ReachNow Guide 2.0

In 2022 - mobileAxept launched ReachNow version 2.0. We've added MMS capabilities and an easier way to manage subscriber lists. 

To access ReachNow, you must subscribe to the service, and have administrative login credentials for the mobileAxept portal. 

From the ReachNow! tab - you’ll see three NEW sections. 

• Create ReachNow (New Version!) Send messages with new features.
• Manage Lists (New) Ability to manage your lists, including additional numbers or a group of numbers. 
• ReachNow History (New Version!) See a new format for ReachNow history, so you can clone messages to resend with edits. 

Here's a quick video tutorial: 

How to author a ReachNow message with ReachNow 2.0 - Watch Video

Best Practices for Federal Compliance: 

When subscribers to the text system report a phone number as spam or block it on their phones, it could get permanently blocked by phone carriers. And that could be rather challenging to get messages out or in. To avoid this, we want to provide you with some best practices for text marketing/text communication. Noncompliance undermines trust and damages your reputation. 

• Remember opt-in and opt-out rules.

1. 1. Give people an out at the end of your messages! Something as simple as "Reply STOP to unsubscribe" is helpful. [Shorten it to RplySTOP2stop if you're watching character count.]
   2. Or, ask them to opt-in when you add them to a list. They get an intro text that asks them to reply YES to accept before they get added to the list.
   3. When they text the keyword, that is an automatic opt-in.

• Identify yourself. 

1. 1. 1. Replace words like us and we with the name of your organization or leader. 
      2. Or, simply put your organization or leader's name at the beginning.
      3. Having a link with your organization’s website clearly displayed is one way that people know who this text is from. 
      4. Or, address your audience - “Hey [org name] family!”

• Avoid free url link shorteners when possible. Phone carriers see bit.ly and tinyurl as possible spam links and may filter or block your messages. 

Best Practices for Messages that get action:

If you are sending special content that might inspire comments, add a way for them to reply to you that isn’t text. Include a link to your social media account, registration form, web page, or email address where they can click to read more or find out details and leave comments. Right now, this is just an out-going way to send messages.

• Have a clear call to action like "Join us" or "Watch now."
• Consider how often you're sending messages to the same group. It has more to do with the content of your messages than how often you send them. High-value campaigns are less likely to cause problems.
• Remember: Text Messaging is meant to be kept short!
  If you have more lengthy info, include a link to a document or webpage. Think about how long of a message you would actually read on your text messaging app on your phone. 
• When adding links:  Do NOT add punctuation after any url link you include in your message.
  DO add a space between the link and any words or punctuation.
  The Android platform will give an error message once the link is tapped.
  ie: Try to put your link: {here} in the middle of a sentence.
• To save character space - DO use fun clearly understood shortened words and acronyms. 
  Int'l = international
  ICYMI = In Case You Missed It
  RN = Right Now
  FTW = For the Win
  ISO = In Search Of
  IRL = In Real Life (meaning not virtual or electronic)
  TBA = To be announced
  TBD = To be decided
  B4 = before
  BC = because
  FOMO = Fear of missing out
  ASAP = As soon as possible
  FYI = For your information

MMS allows so much more!

Messages with images are called MMS messages
Best Practices for sending MMS messages: https://mobileaxept.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4411137430036-Best-Practices-for-Sending-Static-MMS-Images

• The throughput for MMS is slightly slower than SMS. If the message needs to be received at the same time for everyone, "Services starting now click link." - we recommend a plain text message.
• It's recommended to include a logo image when you send a first-response message to a group.
• MMS counts as sending two message credits, and it can be as long as needed (2,000 characters) so great to leverage when you have a loner message to share.

Troubleshooting your ReachNow messages:

• When sending MMS, static images (jpg) are encouraged over video. If you use video - consider a shorter gif instead of MP4, or better yet - include a link to a video instead of adding it to the message. When it's added, each device will need to download it to view it. That doesn't go so well with many devices.
• 😁☝Emojis are considered special characters and change the coding of your message.
  See this article: https://mobileaxept.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360056611371-ReachNow-Message-Lengths-and-Special-Characters
• If your “plain text” shows up as additional credits because it says it has "special characters," copy and paste your content into a notepad and remove all formatting. Then paste it back into the tool. 
  **Or, simply re-type the content directly into the tool.
  **Often the font for your punctuation marks may be the culprit.
  **Check on those apostrophes and quotation marks - and re-type them.
  (The number of characters and credits will show below your content.)

TEST your messages on a smaller group with just one or two phone numbers. When you click on NEXT STEP, verify your message looks like it should before you enter the PIN to send or schedule it.

Have fun! And, let us know how it goes!
Remember to encourage your people to sign-up for your ReachNow messaging keywords.
If you need help or ideas, reach out to our team! [e-mail]