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      SmartText Overview

      What is SmartText?

      SmartText is a powerful feature designed to enhance communication through SMS and email messages by allowing users to insert dynamic content that personalizes the interaction. This functionality enables the use of placeholders that automatically pull in relevant information, such as a contact's name, account details, or timestamps. By utilizing SmartText, your business can create more engaging and tailored messages that resonate with recipients, improving the overall effectiveness of their communication efforts. Whether you are sending reminders, notifications, or personalized messages, SmartText helps streamline the content creation process while ensuring that each message remains relevant and specific to the individual recipient.

      SmartText in SMS Messages

      SmartText can be accessed and used in the SMS Content Editor. You can insert SmartText into your message from the purple "INSERT" menu or with curly braces .

      Editing SmartText in SMS messages

      1. To manually edit the SmartText use the edit input field at the bottom of the dialog.
      2. To edit the SmartText from the purple chip in the content of the message click the edit icon to the right of the chip.

      Email Messages

      SmartText can be accessed and used in the Email Builder. You can insert SmartText into your message from the purple "INSERT" menu or with curly braces .

      Editing SmartText within Email Content

      • To manually edit the SmartText use the edit input field at the bottom of the dialog.
      • To edit the SmartText from the purple chip in the content of the message delete the purple chip by backspacing and reinserting the new SmartText with the INSERT menu.

      Inserting Manually

      If you know the data path to the field type you would like to access then use the curly braces notation to include it. For example would include the contact’s first name in the message content where the curly braces notation was used.

      The SmartText INSERT Menu:

      Data Field Option

      Step 1: Click the INSERT menu from within the SMS or Email builders

      Step 2: Select the Data Field option

      Step 3: Select the Field Type

      • There are three field-type options in this drop-down menu. Contact Field, General Field, and Account Field. 
        • Contact Field: Contact-specific fields include all default fields available on contacts plus any user-created fields. All fields on the account can be located by navigating to Account Settings > Fields.
        • General Field: General fields are user-created fields. General fields can be created and viewed at Account Settings > General Fields for use in filters and SmartText.
        • Account Field: Account-level fields are data fields that include account information such as Account Name, Business Phone, and more. Account fields can be updated in the Account Settings > Account Details page. 

      Step 4: Select the Field Type Value in the drop-down to the right. You will notice different options listed here based on the Field Type previously selected

      Step 5: Add a fallback value (optional)

      • Use this option in the case where data is not available for the field type and value selected above. Repeat as many times as you would like. It is recommended that you end the SmartText options listed here with a Text type in order to prevent a message from reaching a contact with missing content.
      • Once a 'Fallback text value' is entered, it will show it after "OR" in the SmartText bubble

      Timestamp Option

      To insert a Data Field Smart Text type:

      Step 1: Click the INSERT menu from within the SMS or Email builders

      Step 2: Select the Timestamp option

      Step 3: Set the Timestamp up

      • Preview: To the right preview the Timestamp data and time and formatting as it would be entered in the message content.
      • Offset from now: Use this option to have the Timestamp SmartText set forward in time (add time to right now) or backward in time (remove time from right now).
      • Reasons we might use both options here
      • Years: The number of years the Timestamp should use in the offset.
      • Months: The number of months the Timestamp should use in the offset.
      • Weeks: The number of weeks the Timestamp should use in the offset.
      • Days: The number of days the Timestamp should use in the offset.
      • Hours: The number of hours the Timestamp should use in the offset.
      • Minutes: The number of minutes the Timestamp should use in the offset.
      • Format: The format that the Timestamp should be inserted into the message content as. Note: if you need help with special formatting please reach out to customer success.

      Step 4: Save & Close

      Customer Support

      If you need help or need assistance determining next steps, please contact our Customer Support team by phone at 888.605.4429 or email at success@patchretention.com.