Retail | SMS Marketing

SMS Overview

You can send SMS blasts to your members through the BLAZE Retail Loyalty/Marketing section.

In order to send SMS blasts, you will need to prepay for SMS credits in the SMS Marketing section - every SMS is considered one credit. From here, you can schedule SMS blasts to go out to your customers. We currently have three options when selecting your member audience but are quickly expanding the functionality to allow for deeper segmentation.

NOTE: There are strict guidelines for SMS blasts. If you attempt to send a mass SMS message that does NOT follow our guidelines, it is likely it will not be received.

How does it work?

• From the SMS marketing section, you will prepay for SMS credits.
• Once you have SMS credits, you can choose to send SMS blasts to different "SMS Groups" such as: All Members, specific member groups, or members that haven’t visited within X days (the day threshold is entered by you).

• You can then custom tailor the message using Merge Fields for more personable messages. (Merge Fields are in parentheses)
  • For example, “Hey {{memberfirstname}}, here is a $5 promo code to order online: Promo5. Order online at {shopwebsite}. Hope to see you soon!”. You can send the text blasts now OR schedule the text blasts to go out at a specific date and time.
    
    

How do I pay for the SMS credits?

Currently, SMS messages must be purchased directly from our billing team: please call 415-964-5689 ext. 115, or email us at billing@blaze.me

Can I view my sent history?

Yes, you can view all SMS blasts done in the past by viewing the Sent History page in the marketing section.

I scheduled a blast to go but only a few of my members got the text?

• Due to anti-spam laws, you will need to ensure the member has opted in for SMS messages. You can do this by navigating to the member profile and enable SMS (with the consent of the member).
• Also due to anti-spam laws, BLAZE advises you to break up mass messages to send to 5k members or less at a time. 
• Marketing messages sent from long digit numbers (ie 844-922-0187) need to be phrased in a more conversational manner.
  • EX: "Hey {{memberfirstname}}! Staying in? We'll deliver! Deals on ____ & ____ all this week. Order online at {shopwebsite}."
• Some mobile carriers restrict texts with certain words related to weed, like "kush," so this prevents members with these carriers from receiving those messages (this is due to cannabis being illegal on a federal level). Either merge "kush" with another word or get creative with your spacing to "trick" these carriers from blocking your message. 
  • NOTE: Some carriers are able to detect when you are "tricking" the system and will block these messages from sending. It is best to avoid cannabis-related words all together if possible.

Failure to follow these guidelines may result in your shop being flagged / blocked by our 3rd party messenger, Twilio, and prevent your SMS blast from being delivered. 

• If you believe your SMS messages have been flagged / blocked, please contact support@blaze.me to "reset" your number.
• Until our Support Team has confirmed that your number has been reset, please refrain from sending more messages, as it is highly likely they will NOT be delivered by our 3rd party messenger, Twilio. 
• BLAZE will not reimburse for any flagged / not delivered messages due to invalid phone numbers or failure to follow our SMS guidelines. 

**Purchasing SMS online is currently unavailable, but once it is again available the below process will apply.**

The SMS credits are purchased directly from the Loyalty/Marketing section in the web app, under a subpage called SMS Marketing.

From here, you will enter your credit card information and select the amount of credits you’d like to purchase. We do not save your credit card information so you will need to enter a credit card in every time.  

SMS Packages:

• 1000 SMS: $20.00 
• 5000 SMS: $100.00
• 10000 SMS: $200.00
• 20000 SMS: $400.00
• 35000 SMS: $700.00
  
  **Custom Contracts are available for monthly commitments for an additional SMS discount**