Text Messaging in ResMan

Situation: A bulk message was sent to residents regarding the upcoming renewal offer.  

What was sent: Good morning (Enter Resident Name), we are doing a huge promotion for those who sign their renewal early! If you renew with us by tomorrow, I can give you a (Enter $ amount of concession) concession.

Recommended Message: Hi Adrien, this is Hudson from "enter property name here"! Your current lease is expiring on xx/xx/xxxx date, and we are checking in to see if you have made a decision! We'd love for you to renew your lease here at "insert property name". We are offering an early bird incentive for signing early! Contact us at XXX-XXX-XXXX and we can discuss the details! We look forward to hearing from  you!" 

Remember: 

1. Message must have Property Name (can be in body message or signature)
2. The Content of the message is more important that the actual words.

What not To Do (& a few examples of what you can do):

Messaging Usage: 

You should not be sending messages in any way related to alcohol, firearms, gambling, tobacco, or other adult content.

• Refrain from using a Call to Action that is about Money. That will get you blocked.
  1. ask for money
  2. offer money
  3. include clickable links to pay money
• Don't send the same message back-to-back
• Don't just change a few words
• If that message doesn't go through, remove the contact info.
• Try to space the message out a little. 

Initial Messages (Cold Outreach):

Make sure that your initial message doesn't sound like you are a salesman. The goal is to appear that the contact has contacted you first. 

These types of questions wouldn't make sense if they opted in to receive a message from you. You would already know their name and address. 

• Recommendation: Send a more generic message: 
  1. "Hi {{contact.first_name}} this is {{user.first_name}} from ABC Company" How's your day going?" or "I have the information you requested for {{contact.address1}}   

Identify yourself:

Be sure to identify who you are and what company you are messaging from.

Continue to identify yourself in any subsequent messages, until your contact responds and begins having a conversation with you.

• Recommendation: 
  1. "Hi {{contact.first_name}} my name is {{user.first_name}} from ABC Company. 
  2. "Hey {{contact.first_name}}, {{user.first_name}} again with ABC Company! Any chance we can speak about {{contact.address1}}? I'm looking for something in the area. 

Avoid asking questions:

Avoid asking a question in the initial message. 

The goal is to have the first message very generic and appear as if someone went to your website and opted in to receive a message from you. Asking questions like those above will get your messages flagged. The carriers can tell you sent a message to someone who didn't opt-in.

• Recommendation: 
  1. Hi (contact name), this is (user name) from (company name). I hope you are having a great day! Do you have a few minutes to talk?
  2. Hi (contact name), this is (user name) from (company name). I received your information, please let me know when you have a few minutes to talk.

Protect Your Reputation:

• Write your messages as if you are writing to a friend or relative. This will help you not appear as a spammer. 
• Write your messages in ways that ask for a response, be creative and not generic. 
• Most of all don't sound aggressive.
• Sending from a new number(s) can cause recipients to opt-out. The more recipients that opt-out may cause your message to get flagged as a carrier violation.
• It's important to keep your messages simple. More importantly, don’t use links or any sales language in the initial contact. The last thing you want is to sound like a salesman.  Just reach out like you would to a friend.
• New Properties: 
  1. Ramp up your messaging by warming up your new number(s).  Start by sending a small bulk campaign, and over a period of days....slowly increase the amount being sent.
  2. Start by sending a small batch every few minutes and slowly increase that number over time. For example: Start with sending 2 messages every 3 minutes, wait 2 days increase that number to 3 messages every 3 minutes etc. Just as long as you are not sending out more than 200 messages per phone number to NEW contacts. 

Allow More Time for the Person to Respond:

Increase the time in between your messages. Give the person time to reply without sending them another message so soon. Remember people get busy with life, work, kids, etc., and don't always respond right away. Life is hectic for everyone, remember that!  If you upset the person by bombarding them with message after message...it will be more likely that they will simply block you.

Message Frequency:

Avoid sending out messages too frequently.  Be mindful of your texting volume and frequency. 

• Sending out too many messages from a single number could cause that number to be flagged, filtered, or suspended. 
• Using multiple numbers will help prevent carrier violations. (the amount of numbers allowed will be determined on your A2P Registration. If you are a Sole Proprietor, you are limited to 1 number. If you register using an EIN, there is no limit on how many numbers you can have)

Message Length:

Keep the length of your text small.  You should keep your message to no more than 160 characters.

Links in Messages:

Be cautious when using links.  You want your lead or customer to easily be able to reach out to you. Using links that start with: “http,” “http://,” “https://,” “https,” (and other link prefixes, etc.), could trigger filters by the Carrier and the message being blocked.

• Recommendation: 
  1. list website as “livethebrixton.com”

Send messages that encourage recipients to respond: 

You should create your messages in a way that evokes a response to specific questions. 

• You want to ask questions that will get a "Yes", "Yes I would like more info, etc.”; this will show the carriers that your message was welcomed or expected by the recipient. 
• The more replies you get, the more conversations you will have. Having more conversations and fewer opt-outs will improve your reputation. 

Use emojis Sparingly:

Using emojis in all your messaging WILL cause your messages to get filtered and blocked by the Carrier.

Additional Resources: Click on the link below for additional Do’s & Don’ts for sending text messages.

https://support.twilio.com/hc/en-us/articles/1260803966670-How-do-I-prevent-my-Twilio-messages-from-being-filtered-blocked

Flagged Keywords:

• Avoid carrier violations by not using flagged words.  Don't come off aggressively or use too many CAPITALIZED words. Write your message more personalized as if you are the intended recipient. 
• Avoid words that make you look like a spammer. Words like (All-cash, hassle-free, As-is, No repairs needed, etc.).  Certain keywords can violate a carrier's rules. (see the list of words below to avoid):

'FLAGGED' KEYWORDS - Do not use on initial contact.

• Apologize 
• Apology 
• As-Is
• Blue 
• Bother 
• Buy
• Cash
• Cash Buyer
• Cash Buyers
• Cash Offer
• Consider
• Disturb 
• Do you happen to know 
• Do you know anyone
• Excuse me 
• For Sale
• Interested 
• Investor 
• Local Investor
• Offer
• Offer Cash 
• Out of Blue
• Out of the blue
• Property Records 
• Public record
• Purchase
• Random 
• Selling Property 
• Sorry
• Spam 

Keep in mind that the carriers have great filtering measures in place, so different variations of the same keywords above will likely also get your messages flagged as spam.