Tag: triggers

Increase the deliverability of your text messages

One of the biggest challenges in using text messaging for business purposes is to increase the deliverability of messages.

Here are some tips to ensure the deliverability of your text messages, all in complying by the Acceptable Use Policy rules.

Increase the deliverability of your text messages

Here are some common things you can do that your messages are delivered and read:

  1. Get permission from your recipients. You can include an opt-in message on your website, social media channels, or even in-store.
  2. Keep your message short and to the point. Avoid using jargon or complicated language.
  3. Personalize your messages using aNinja’s template variables. Use the recipient’s name or other relevant information to make your message more personal.
  4. Use recognizable sender name: Ensure that your messages clearly identify who is sending the message. Avoid using shortcodes or numbers as your sender name, as this can appear spammy.
  5. Send your messages at an appropriate time, taking into account the recipient’s time zone and daily schedule. Define the sending time in aNinja’ settings.
  6. Inform your recipients how they can opt-out of receiving any future emails.
    1. Ultimately, add an unsubscribe link to your tests. Basically, the initial message needs to include the following language: Reply STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, or QUIT.
  7. Also, honor opt-out requests: send an automated reply through aNinja triggers.
  8. Additionally, you can segment your recipient list to improve the relevance of your messages. Send targeted messages to specific groups of recipients based on their interests or behaviors.
  9. High key messaging metrics: A high delivery error rate. It 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.
  10. Also, 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 the carrier systems flagging your text as spam; as long as you follow the above. Reach us at support@aninja.com.
Text Content

Review your text template content to adhere to the messaging policy:

    1. Include Sender identification
    2. And an opt-out language
    3. Also, try and use multi-step sequences to engage customers.
    4. Avoid using spam trigger words such as “free”, “guarantee”, “limited time offer”, and “act now”. Instead, use clear and concise language that accurately conveys your message.
    5. And, don’t overuse abbreviations and emojis. They can be a red flag for spam filters.
    6. Lastly, avoid anything that is illegal or Forbidden:
      • Prescription Medication. Offers for prescription medication that cannot legally be sold over-the-counter are prohibited in the United States.
      • Illegal substances such as Cannabis, CBD, Puff
      • Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobaco, and Vaping-related.
      • Gambling.
      • Fraudulent messages.
      • Malicious content, such as malware or viruses.
      • Any content that is designed to intentionally evade filters.

aNinja is forced to comply and temporarily block your text sending capability if it is being flagged as spammy by upstream carriers. Make sure to comply with all the above practices to avoid the carriers filters flagging your texts as spam.

Text template examples

These templates should serve as a starting point, and you should customize them to fit your business needs and communication style and increase deliverability of your messages.

Promotional message:

“Hello {{Contact.name}}, we’re offering a limited-time discount of 20% on all our products. Use code XXXX at checkout. Offer ends [date]. Reply STOP to opt-out.”

New product launch:

“Hey {{Contact.name}}, we’re excited to announce the launch of our new [product]. Get yours now and receive a 10% discount using code NEW10 at checkout. Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Limited-time offer:

“Hello {{Contact.name}}, our [product/service] is now available at a discounted price of [price]. This offer ends [date]. Don’t miss out! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Flash sale

“Hi {{Contact.name}}, for the next 24 hours only, we’re offering a 15% discount on all our products. Use code FLASH15 at checkout. Hurry, this sale ends soon! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Referral program

“Hey {{Contact.name}}, refer a friend and receive a $20 credit towards your next purchase. Your friend will receive a 10% discount on their first order. Share the love! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Seasonal promotion

“Hello {{Contact.name}}, get into the holiday spirit with our festive [product/service]. Enjoy a 20% discount using code HOLIDAY20 at checkout. Happy holidays! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

 

Relevant articles:

A few things you want to consider before sending out texts

Avoid your messages being marked as spam

aNinja Trigger Actions

When you create a trigger, you define an action or set of actions that are automatically executed when an event occurs in aNinja, without the need for manual intervention.

Here are the main aNinja trigger actions:

Adding and removing leads to/from the “do not contact list”; Forwarding lead info; Lead assignments and merge; Launching automated Email or Text Sequences; Posting lead details to URL through Webhooks; and Updating workflow step status.

aNinja Trigger Actions

You can access Triggers from the left sidebar > Automations > Triggers

aNinja Trigger ActionsTrigger Actions

You can define an action or set of actions to be executed when an event occurs. Trigger actions in aNinja include:

  • [Delay] Set delay duration in minutes for triggering event actions
  • [Do not contact] Add all lead contacts to “do not contact” list.
  • [Do not contact] Remove all lead contacts to “do not contact” list.
  • [Email] Send lead info to an email address (from: no-reply@aninja.com)
  • [Lead Assignment] Assign to User
  • [Lead Assignment] Assign to Users from Team (using Round Robin)
  • [Lead Assignment] Assign to Users from Team (using Weighted Round Robin)
  • [Lead merge] Merge new lead into existing duplicate
  • [Sequence > Email] Start Email Sequence
  • [Sequence > Text] Start Text Sequence
  • [Sequences > Stop] Stop all sequences & Conversations (Email & Text)
  • [Webhooks] Post Lead Details to URL
  • [Workflow Step Status] Update Workflow Step Status

These trigger actions are designed to streamline and automate various aspects of the customer relationship management process, saving time and reducing the risk of human error. They can be customized and configured based on the specific needs and workflows of your business.

