Managing SMS messages in RechargeSMS

RechargeSMS allows you to offer transactional SMS messaging to your customers so that they can manage their subscription through SMS without ever having to log in to their customer portal.

RechargeSMS messages are customizable, ensuring that your brand's voice and tone are always at the center of every interaction. 

This article explains the process of accessing and updating SMS messages sent through RechargeSMS.

Before you start

• See Managing customers in RechargeSMS to learn more about how your customers are handled in RechargeSMS. 
• Products must exist in RechargeSMS so that customers can interact with them via SMS. Refer to Managing products in RechargeSMS for setup instructions.

Edit RechargeSMS message templates

RechargeSMS comes pre-installed with specific SMS templates. Keep the standard Recharge SMS templates, or update the messaging to match your brand's voice. Only text messages, not videos or gifs, can be sent via RechargeSMS.

Step 1 - Locate the SMS message 

1. Login to the RechargeSMS app.
2. Select the Messages icon from the navigation menu to open a list of messages.
3. Use the search bar to search for a specific message by the title of the message, or by the contents of the message.

Step 2 - Edit the SMS message 

1. Click the Edit icon listed under Actions to open the message.
2. Update the Description text box to include a description of the message. This is only for your reference. 
3. Edit the SMS notification in the text box. Use the available variables listed under Variables in your message to pre-fill your notifications with relevant customer information, like the customer's name or your store phone number.
4. Press Update to save your changes.   

Message actions

Some messages have Actions your customers can take. These actions can be deleted, or reordered to make it easier to suggest particular actions to your customers. Take a look at the "Delay Order - Options" message for an example. 

View a list of recent messages

Select Most recent from the drop-down menu in the Customers tab to sort messages by recent status.

Duplicate an SMS message 

Some SMS messages can be duplicated. You may wish to duplicate a message if you want to offer separate notifications depending on the product a customer has ordered.

For example, you may want to have different welcome messages for customers depending on what they have subscribed to. 

1. Find the SMS message you wish to update. 
2. Select the Duplicate icon from the list of available Actions. 

This will immediately duplicate the message so you can customize the notification. Once a message is duplicated, you have the option of selecting the specific product that the message applies to.  

Duplicated messages are saved under Custom Messages. You can edit or delete these messages at any time. 

Keywords

Keywords are phrases that RechargeSMS looks for to automatically respond to. For example, texting Stop will unenroll a subscriber from SMS messages, or texting Cancel will cancel a subscription.

There are currently eight keyword functions built into RechargeSMS, they are not case-sensitive.

• Start

• Stop

• Help

• Info

• Modify Order / Modify

• Skip Order / Skip

• End Subscription / Cancel

• Reactivate

Custom keywords

You can configure responses based on custom keywords to further automate the communication between your store and the customer. For example, you may want to respond with a standard "you’re welcome" text message every time a customer responds thank you.

1. Select Messages from the RechargeSMS app.
2. Select Custom Keywords.
3. Click the + icon to add a new keyword. 
4. Add your custom keyword and your response.
5. Press Save to add the custom keyword.

RechargeSMS does not recognize any abbreviations, such as LOL or TY. An Unknown Reply message is often sent as a response to these common phrases.

Cancellation Reasons

Cancellation Reasons provide insights into your customers and their relationship with your products. Customers can select a cancellation option when they customer choose to cancel their subscription via SMS. 

Some cancellation reasons have retention strategies assigned to them to help reduce churn. These actions let customers skip their next order, or swap to a different product, as an alternative to canceling. 

The Cancellation Reasons page features a list of standard cancellation reasons, with assigned retention strategies. You can add additional cancellation reasons in the RechargeSMS Dashboard:

1. Select Messages from the RechargeSMS app.
2. Select Cancellation Reasons.
3. Click the + icon to add a new cancellation reason.
4. Add your custom cancellation reason in the Name field. 
5. Select a retention strategy from the Winback drop-down menu. 
   • Not defined: Allow customers to cancel without any retention strategies.
   • Skip order: Provide customers with the option to skip their next upcoming order instead of canceling.
   • Swap product: Provide customers with the option to swap to a new product instead of canceling.
6. Press Save to add the custom cancellation reason.

Use the pencil icon to make changes to a cancellation reason, or the trash icon to delete a reason.

Preview messages with the RechargeSMS Simulator

The RechargeSMS Simulator lets you preview what SMS communications will look like for your customers. You can use the drop-down menu to simulate different interactions based on the available actions.

The Simulator tool only shows the settings and features of SMS. It does not actually make changes to a subscription.

1. Select the Dashboard icon in the RechargeSMS app.
2. Click Simulator.
3. Select a product from the drop-down Product menu. You can select multiple products at one time.
4. Select the action you wish to trigger. This will automatically update the messaging that appears in the Simulator.
5. Make changes to a notification by selecting the notification name. The notification template will open in a new tab.
6. Type a message in the chatbox and press send to test how your messages look and function.

Support

If you have any questions or require assistance, reach out to Recharge Support.