MS365 – Creating and Attaching a Keyword to a Campaign

Microsoft 365

TrueDialog Integration

This article explains how to create and attach a keyword to a campaign. Once a keyword is assigned to a campaign, when a user sends a message beginning with that keyword to the designated number, the campaign will automatically respond to the user. You can attach an existing keyword or create a new one during the attach keyword process.

How does a Keyword work?

A keyword is typically a word but can be any sequence of letters, numbers, and special characters without spaces. When TrueDialog receives a message on one of your channels, it compares the first string of characters with any keywords assigned to that channel. If there is an exact match and the keyword is attached to a campaign, the corresponding campaign message will be sent to the message’s sender.

The diagram below shows several examples of how the system checks received messages for a keyword and pushes a campaign message when a match is found.

Here are some important details about keywords to keep in mind when creating and using keywords.

• Keywords are not case-sensitive.
• Keywords cannot contain spaces but can include numbers and special characters.
• Keywords are only compared to the beginning of the received message.
• If the keyword appears anywhere else in the message (other than the beginning), it will not match.
• The keyword must be an exact match. For example, if the keyword is “info” and the received message starts with “Information”, the keyword will not match.
• Each keyword is linked to only one channel and can be attached to only one campaign.
• Multiple keywords can be linked to a single channel.
• Multiple keywords can be attached to a single campaign.
• A specific keyword name can only be used once on each channel, but the same keyword name can be used on multiple channels.
• Different variations of a keyword can be attached for the same campaign. For instance, “info” and “information” can be attached to increase the chance of a user sending a valid keyword.

Create Campaign

A keyword needs to be attached to a specific campaign. The following instructions will briefly show you how to create a campaign. For detailed instructions on creating a campaign, see the MS365 – Creating an SMS Campaign article. Alternatively, you can attach a keyword to an existing campaign.

1. Click the Campaigns tab.
2. Click Create a One-way Campaign.
3. Enter a name for the campaign in the Campaign Name textbox.
4. Enter a message in the Message Content textbox.
5. Click Create.

   

Create New Keyword

Creating a new keyword assigns it to a specific channel, but the keyword will not trigger a campaign until the keyword is attached to a campaign.

Creating a keyword occurs in the same window as attaching it; however, the keyword is not automatically linked to the campaign after creation.

1. Click the 3 Dots at the right end of the campaign to attach a keyword.
2. Click Attach Keyword.

   

3. Set the Create new keyword toggle to Yes.

   

4. Enter a Keyword Name.

   The Keyword Name is the value TrueDialog looks for when a message is received.

5. Click the Channel dropdown.

   

6. Select only a long code or short code channel.

   The keyword will only be matched against messages received on the selected Channel.

   

7. Click Reserve.

   

8. Once the keyword is created, a Keyword created successfully message will be displayed.

   

9. If the keyword already exists on the chosen channel, you will see an error message like the one in the following screenshot.

   

Attach Existing Keyword

1. Click the 3 Dots at the right end of the campaign to attach a keyword.
2. Click Attach Keyword.

   

3. Set the Create new keyword toggle to No.
4. Click the Keyword Selector dropdown.

   

5. Select the keyword to attach.
6. Click Attach.

   

7. Once the keyword is attached, a success message will appear in the upper right-hand corner of the window.