Trigger “Duplicate Leads Merge” action

Trigger “Duplicate Leads Merge” action is useful when leads created via API create duplicates in your account;  you can then automatically merge them through Triggers.

Definitely, you want to keep a clean and consolidated data. This allows you to generate more accurate and meaningful reports and analytics, which can help in making informed business decisions.

Setting the Trigger “duplicate leads merge action”

Trigger actions get executed based on a certain event that you specify in the triggers feature:

  • Select the event that will cause the trigger to fire.
    • e.g. Lead created via API

  • Under Actions, click “+ add another action”
  • Select from the actions drop-down:

[Lead merge] Merge new lead into existing duplicate

Trigger duplicate leads merge action

  • And indicate the merge method (email/phone).

  • This automatically merges new leads by ‘phone’ or ’email’ if ‘Lead created via API’ option was selected as the desired event.

Good to know:

If a lead with the same email was sent via API but doesn’t appear in aNinja, you should check if the “Do not add new leads via API if lead with similar email already exists” rule is disabled. This rule prevents duplicate leads from being created, and therefore, the merging logic will not take effect.

  • You can also indicate if this action should stop executing all subsequent actions/triggers in case the new lead has been merged. This is helpful if you don’t want a specific sequence to fire off for already existing leads.

  • With that being said, it would be better if you set the trigger using this action with a high priority number so that it gets fired first.

Avoid texts being marked as SPAM

When messages are flagged as spam, they are either filtered into the recipient’s spam folder or blocked altogether.

In this article, we discuss practices to increase your text deliverability, protect your reputation, and avoid potentially having your account blocked/suspended and texts being marked as SPAM.

Practices that avoid your texts being marked as spam

Here are some common things you can do to reduce the chance that the carriers filters flag your texts as spam:

  1. Definitely, you want to make sure you’re using opt-in lists. (carriers use software to detect leaked / non-opt-in lists). In simple words, 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: Inform your recipients how they can opt-out of receiving any future emails: Ultimately, add an unsubscribe link to your emails. Basically, the initial message needs to include the following language: Reply STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, or QUIT.
  4. Also, honor opt-out requests: send an automated reply through aNinja triggers.
  5. High key messaging metrics: A high delivery error rate. It 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.
  6. Also, you can provide us with your business address; there is an additional verification process (A2P). We can set it up and it helps reducing chances of carrier systems flagging your text as spam; as long as you follow the above. Reach out at support@aninja.com.
Text Content

Review your text template content to adhere to the messaging policy:

  1. Firstly, include Sender identification
  2. Secondly, add an opt-out language
  3. Thirdly, try and use multi-step sequences to engage customers.
  4. Fourthly, avoid using spam trigger words such as “free”, “guarantee”, “limited time offer”, and “act now”. Instead, use clear and concise language that accurately conveys your message.
  5. And, don’t overuse abbreviations and emojis. They can be a red flag for spam filters.
  6. Lastly, avoid anything that is illegal or forbidden:
    • Prescription Medication. Offers for prescription medication that cannot legally be sold over-the-counter are prohibited in the United States.
    • Illegal substances such as Cannabis, CBD (puff, gummies, vape, delta, etc…)
    • Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobaco, and Vaping-related.
    • Gambling.
    • Fraudulent messages.
    • Malicious content, such as malware or viruses.
    • Any content that is designed to intentionally evade filters.

aNinja is forced to comply and temporarily block your text sending capability if it is being flagged as spammy by upstream carriers. Make sure to comply with all the above practices to avoid the carriers filters flagging your texts as spam.

Text template examples

These templates should serve as a starting point, and you should customize them to fit your business needs and communication style.

Promotional message:

“Hello {{Contact.name}}, this is {{User.firstname}}. We’re offering a limited-time discount of 20% on all our products. Use code XXXX at checkout. Offer ends [date]. Reply STOP to opt-out.”

