Overview
Macros are essentially placeholders in your message content that automatically get filled with information from your database. These placeholders enable personalized messages for each recipient.
You can choose macros to personalize your message's content when you create a text message in the Text campaigns screen.
How to insert a macro into your message content
To incorporate a macro into your text message, choose a macro from the dropdown Macros menu. The selected macro will automatically appear at the cursor location within the Message content area.
You should insert a macro within the content of a text message in such a way that the full message will make sense to the recipient after the macro is replaced with the database information.
The content of a text message macro is defined by the filters you select when choosing the message Recipients.
You can use the following macros when you compose a text message:
Macro selection | What you'll see in the Message content box | What your recipients will see in their text message | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Recipient's full name | FULL_NAME | Their own first and last name | Irena Hernandez |
Event title | EVENT_TITLE | The title of the event | Big Fall Gathering |
Event start date | EVENT_START_DATE | The date of the event | October 14 |
Event location | EVENT_LOCATION | The location of the event | Main Street's Event Space |
Email subject | EMAIL_SUBJECT | The words in the subject line of the email | Did you know? |
Link to web copy of the email | EMAIL_WEB_LINK | A link to the email's URL | https://www.LocationOfWebCopyofEmail.pdf |
Note: The EMAIL_WEB_LINK macro sends a unique link for each recipient, but the content can be viewed by anyone if the recipient shares the link.
Cost estimates when using macros
Final text messaging costs are priced at $0.04 per SMS message delivered, per recipient.
Reminder: The billing for your Text Messaging account is separate and different from the billing for your WildApricot subscription plan.
If your message includes a macro, the system cannot provide a precise cost estimate due to varying message lengths for each recipient. After a macro is replaced with actual individualized content (for example, a very long full name), the message length for a recipient may exceed the SMS character limit for one message.
Any message that exceeds the maximum SMS character length will be split into two messages. In that case, you will be charged for 2 messages when the system delivers your message to that recipient.
If your message content exceeds the SMS character limit for one message, you'll see a warning icon appear next to Message. If you click the icon, you can view the alert.