

  • Select the Smartlist from the dropdown next to the top navigation bar.
  • Click on Launch Text Sequence on the top right

Block identical automated text messages

In aNinja, you can choose to block identical automated text messages if they are resent within 24 hours; as it could be unpleasant for your leads to receive the same message repeatedly in a short period.

This option is enabled by default. You can disable it at any time.

Block identical automated text messages

“Block duplicate automated messages if sent during 24 hours period to same lead”

  • This setting blocks your duplicate text sequences if they are launched within a period of 24 hours of the first sequence.
  • If you disable this rule, your identical text messages will be sent anyhow.

Text messages not going out

If your text messages are not going out, they might have been blocked by third-party telephony carriers. We recommend at least waiting a day before re-launching to allow for the queue to flush.

Why text messages are not going out

  • Our upstream telephony provider and third-party carriers that texts get routed to, might be flagging your messages as Spam/Phising/ etc… displaying the following error messages like:
    “Your message content was flagged as going against carrier guidelines.”
  • Another thing is that your message could have been identified as spam or unwanted messaging by the message filtering system due to people flagging it as spam. 
  • And/or the rate at which the messages are also being sent out.
  • It also could be that your text content could have triggered off this error.

Here are a few things that we recommend

Sometimes, aNinja is forced to comply and temporarily block your SMS sending capability until we add more remediation steps.

  1. Make sure you’re using opt-in lists (carriers use software to detect leaked / non-opt-in lists).  An opt-in list is a list of your customers who willingly give you permission to text them.
  2. Sender Identification: Ensure that your messages clearly identify who is sending the message
  3.  An opt-out language: The initial message that you send to an individual needs to include the following language: “Reply STOP to unsubscribe,” or the equivalent using another standard opt-out keyword, such as STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT.
  4. High key messaging metrics: A high delivery error rate, which indicates you may be attempting to contact numbers that are no longer in service, or are unreachable, such as landlines and/or external carrier filters are refusing to deliver your messages.
  5. Review your template content:
    1. To includes Sender identification
    2. And an opt-out language
    3. Try and use multi-step sequences to engage customers.
    4. Also, there are few things you want to consider before sending out texts.
  6. Lastly, you can provide us with your business address; there is an additional verification process (A2P) that we can set up that helps reduce the chances of being flagged by carrier systems as long as the above is being applied. Reach us at support@aninja.com.

Launch a text or email sequence to a bulk import list

Here are the steps to bulk import a CSV list of leads and launch a text or email sequence targetting those leads.

Locating the bulk import list

  • After the import is complete, you can view the file imported in Settings > Bulk Import > Previous Bulk Imports.
  • Each file has an ID number that identifies it.

Launch a text or email sequence to a bulk import list

Launching a text or email sequence to a bulk import list

There are 2 ways to launch a text or email sequence to a bulk import list:

  1. Go to Settings > Bulk Import 
    • In the Previous Bulk Import section, locate the list you want.
    • Then, click on the number under Records.
    • As a result, this opens the leads view where you can see all the leads saved in that list.
    • Also, in the top navigation bar, you can see the query that was used to bring you the data. It looks like:

lead.bulkimport_id=THE BULK ID

    • Save the results as a Smartlist for future use.

2- In the top navigation bar

    • You can search for the bulk list using this query: lead.bulkimport_id=TYPE HERE THE BULK ID

Now, hit the “Bulk Email Sequence” or “Bulk Text Sequence” button to target those leads with your text or email sequence.

Need help? Leave us an email at support@aninja.com. We will happily assist you!

Updating lead info after creating a sequence

After creating a sequence, you may need to update lead info to ensure that the sequence is effective in nurturing and converting leads.

Although updating the lead info is a common practice, lead info changes are not currently being reflected in the sequence post-launching. This means that any updates made to the lead info after launching the sequence will not be applied to the queued-up text messages.

Overview

To send bulk email sequences or bulk text sequences, first, you create the templates and sequences. Then you set the launch date.

Immediately, the system retrieves the data from the lead info and templates.

It then saves them in the sequence till the time is due to launch the sequence.

Modifications made to the template(s) or the signature of the phone number used to launch the sequence are now accurately reflected in the sequence.

However, any updates made to the lead info after the sequence has been created will not be applied to the queued-up text messages.

Preparing the email and text sequences

When you create an email sequence or a text sequence, the system queues up all the emails and texts as soon as the bulk email or text is created.

That means it builds up the emails/texts to be sent from the template and lead information at the time and queues those up for future sending.

How to include the lead updates in the sequence

To reflect any lead info changes in the text sequence, you need to cancel the current sequence and re-create a new one with the updated lead info.

Message Statuses for the Bulk Text Sequences

Bulk text sequences message statuses” refer to the status updates associated with the delivery and processing of text messages sent as part of a bulk SMS campaign.