New product launch:

“Hey {{Contact.name}}, this is {{User.firstname}}. We’re excited to announce the launch of our new [product]. Get yours now and receive a 10% discount using code NEW10 at checkout. Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Limited-time offer:

“Hello {{Contact.name}}, our [product/service] is now available at a discounted price of [price]. This offer ends [date]. Don’t miss out! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Flash sale

“Hi {{Contact.name}}, for the next 24 hours only, we’re offering a 15% discount on all our products. Use code FLASH15 at checkout. Hurry, this sale ends soon! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Referral program

“Hey {{Contact.name}}, refer a friend and receive a $20 credit towards your next purchase. Your friend will receive a 10% discount on their first order. Share the love! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

Seasonal promotion

“Hello {{Contact.name}}, get into the holiday spirit with our festive [product/service]. Enjoy a 20% discount using code HOLIDAY20 at checkout. Happy holidays! Reply STOP to opt-out.”

 

Relevant articles:

A few things you want to consider before sending out texts

Forbidden message categories for SMS

Trigger Webhook action – Posting lead details into URL

aNinja Triggers allow you to programmatically trigger actions based on specific events and conditions. In this article, we’re going to show you how to use the Trigger Webhook action.

Setting the Webhook action

Webhook action gets executed based on a certain event that you select when you’re in the triggers feature:

  • Select the event that will cause the trigger to fire.
    • e.g. Lead created via Chatbot

  • From the actions drop-down, choose

[Webhook] Post lead details to URL.

  • And type the URL.
  • When you choose the Webhook action from the trigger actions drop-down, the data of the lead that verifies the event gets posted into the URL that you add in the input.
    • In our example, when a lead is created via Chatbot, automatically his data gets posted into the specified URL.

trigger webhook action

Reordering Lead Contacts

The Lead’s contacts are the info you have on a lead, saved in his lead view. A lead might have multiple contacts saved in his lead view. This could be the example of a company and its employees.

The first info saved in the Lead’s contacts is considered the primary contact. And the system automatically selects the primary contact for the outbound emails and texts.

With aNinja, you can change the order of the lead contacts in the way that suits you.

The contact items (email, phone number, URL) inside the contact also can be reordered.

Reordering the lead contacts & items

  • When on the lead view, you can see the lead contacts on the left side.

Reordering Lead ContactsIn this picture, this lead has 2 contacts. Demo (primary contact) and Demo1.

  • Drag Demo1 to the top, and the system will consider it as the primary contact.
  • Also, if there are multiple phone numbers in the contact, you can reorder them to make the primary one for example the mobile number.

Does reordering the lead contacts affect the sequences and triggers

Reordering the lead contact does not affect the previously saved sequences and triggers. As their data was pulled on the day they were created and are waiting in queue till the launching date of the sequences or triggers. So any changes in the lead info after creating a sequence are not reflected in the sequences.

Does reordering the lead contacts affect the “do not contact”

If the primary contact happens to be marked as “do not contact“, the system uses the second contact saved in the lead.

So, if you don’t want your automation to reach a specific lead, make sure to mark ALL his contacts as “do not contact”.

 

Calendly action did not trigger lead creation in aNinja

Calendly action did not trigger lead creation in aNinja?

 

Basically, any activity in your Calendly Calendar (like booking a demo with a lead), must trigger the creation of a lead into your aNinja account.

Calendly action did not trigger the creation of a lead

When you installed Calendly to use it as your calendar in your aNinja, the system has set a trigger that allows creating a lead in aNinja, after any action with leads in Calendly.

If Calendly‘s action did not trigger lead creation in aNinja, that means that there is an issue with the communication between the 2 applications.

Let’s get to know how API work in this case. API is a set of functions that allows 2 applications to interact with each other. Even more, to exchange data. In our case, the applications are Calendly and aNinja.

  • For the integration to work, Calendly shares its personal access token with you. You then save it in your aNinja account.
  • If you can’t see the webhooks data under the User / Organization Webhooks, you want to check your Calendly plan. The integration requires a “Professional” account.
  • Sometimes, Calendly automatically disables the webhooks if it was receiving error codes from our server. To re-enable it, you should delete and recreate the webhook.
  • You want to click on Refresh Webhooks every time you make changes to the webhooks.

Need help with this? Just reach us at support@aninja.com. We will happily assist you!

Changing the Lead’s Status in the Workflow

Changing the Lead’s status in the workflow represents the lead’s position in the Sales/Marketing pipeline until you turn them into a customer.

Changing the Lead’s Status in the Workflow

  • Search for your lead in the top navigation bar
  • Type any info you have on your lead (name, company, phone number, email, custom fields, etc…) and aNinja will bring the results to the leads view. Click on the lead and you will be redirected to their lead view.
  • Then, when in the Lead View, on the top of the page, you can manipulate the status of the lead in the workflow. This allows you to keep a close follow-up on the lead’s progress from prospect to closing.Changing the Lead's Status in the Workflow

Activities using the workflow steps

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.

 

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: