Outline:
Overview
- 2-Way subscription management allows customers to view and modify their subscriptions directly via SMS
- Customers can interact with the automated agent to manage their subscriptions using easy to navigate menus
- If connected, customers will be able to request help to your Gorgias helpdesk via SMS using our Gorgias integration
- Available actions and copy can be customized to fit your brands needs
What is it?
2-Way subscription management is a tool that subscribers can use to view and edit their subscriptions via transactional text messages. Since the texts are transactional, any phone number provided by a customer will automatically be opted into the service. Customers can opt out of the service at any point by replying with "CANCEL" or "STOP". See more on the Twilio help center.
When enabled, all notifications will be sent with an additional suffix to inform customers they can make changes to their subscription via SMS. By responding with "Modify" or "Menu", customers will enter the subscription management menu and will be given a variety of actions they can take. Here's how the flow works:
Who can use it?
Currently, there are some limitations from Twilio and other providers on which phone numbers can be used for 2-way communication. To be eligible, the phone number must have SMS capabilities, which is not a problem for merchants operating out of most countries. However, Twilio cannot guarantee support if you do not have a phone number matching the country of origin of your customer. For our merchants based in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else outside the United States of America, please reach out to help@skio.com to have a regional number provisioned.
Note: Regulatory requirements can vary from country to country, and we cannot promise we'll be able to provision phone numbers outside your primary country of operation. You can read more about Twilio support for 2-way messaging on their help center.
Setup
Setting up 2-Way subscription management is simple, fast, and 100% free. Within the SkioSMS page of the Skio Dashboard, you'll want to navigate to the "SMS Subscription Management" tab. From there, you can enable "2-Way SMS Subscription Management"
Action configuration
You can customize the available actions customers can take via SMS. All actions are enabled by default.
Note: If you enable the "Cancel" action, customers who try to cancel their subscription will be redirected to the online portal through a magic login link. This way, you'll still be able to collect cancellation and churn statistics via Cancel Flow.
Notification suffix
To alert customers that they can access the subscription management tool via SMS, a suffix will be added to all notifications prompting them to reply to the notification to make changes/request info on upcoming orders. You can make changes to this suffix by editing the copy item "2-Way notification suffix".
Copy Customization
To customize the copy for the SMS subscription management menu, you can click on any copy item to bring up the editor.
The copy edit page for the "Confirmation message" shown to customers to confirm actions
Below the editor, you will see a preview of the message as a customer would receive it. You can use the phone number input shown below to preview the message as any customer, just as it would be rendered when sent to them. You can set a default preview number in the settings tab under the setting "Default customer preview number".
When making copy edits, you may see two different sections of variables you can use in your dynamic templating.
Available variables
The first section provides you a fixed list of variables, similar to what you have access to when making edits to the 1-Way SMS notification copies. These can be inserted anywhere in the copy. In some cases, like the above example, this variable may be referencing a different copy item which you can customize. The "{{actionDescription}}" variable is referencing the relevant action description copy, in this case the "Set order date action description".
All available variables should be encapsulated with double curly braces ("{{" and "}}"), as shown in the list of available variables.
Subscription context
For most copies, you'll be able to reference a selection of context objects which can be used to further customize your copy. If you expand the "Subscription context" dropdown, you be met with something like the following:
Similar to the static variables, you'll reference these by encapsulating them with double curly braces. You can hover over any of the items in the context to view more information on the properties, as well as how to reference them in your copy. You can also click on any of the context properties to copy it to your clipboard, which you can paste straight into your copy while editing.
When customizing your copy, you'll be able to take advantage of additional tools and built in functions, which you can learn more about in our dynamic templating article.
Testing utilities
You can test the 2-Way subscription management tool by navigating to the "Simulator and Testing" tab of the SkioSMS page.
You'll start by entering the phone number of your test user. Once entered, you can begin sending messages as though you were the customer. To enter the main menu of the subscription management tool, you can start by sending "Menu" or "Modify". After hitting "Send" (or pressing <Enter> on your keyboard), you'll receive a response with all the options you can take.
Note: At any time, customers are able to message your site's phone number to manage their subscription. They do not have to wait until they receive a notification prompting them to use the tool.
Gorgias SMS Handoff
If you've connected to Gorgias via our Skio-Gorgias integration, you're customers will also have the ability to request help via SMS straight to Gorgias. By default, when help is requested customers will be directed to your contact email address, which can be previewed in the "Settings" on the SkioSMS page. This extra step on the customer's end can be frustrating and sour attitudes when they are looking for help.
Gorgias SMS Handoff is a great tool to help limit friction on the customers end to receive support and get their questions answered. It's triggered when customers request help via the 2-way subscription management menu, which will enter them in the flow you see below:
Once confirmed, the issue will be created in a new ticket on your Gorgias help desk.
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