Tag: templates

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.

Launching a Text sequence to a single lead

Launching a Text sequence to a single lead can be done from the Lead View.

And the “Active Text sequences” show you the Text sequences this lead is enrolled in.

Overview of Text sequences

To launch a Text sequence in aNinja, you want to follow these steps:

  • First, create a Text templates
  • Then, create a Text Sequence with at least one step. Choose to send “Immediately” if you want your sequence to launch with no delay.
  • Finally, you can choose to either send your sequence to a single lead or in bulk sequence.

Launching Text sequence to a single lead

  • First, go to the lead view.
  • On the toolbar, click Text Sequence under the Text dropdown

  • Or, on the left side of the page, scroll all the way down to find the Active Text Sequences.

  • To create a Text sequence, just click on the plus sign (+). As a result, this opens a new Text window in the lead interactions on the same page.

  • Go ahead and select a Text sequence.
  • To send the sequence, click on start.
  • And to cancel it, just click on the recycle bin.

Viewing Active Text sequences for a lead

  • First, go to the lead view
  • Then, on the left side of the page, scroll down to find the Active Text Sequences.
  • Here, you can see all the Text sequences sent to this lead.
  • Thereafter, to see details of the Text sequences in which this lead is enrolled and the steps reached, just click on “Show previous“.

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

aNinja auto-saving mechanism for Emails and notes

aNinja auto-saving is a useful mechanism that saves your work automatically, every few seconds. So you don’t risk losing work if your laptop runs out of battery, you lose wifi signal, or the power flickers.

How does the auto-saving work

Auto-saving in aNinja is enabled by default for your Emails and notes.

When composing an Email or note in the lead view or in the template, it is auto-saved every few seconds to the auto-save directory on your computer.

So you can roll back to the changes only from the computer you were on. As it saves on the machine’s local storage.

Restore the auto-saved versions

  • Go to the Email or note, and click on the auto-save button on the left of the toolbar.

  • Choose what you want to restore.

aNinja auto-saving mechanism

  • It rolls back the version that was saved then.

Note! Attachments are not auto-saved. So if you attached a file and then deleted it, the auto-saving can not recover it for you.

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.

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.

aNinja Automations

aNinja Automations are tools used to automate certain tasks and processes within your account. This includes automating tasks such as lead capture, lead scoring, lead nurturing, email campaigns, and more.

They help you to automatically follow up with leads, engage them, close them, and much more.

For example, an automation can be set up to automatically send a welcome email to new leads or customers, or trigger follow-up emails based on specific actions taken by the lead or customer.

Start by creating templates, use them in your sequences, to be launched when a condition is triggered on a special event.

Overview

Go ahead and click on the help (?) icon next to Automations in the header. It redirects you to a short youtube video to get an overview of automations.

  • Here, you see the building blocks that allow aNinja Automations to work:
  • Templates:
    • Here, you create and manage email, note, and text templates. You create your templates once. So you can use them later on.
  • Sequences
    • In this feature, you create and manage email and text sequences. You prepare sequences using the templates you have created.
  • Triggers
    • With triggers, you schedule templates and sequences. The system fires them when the set event, time, and date are due.

 

Launching an Email sequence to a single lead

Launching an Email sequence to a single lead can be done from the Lead View.

And the “Active email sequences” show you the Email sequences this lead is enrolled in.

Overview of Email sequences

To launch an Email sequence in aNinja, you want to follow these steps:

  • First, create email templates
  • Then, create an Email Sequence with at least one step. Choose to send “Immediately” if you want your sequence to launch with no delay.
  • Finally, you can choose to either send your sequence to a single lead or in bulk sequence.

Launching an Email sequence to a single lead

  • First, go to the lead view.
  • On the toolbar, click Email Sequence under the Email dropdown

Launching an email sequence to a single lead

  • Or, on the left side of the page, scroll all the way down to find the Active Email Sequences.

  • To create an email sequence, just click on the plus sign (+). As a result, this opens a new email window in the lead interactions on the same page.

  • Go ahead and select an email sequence.
  • To send the sequence, click on start.
  • And to cancel it, just click on the recycle bin.

Viewing Active Email sequences for a lead

  • First, go to the lead view
  • Then, on the left side of the page, scroll down to find the Active Email Sequences.
  • Here, you can see all the email sequences sent to this lead.
  • Thereafter, to see details of the email sequences in which this lead is enrolled and the steps reached, just click on “Show previous“.

Launching Email Sequences

With aNinja, you can start launching Email sequences, which refers to the process of sending a certain number of emails (one or more) to one or a group of recipients all at once, using aNinja’s automated messaging system.

Email sequences can be used for various purposes, such as sending marketing messages to a list of subscribers, providing updates to customers or team members, or sending reminders or notifications for appointments or events.

Those messages are typically pre-written (email templates) and scheduled in sequences in advance. And, ultimately, aNinja takes care of launching those email 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.

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

Creating email sequences

  • First, prepare the email template(s) that you want to include in the sequence.
  • Afterward, go to Settings > Automations > Sequences
  • Create an email Sequence with at least one step. Choose to send “Immediately” if you want your sequence to launch with no delay.
  • Lastly, you can choose to either send your email sequence to a single lead or in bulk.

Launching an Email Sequence to a single lead

Launching an email sequence to a single lead is done from the lead view

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

Launching a bulk email sequence

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

 

Launching email sequences to all leads

 

Launching email sequences to a group of leads

  • You want to create a custom field that identifies a group of leads (e.g. Source). Then create a Smartlist that retrieves leads having this custom field saved in their lead view.
  • Then launch your special campaign to this group of leads.

 

Launching email sequences to a bulk import list

 

To access detailed articles and obtain full instructions and images, please click on the links in red.

Or, browse aNinja Knowledge Base. You can always contact support@aninja.com for help!

Customizing the design of email templates

Email templates can be in plain text or in HTML. Customizing the design of email templates allows you to create a new template entirely from scratch using whatever HTML or design you like.

You can customize HTML templates and include inline CSS and images.

Customizing the design of email templates

  • Any standalone CSS can be added to the source code view of the HTML template.
  • Inject this source code in the body of your email template by clicking on the source code icon (the 2 brackets icon < >) in the email template editor.

  • From the lead view, create an email and either use the customized template, or insert the source code by using the (the 2 brackets icon < >).

  • Choose the customized template to send a Bulk email.
  • Make sure to add any changes to the email before sending it.

Iframe content in Email

Most Email Service Providers (e.g. Gmail, Yahoo, etc…) won’t allow iframe content in emails and they automatically block it.

We recommend you add an image in the email template body and link it to the video URL: Click on the image and then hit the link button on the toolbar to add the URL.