Drip Messages

Purpose:

To drive deeper candidate engagement by allowing for automated followup messages to candidates who are unresponsive to initial outreach.

Overview:

Any 'Scheduled' Message can now have Drip Messages attached to it.

Drip Messages are automated followups to any candidates who have not yet responded to the Scheduled Message. We allow up to 3 Drip Messages to be scheduled, at a minimum of 24 hours apart.

Qualifying 'Responses':

An SMS or phone call to the recruiter's TextRecruit phone number or a click on the link sent in the message will all count as a response from the candidate and will stop any scheduled drip messages from sending to them.

Scheduling:

The scheduling flow is very similar to the old flow, with an added layer of complexity.

1. Add Recipients.

Note: if you have scheduled a message from a candidate or campaign detail page, the recipients will already be populated for you.

2. If you want to schedule the message for later, set the scheduled date and time.

Note: for a Drip Message, the timeframes will be "24 Hour Delay" and "At a later Date/Time" Respectively.

3. Set the URL (if applicable) and enter your Message.

Note: URLs entered directly into the message will not allow us to track clicks. URLs should be set in the URL field and entered into the message with the "Campaign URL" button.

4. If desired, add a Drip Message. Repeat steps 2-4 for each Drip Message.

Note: the Message must be valid before proceeding to add a Drip Message or reviewing the message. This means:

a. A valid 'From' User must be set (Managers only, users do not have a 'From' field)

b. At least one recipient must be set in the Scheduled Message

c. A valid send time must be entered (Scheduled Messages cannot be scheduled in the past, Drip Messages must be scheduled at least 24 hours after the preceding Message)

d. A valid Message must be entered (must be between 1 and 160 characters, if a $link is in the message, a URL must be set, if a $campaignName is in the Message, it must be sending to a Campaign)

We do this intentionally to keep the user from getting too far through the scheduling process before prompting them to correct their mistake.

5. Review the Message(s) before sending.

Make sure everything looks good. If something looks wrong, expand the offending message by clicking on it, editing it and then review the Message(s) again.

Note: this step is unnecessary if none of the messages are expanded–you'll already be in the

collapsed "message review" state.

6. Send the message!

Note: The Send Button will say "Send" or "Save" depending on the circumstances. Messages being sent immediately are "Sent". Messages being scheduled for later or edited are "Saved".

Editing Messages:

It's possible to edit any message that hasn't gone out. Simply bring up the message (find the scheduled message to edit and click on it), make your changes and hit the save button. You may also remove specific Drip Messages using the trash can Icon . Make sure to Save your changes when you're done.

Cancelling/Stopping Messages:

If the user wants to stop any unsent Scheduled or Drip Messages from going out, simply bring up the message (find the scheduled message and click on it to open the Edit Message(s) dialog), and there will be a 'Stop Message(s)' button in the lower left hand corner that will cancel any messages that haven't gone out.

Message Table Views:

In the table/summary view found in the dashboard, a campaign page or a candidate page, a user can easily check the status and content of any Scheduled Message or Drip Message at a glance.

Icon Design Language

Each Message is represented by an Icon. The original Scheduled Message is represented by a TextRecruit bubble on the left, and any Drip Messages are represented with Drip icons towards the right of the table row. See below:

The design language is simple:

If the icon is colored in, the message has been sent.
If the icon is grey, the message has not gone out.
If the icon has a red X in it, the message has been cancelled.

Examples:

Note: While composing a new message in the Schedule Message dialog, the icons will be colored in even though the messages have obviously not yet gone out.

Drip Message Content

Hovering the cursor over a drip icon will display the content of that drip message and the send date/time in a tooltip popup:

FAQs:

Q: Can a drip message be sent to everyone, instead of just unresponsive candidates?

A: No, that is what we would consider as spam and not part of our best practices. If a user really wants to automate several mass texts to go out in sequence regardless of candidate responses, then you can schedule multiple messages.

Q: Can we have a drip message that's only sent to responsive candidates, instead of unresponsive ones?

A: No, since a candidate can respond in many ways, and there is no way to schedule a message that goes out that will cover every case.

Example scenario: A user schedules a message asking a candidate if they would like details on a job fair with a call to action, and a followup message to responsive candidates saying "Great! Here are the details, see you there!". A candidate responds back saying "I can't make it to the fair, but I'm interested in other jobs! Can you tell me more?" The user's message would not cover that case and the automated followup message could turn the candidate off of any further communication.

Ultimately, if a user wants to automate further engagement of responsive candidates, they should use ARI in order to account for the varying ways a candidate can respond.

Q: Will we have a way to know which messages in the Inbox were from Drip Messages?

A: No. They will appear the same as any other Message in the Inbox.

Q: Can we reschedule messages like before?

A: We have removed this feature.

Q: Can we change the minimum delay/maximum number of Drip Messages/disable Drip Messages per customer/per user?

A: Please contact your Account Manager to discuss use case.

Q: Can the Chrome or Firefox Extension send Drip Messages?

A: No. Drip Messages are a Desktop Application-only feature at the moment.

Q: I'm in the Schedule Message dialog, but I'm locked into the Drip Message I just added–I can't collapse the Message or expand any other Drip Message in the dialog. What's going on?

A: Please see the note under step 4 of the Scheduling section above. You need a valid Message before moving on. If there are no obvious errors on the page, you likely have not entered a message.