Q - How can I enable the SMS/WhatsApp feature in my account?
A: The SMS/WhatsApp message is a functionality of the Communications feature, available on the Professional or Enterprise plan levels only.
Once you select to create a campaign, and you have toggled on the SMS/WhatsApp option for the first time, a pop u- will be displayed asking you to contact the zkipster Support team.
This step is in place because using this functionality incurs costs to the subscription, since the SMS/WhatsApp message credits are not included in the subscription price.
You can also reach out to support via support@zkipster.com or via the chat from the bottom right corner of your zkipster account.
Once our Support team member confirms the feature has been successfully enabled in your account, you can proceed to purchasing credits and creating campaigns with SMS/WhatsApp messages.
You can learn more about this via this article here.
Q - How can I purchase credits to send SMS/WhatsApp messages to my guests?
A: The SMS/WhatsApp message credits are sold in bundles of 500 and they can only be purchased via Credit Card - it is not possible to pay for credit bundles via Wire Transfer.
Account Owners and users with access to the Plans & Billing section of the account settings can purchase credits by clicking on the 'Buy Credits' button located on the right side of the 'SMS Credits' section:
If you do not have a valid Credit Card on file in your account, an error message will be displayed saying 'Please add a card in your Payment Details to enable this option'. Once the Credit Card is properly saved in the account, you can proceed with your purchase.
Learn more about this via this article here.
Q - I have credits in my account that I will not use until my next event. Do the credits expire?
A: No, purchased credits do not expire. The credits will be stored in your account even if your account is inactive. Once you purchase a new Professional or Enterprise subscription plan and reactivates the account, the remaining credits will still be available for you to use on any event in your account.
Q - Is the SMS/WhatsApp feature the same as the Check-In Message feature?
A: No - the 'Check-In Message' feature and the 'SMS/WhatsApp Communications' feature are different features and they do not work the same way.
The 'Check-In Message' is a feature available on all plan levels and allow you to send one SMS message or one Email automatically once a specific guest is checked-in to your event. The SMS text message is automatically sent to the phone numbers you defined on the 'Check-In Message Phone Number' field.
The SMS/WhatsApp is a functionality from the Communications feature, available on the Professional and Enterprise plan levels only. It allows you to send your guests messages via SMS or WhatsApp before, during and after your event and as many messages as you need. It is not linked to the 'Check-in' button.
You can learn more about the Check-In Message feature here.
Q - Is it possible to send both an SMS and a WhatsApp message to my guests at the same time?
A: Users can only send guests a SMS message or a WhatsApp message in the same campaign. If you want to send both an SMS message and a WhatsApp message to your guests, you need to create one campaign with SMS enabled and another campaign with WhatsApp enabled.
You can learn more about this here.
Q - How do I know if my guest's phone number is from a country that restricts communication via SMS messages?
A: Unfortunately zkipster has no control over the regulations certain countries or regions impose in regards to businesses communicating via SMS/WhatsApp messages and we have to comply with that.
Our underlying text message service, Twilio, has a detailed list of the SMS regulations and restrictions of each country and you can find this here.
You can also refer to our SMS Compliance Considerations article for more information on the subject.
Q - Can I send QR Codes or attachments to guests via SMS/WhatsApp messages?
A: You can send one attachment file per SMS/WhatsApp message. The file is hosted online by zkipster, so your guests need to access the link sent via the SMS message in order to open the image file or QR Code file. On WhatsApp, the attachment is displayed as an image on the body of the message.
From the 'Composer' tab, click on the 'Attachment' section and turn the toggle to ON to include an attachment. You will be able to select if you want to send a QR Code, an attachment file (sent as an image file) or a PDF. version of your Email, in case your campaign includes also an Email.
Make sure to include the dynamic tag :attachment_url in your text message, as this is the tag that will turn into the link from where your guests will be able to access the attachment.
Click here to learn more details on how to send attachments via SMS/WhatsApp messages.
Q - Can I view a deliverability report of the SMS/WhatsApp messages I sent?
Once you have created and sent your SMS and/or WhatsApp campaign using zkipster's Communications feature, you can view and export your deliverability report via the 'Summary' page of your sent campaign:
If your campaign included an email, by default that's the first report you will see, but from the top right of the Email report screen you can navigate through the different reports of your campaign. Click on the 'SMS/WhatsApp' link to open the report.
The graph shows a summary of the report, but from the bottom of the screen users can view the status for each individual recipient.
You can learn more about the different status via this article here.