We will look at how to send Personalised SMS to a group of contacts on our website.
Organizations like Cooperatives, Loan Service companies, Schools, Neighbourhood Associations, and many others use this as a key tool to send detailed updates/reports about the activities of their member
Personalized messages give a feel of importance to the recipient and are also well appreciated. Personalized messages are used for Transaction Alerts, Seasonal wishes, and many more.
Examples of such messages are Dear Bayo, your account balance is N1,000, or Dear Uche, congratulations on your Birthday.
To send the message, follow the steps below:
- Open a new MS Excel Workbook.
- Enter the Variables needed in this format.
| 2347039444444 | Kola | N2,000 |
| 2348077774445 | Jude | N3,000 |
| 2347039444444 | Shola | N5,000 |
| 2347039444444 | Kelvin | N10,000 |
| 2347039444444 | Hassan | N20,000 |
The first column should contain all the phone numbers, while the 2nd Column and others should contain the Variables needed.
3. Save the file with File Type as: CSV (Comma Delimited)
4. Log in to talk.pob.ng or visit sms.pob.ng
5. Click Messaging
6. Click Personalised SMS
7. Click Browse to Browse to upload the .CSV file created earlier.
8. Enter your SENDER ID
9. Enter your Message in this format:
Dear {1} your account Balance at the end of October 2015 is {2}
Note. {1} represents the Variable in the second column while {2} represents the variable in the third column. You can add values to more columns as you desire.
10. Click Send (NB: You can also schedule the message for later delivery)
Result: The message will be sent out and received by each recipient as, Dear Kola , your account Balance at the end of October 2015 is N2,000
Possible Problems you might encounter
1. If you wish to put a comma after the personalized token like “Dear Bayo,”. Please ensure there is a space between the token and comma e.g Dear {1} , not {1}, to make your message appear
2. All tel numbers to be entered in first column of your excel sheet should be in this format 23480 and not 080 or +23480
3. Do not open extra tabs within the excel sheet
4. Leave at least 10 character space for name (e.g 150 character) if you wish to maintain one page messaging
5. Also use Microsoft excel sheet and not other excel sheet
Wish you luck as you enjoy our platform
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