Keywords

Keywords are two-way content designed to engage subscribers and drive meaningful conversions

Texts from brand FatSquirrel asking whether a user likes acorns, nuts, or trees. The user responds Acorns. FatSquirrel says they love acorns too and responds with a promo link

Keyword Usage Example

Keyword engagement enables quick, two-way communication, enhancing personalization, accessibility, and user satisfaction. It drives conversions and higher engagement with your subscribers.

Start by navigating to Settings > Platforms > SMS Settings > Keywords.

Setup

  1. Click add a keyword.
  2. Enter the desired keyword.
  3. Select the audience.
    1. Anyone will send to all users with the same reply regardless of subscription status
    2. Segment by subscription status will allow you to select different replies for users who are already subscribed to SMS vs. users who are not yet subscribed.
  4. Select a template for the message reply.
  5. Tag the user. This tags the user when we receive this keyword.
Add keyword

How to add a keyword

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Required: Syncing message replies on Senders is required

Ensure each sender is set up to sync incoming message replies in order to process Keywords. Navigate to SMS Settings > Senders and click Setup Replies to sync your sender's replies to OneSignal.

Note that Alpha-numeric Senders can not receive message replies.

Measuring keyword engagement

Once you've created your keyword replies, measure your subscriber's engagement by going to your templates and seeing their analytics. For example, the acorn reply template was sent 300 times, meaning the acorn keyword was triggered 300 times.

See templates for keyword engagement

See templates for keyword engagement

Build a segment based on keyword engagement

Send a message to users who specifically replied with a keyword. (e.g. send an acorn campaign to all users who responded with the acorn keyword).

  1. Navigate to Segments
  2. Select the filter for user tag
  3. Create the filter criteria with the tag used with your keyword. (e.g. key is preference, and value is acorn)
  4. Create your segment, and start building new campaigns and journeys with your targeted & engaged audience.

Set an auto-responder for unrecognized keywords

When users send unrecognized keywords, send an automated reply back. This allows you to point them back to your support team, or redirect users to a point of contact, or tag them and set up an alert to your support team to follow up.

Settings for adding an auto-responder

Settings for adding an auto-responder

To setup an auto-responder:

  1. Navigate to Settings > SMS > **Auto-Responder
  2. Select Add Auto-Responder
  3. Select a template for the message reply.
  4. Tag the user. This tags the user when we receive this keyword.

Keywords vs. Consent Management Keywords

Keywords are two way content meant to engage subscribers. There are some special keywords that are reserved specifically for consent management (e.g. opt ins, opt outs, re-subscribes, and help) that can also subscribe and unsubscribe users. Consent Management Keywords