Introduction

SMS Marketing Campaigns allow you to mass text your customers for facility alerts, updates, or special offers. Marketing Campaigns can be used for a wide variety of applications. If you need to send a text to more than a few customers or if you need to target a group for any communications, this is a perfect feature. This article will go through the initial setup, campaign creation, sending, and more.

 Important:  As part of Gingr's retention policy, all SMS communications older than 60 days will be automatically removed from the app.

Helpful Hints

• Only owner accounts with at least one active pet will receive SMS Campaigns.
  
  
• It is recommended that you only have one active (unsent) campaign created at a time.
  
  
• Marketing Campaigns with 1,000 recipients or more cannot have their recipient list modified.
  
  
• One segment equals 160 characters. If the length of your message exceeds 160 characters, you will be charged for multiple segments.
  
  
• Marketing Campaigns are limited to 320 characters AFTER variables are pre-filled. If you are not using variables then you may enter up to 320 characters. If you are using variables and they will pre-fill with characters that exceed 320 characters total, you will receive an error upon scheduling to send. Shorten your message to accommodate for these variables.
  
  
• The {action_URL} variable provides a direct link to the Owner's Communication Settings on the customer portal.
  
  
• Customers can respond to SMS campaigns if the location is subscribed to the 2-Way SMS integration. For more information see our article on SMS.
  
  
  • If a facility does not have 2 way SMS the customer will receive this auto-response "You responded to an automated text message and the business will not receive your response. Please contact the business directly to communicate with them about your pets and reservations."
    
    
• You must configure your permissions to allow users in your app to send SMS:
  
  
  • Navigate to Left-hand Navigation Menu: Reports & More » Groups.
    
    
  • For users to send Marketing SMS, the "Can Send SMS" user permission must be turned on for the user group they are in.
    
    
  • If you have 2-way SMS enabled, for users to receive in-app notifications for incoming text messages, the user must have the "Notification: Incoming SMS" user permission turned on.
    
    
• Gingr will send SMS to your customers from a custom, toll-free number. This phone number for your SMS can be found under Left-hand Navigation: Admin » System SMS.
  
  
• You can use the Owner's Communications tab to review all SMS communications with a select customer. Navigate to the Owner's profile, click the Communications tab, and optionally filter or sort the results to find what you need. For more information, please see our Owner Communications Tab.

Important:  Our messaging provider, Twilio, enforces strict guidelines for SMS content. Twilio prohibits sending messages related to illegal substances, including terms like CBD, Cannabis, or Kratom. Messages containing prohibited words will be automatically censored with asterisks (*), both within your app and for the message recipient. Violating these guidelines may lead to the immediate blocking of all messages from your SMS number. Refer to Twilio's Acceptable Use Policy and Forbidden Message Categories for more details.

• This feature is only available in the US and Canada at this time.

Pricing for SMS Functionality

In order to send Marketing SMS, you must have the Marketing SMS or All-in-One Multimedia Messaging Bundle subscription add-on.

There are additional SMS Features available on Gingr that are an add-on to the system SMS functionality. These include 2-Way SMS, Marketing SMS, and a bundle that also includes Multi-media Messaging, Canned SMS, and SMS Auto-Replies. Please see our articles on SMS and Canned Responses and Auto-Replies for more information.

Navigate to Left-hand Navigation: Admin » Manage Gingr Subscription, and click Enable on the add-on you would like to subscribe to. Your billing period begins on the day that you enable this feature.

The following is the pricing structure for these additional features:

Marketing SMS:

Includes Marketing SMS capability. There is an annual charge as well as metered usage charges. Metered usage is per outgoing text. For metered charges (see tiers below), a single “SMS segment” is up to 160 characters. A SMS that is longer than 160 characters (up to 320 characters max) will count as multiple message segments. Each additional segment will count towards the monthly quota and be billed accordingly. This number resets each monthly billing cycle.

• $135/location/year
• $0.00/outgoing SMS for 0-500 messages sent per month
• $0.04/outgoing SMS sent over 500 per month

2-Way SMS:

Includes 2-way SMS capability. There is an annual charge as well as metered usage charges. Metered usage is per incoming text. For metered charges (see tiers below), a single “SMS segment” is up to 160 characters. A SMS that is longer than 160 characters (up to 320 characters max) will count as multiple message segments. Each additional segment will count towards the monthly quota and be billed accordingly. This number resets each monthly billing cycle.

• $165/subdomain/year
• $0.00/incoming SMS for 0-500 messages received per month
• $0.04/incoming SMS received over 500 per month

All-in-One Multimedia Messaging Bundle:

Includes:

• 2-Way SMS
• SMS Marketing
• Multi-Media Messaging
• Canned SMS Templates
• Auto-Reply SMS

There is an annual charge as well as metered usage charges. 2-Way SMS is per incoming text. Marketing SMS is per outgoing text. For metered charges (see tiers below), a single “SMS segment” is up to 160 characters. A SMS that is longer than 160 characters (up to 320 characters max) will count as multiple message segments. Each additional segment will count towards the monthly quota and be billed accordingly. This number resets each monthly billing cycle. The following pricing structure is for 2-Way and Marketing SMS COMBINED:

• $225/subdomain/year
• $0.00/SMS for 0-1000 sent or received per month
• $0.04/SMS for 1001-2000 sent or received per month
• $0.03/SMS for 2001-3000 sent or received per month
• $0.02/SMS for 3000+ sent or received per month

If you were previously signed up for 2-way SMS and/or Marketing SMS, upon signing up for the All-in-One Bundle our system will provide a pro-rated credit to your next invoice (regular subscription or messaging bundle, whichever comes first). Metered usage numbers will reset with the upgrade, but usage costs will not get reimbursed if you upgrade mid-month. Please reach out to our support team if you have questions.

Topics

• Create SMS Campaigns How-To
• Send an SMS Marketing Campaign How-To
• Duplicate an SMS Campaign How-To
• SMS Marketing Campaign Settings Reference