Create reusable text message templates
Ready to set up your first message template? Let’s do it! To start, select Templates from the main menu on the left. That will bring you to the templates home page. Select Create template by clicking the purple button at the top right of the screen.
A new window will pop-up. Let’s give your message template a name. Under template name input the purpose of the template. Some pro-tips include, naming your message based on its intent. You can see in the example below we’ve named the message template “Welcome offer”. Other options include “welcome message,” “abandoned cart recovery,” “appointment reminder.”
Larger organizations use additional best practices such as documenting the name of the message creator in the template name. For example, the title would read, “Anthony//Welcome message.” This lets the rest of your organization know who the creator is and helps each user quickly find the message they wrote.
With Helios, the world is your oyster, as you can create an unlimited amount of templates. Existing message templates will be displayed as individual cards and will include the date and time that they were created (see above).
Next, let's craft that perfect message. We suggest utilizing one of our favorite features: dynamic contact properties. A dynamic contact property will autofill the placeholder text you see in your template. For example, {firstName} will automatically insert the documented first name of each member of your list. This way you can address everyone from Aaron to Zendaya by their first name. Studies show that personal touch goes a long way with your customers and leads.
You may also want to generate a promo code for your contacts. This is especially important for attribution. Your business gains customers from paid advertising, organic, phone, email, text, etc. Making a code that is specific to your SMS campaign will help you determine which leads came from SMS versus your other channels. Also, promo codes tend to receive more responses than messages without them.
Lastly, if you’d like to edit an existing message template, click the three dots in the top right corner of the message you want to edit. From there you can edit an existing message template or delete it and start anew.