These statuses can provide valuable information about the status and count of messages and the success of the campaign.

Where can I see the bulk text sequence message statuses

  • You can see the Bulk text sequence message statuses in the Dashboard Widget “Bulk Sequences”.
  • However, if you can’t see this widget on your dashboard, just enable it from the little gear on the top right of the Dashboard.
  • For an overview of the dashboard, go ahead and click on the help (?) icon next to Dashboard.Bulk Text Sequence Message Statuses

Bulk text sequence message statuses

Bulk text sequence statuses indicate the status of the bulk sequence:

  • Being processed: The system is preparing your Bulk text for delivery.
  • Canceled: This indicates a Bulk text that you have canceled.
  • Done: The system has successfully delivered the Bulk text to all the recipients with a confirmation from the destination carriers.
  • In progress: The Bulk text is on the way and it started to reach the recipients gradually.

The bulk sequence sets itself to completed once all the messages have gone out.

In some cases, some messages get stuck in the “Outbox” because the carrier doesn’t return with a reply. The status of those messages changes to “Delivery unknown” in a few days.

Usually, the standard protocol is to give the carrier a window of 48 hours after the last SMS was sent successfully, before closing the bulk sequence (status done).

Count of messages

The stats column displays the count of messages in different stats, which includes:

  • Error: The texts did go out through our Carrier, but they were not delivered to the lead.
    • You can check the description of the error message in the lead view.
      • In the Bulk Sequence widget, click on the blue number next to “error”; then click on the name of the lead. In the history of interactions, you can see an info bubble next to the error under the text. Hover over it to see the message.
  • In-queue: The messages are in-queue and waiting to be sent out.
  • Outbox: The messages have been sent through aNinja, and the system is awaiting confirmation of success from the destination Carriers.
    • Click on the info bubble next to “outbox”: “Awaiting response from destination carrier”
    • Some destination carriers don’t return a confirmation message.
    • In this case, the status of the sequence remains “in progress” even though the messages went through aNinja.
    • And it will change to “Delivery Unknown” in a few days if we didn’t receive from the Carriers.
  • Sent: The messages were successfully sent out and the destination carriers confirmed delivery success.
  • Deleted_leads_count: This indicates the leads that were part of the initial request but have been deleted since the request was made.

Error type: Unknown error

If a message you sent is not delivered to the end device and returns a 30008 error code, this means that the delivery of your message failed for unknown reasons.

When our carrier receives a very generic error from the destination carrier that he has no further details about, he then associates the message with the error code 30008; letting you know that he truly doesn’t know what caused this error from the provider.

Possible reasons:

  • The phone/device you were sending to is not turned on or can’t receive messages.
  • Or, the phone is roaming or off-network. They cannot guarantee message delivery on roaming phones.
  • Or, the issue is likely device-related. Test sending to other phones who have the same mobile carrier.

We can still contact our Carrier to connect with the destination carriers to ask about the reasons/explanations for the unknown error.

Important!

As per the US country guidelines: https://www.twilio.com/guidelines/us/sms

Gambling content being sent in the US is not allowed.

For reference, here is the documentation for sending MMS: https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/223179808-Sending-and-receiving-MMS-messages.

Lead’s Contacts

The lead’s contact section in the Lead View, shows all the contacts saved under your lead (employees of the same company, relatives, etc…). It’s a good component for filtering based on contact info. The lead’s contacts are email, phone number, and URL.

You can mark a contact as “do not contact“. They will stop receiving your bulk sequences. You can still send them emails / texts from the lead view.

Relocate the contact in the lead’s contacts if you have multiple ones. Drag it to the top. The first one in order will be considered the primary contact.

Lead's contacts

Incorrect email address or phone number

It is important that the lead contact are correct so your outbound emails and texts reach your leads successfully.

Moreover, if you’re intending to use the phone number for texting, save the mobile number as the primary number (first number in the contact). Otherwise, your text will not reach the lead.

However, you will be notified that your outbound was not sent due to the incorrect email address or phone number.

Using the contact info for leads search

Just type the contact info on the top navigation bar, and aNinja will search all your CRM to find the lead(s) related to your search.

The results will show in the Leads View. For future use, go ahead and save the results as Smartlist. You can share your Smartlist with other users too.

Bulk Activities

Now, you can perform the below activities on the results in the Leads View:

Bulk text sequence not reaching all leads

Bull Text Sequence not reaching all leads

When launching a bulk text sequence to your leads, the system uses the contact phone numbers that were created or imported upon the creation of the lead.

It is important to fill in the right info so your bulk sends properly and reaches all the leads.

During the mapping when importing a CSV file, use this aNinja field:

contact_phone1 –> to be mapped to the phone number

Note: Make sure the primary phone number saved to your lead contact is a mobile number. The system can’t identify the landline from the mobile numbers, and the leads will not receive your messages.