Message Center
Push Notifications
How To Create A Push Notification
- In the Dashboard menu, tap “Message Center”
- In the Message Center menu, tap the orange plus-sign to open the window to create a message.
- Select App Push Notification as your message type.
- Select whether you want to send a push notification to App Users, Track Favorites, Series Favorites, or Event Participants
- For sending a notification to all App Users, you will see the message box. Enter a title for the message and then type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your push notification.
- For sending a notification to Track or Series Favorites, you will select the track or series in the dropdown menu, then enter a title for the message and type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your push notification.
- For sending a notification to specific Event Participants, you will select the track or series in the dropdown menu, then select the year, the select the event. You will then be able to enter a title for the message and type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your push notification.
- The green bar at the top of the screen shows that your notification was created and sent successfully.
- You can see the details of your push notification in the message center after it’s been sent.
- App users and participants receive notifications instantly once they have been sent.
- App users can see notifications in their App, even if they don’t have push notifications enabled for their devices.
Notes about Pushes
- If the user has notifications turned off, they will NOT see the notification on their home or lock screens, but they WILL see it in the app when they open their app.
- Push notifications can be long and include emojis. They MUST have a subject.
Text Messages
How To Create A Text Message
- In the Dashboard menu, tap “Message Center”
- In the Message Center menu, tap the orange plus-sign to open the window to create a message.
- Select Text Message as your message type.
- Select whether you want to send a text message to App Users, Promoters, Promoters & Staff, or Text Words (text lists)
- Texting App Users – After selecting App Users, you can choose between All App Users, Track Favorites, Series Favorites, or Event Participants.
- For sending a text to all App Users, you will see the message box. Type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message. *This should be used incredibly rarely.*
- For sending a text to Track or Series Favorites, you will select the track or series in the dropdown menu, then type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message.
- For sending a text to specific Event Participants, you will select the track or series in the dropdown menu, then select the year, the select the event. You will then be able to type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message.
- Texting Promoters or Promoters & Staff
- For sending a text to the Promoters, you will see the message box. Type your message to the Promoters, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message. This will send to all of the track/series contacts with Promoter permissions.
- For sending a text to all Promoters & Staff, you will see the message box. Type your message to the Promoters & Staff, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message. This will send to all of the track/series contacts with any admin permissions.
- Texting to a List – “Text Words”
- For sending a text to a text word, you will see options to select Pit Pay, Track or Series. This allows you to send to either a Pit Pay list, or a list created for any track or series.
- For a Pit Pay list, you’ll have the option to select your text word group, or list, from the dropdown. Type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message.
- For a Track or Series list, you’ll select the track or series, then the text word group / list from dropdown menus. Type your message, tapping the orange bar labeled “Send Message” to send your text message.
- The green bar at the top of the screen shows that your text message was created and sent successfully.
- You can see the details of your text message in the message center after it’s been sent.
- App users and participants can receive text messages almost instantly once they have been sent. Twilio has a limit to how many texts can be sent at a time, so they may be sent over a period of time if it’s a large list of recipients.
Notes about Texts
- These should be used extremely sparingly. If a user opts out of a text list (by replying STOP) they will not receive any additional marketing texts.
- Do NOT use texts for marketing messages UNLESS you’re sending texts to your text lists that app users have opted into
- There is a character limit on texts of 160 characters
- Avoid using emojis as they count as multiple characters which can increase the number of texts sent for a single message.
- Opt-out messaging MUST be provided for each marketing text message that gets sent outside of text lists. The opt-out message has to be provided at least once to the text list recipients (when they opt in?).
When to Use Push vs. Text
- Pushes should be the default method of communication. It’s less invasive, doesn’t cost us anything, and doesn’t have any limits as to the length.
- Texts should be used for important updates only, BUT can be used more frequently if users have opted into a promoter’s text list, as it means they want to receive updates about that topic.
- Do NOT use texts for marketing messages UNLESS you’re sending texts to your text lists that app users have opted into