You can add templates from two links on your left menu: Conversations and Email Marketing.
Let’s use the Conversation option. Click Conversations on the left menu and then click the Add Template button in the top right.
This opens a dropdown where you can select either Add Text Template (SMS) or Add Email Template.
Let's start with SMS. Click Add Text Template.
This opens a new window. The first field in the pop-up is the Name of your template. Add a name for your template here.
As you can see, we've named this text template Address. In the editor below, create your custom message.
As you create a new message in the editor, you can preview how the SMS will appear. Take a look at the phone emulator on the right side of the screen.
Directly above the editor, you'll notice dropdown menus for Custom Values and Trigger Links. We'll talk about trigger links in another article, but let's explore Custom Values.
Open the custom values menu and you'll see many options for custom text that can be added.
In this example, we're going to click Contact, and then select Full Name.
This is going to add a Full Name custom value to our SMS. The {{contact.name}} in the editor will automatically be replaced by the receiver's full name for a more personalized experience.
You can also attach a file to your text or link a file URL in your template. If the receiver has an active MMS plan, they'll be able to receive the file directly in the text.
Make sure to click Save to create your new SMS template.
Below the SMS preview, is an option to test your SMS template by entering your phone number and sending a test SMS.
We've added a text template, but let's also look at how email templates work.
Click Add Template again and this time, select Add Email Template.
First up, you have the same name field. Add your email template name here.
I've added the name ABC to this email template. Next, you'll create an email subject. We'll call this one, Test Email Template.
You'll notice that the editor is different for email templates. That's because you have more formatting options when creating an email template. Note that you can still add custom values. Enter your email text in the editor.
And like text templates, you can also attach a file.
Lastly, click Save to create your email template.
As with an SMS template, there is an option here to test your email template. You can type your sending and receiving email addresses, and click Send to test the email you just created.
On our main Templates tab, you can now see both templates we've created. During a conversation, you can choose one of these templates to quickly send a message.
Template edits can be made by clicking the pencil icon.
Also, you can click the trash icon to delete a template.
That's the basics of creating templates!
Using templates can be a great time saver and an excellent way to automate your platform workflow.