Getting Started with Local Store Marketing
Local store marketing features allow brands to have control over the offer and text message campaigns scheduled by their Franchisees. It’s also a great way to provide Franchisees with Templates they can easily select from to run campaigns.
Templates
With Templates, an Admin or Marketing Manager user level can predefine the offer details and an associated text message for use by Franchise users with Marketing permissions. Franchise users can use a template, complete their promotion or store specific details, and schedule at any future time within 45 days as long as it doesn’t land on a blackout date.
You can set a users schedule limits per day, week, or month to prevent too many text messages from being targeted to Members at a time.
Blackout Dates
Blackout dates allow brands to limit the days at which template campaigns are scheduled. These are managed by the Admin and Marketing Manager users only.
User-Level Billing
Sending text messages have their per message cost and can be set to be billed to Corporate or to the User. When set to bill the user, a Franchise with marketing permissions will be required to provide valid payment on their account to enable text message campaigns. Please see Billing a Single User for more information.
Things to know
Local store marketing features — SMS templates, blackout dates and send limits — is an Enterprise plan add-on. To enable Local store marketing in your Dashboard, please contact your Spendgo Customer Success Manager.
To update the number of days in advance a user can schedule a campaign from a template (e.g. you want to limit user from creating a campaign more than 45 days out), please contact your Spendgo Customer Success Manager.
For user-level billing accounts, new campaigns cannot be scheduled until a valid payment is set and a plan has been paid for on a single-user’s account. At any point, the billing information is not up to date, any existing text message campaigns scheduled in the future will be put on pause until their payment is resolved. If the start date of the text message campaign passes before payment resolution, the campaign is cancelled and will not run. Please see Billing a Single User for more information.
Templates that include both an offer and a text message action will appear as 2 separate campaigns — an offer and sms type — when used to schedule a campaign. The template itself will be a combined user experience for ease of use and setup.
Getting started
Contact your Spendgo Customer Success Manager to configure your Dashboard for local store marketing.
Create a template
Create a blackout date
Import users to include their SMS schedule limits in Settings / Users
Share access to your users and share How-to use a template instructions (below).
How to use a template
Within the Spendgo Dashboard, navigate to Campaigns / Templates, identify which template you want to use, the
Click “Use Template” in the row of the template you want to use.
Follow the on-screen steps. Depending on the campaign settings, the requested entry fields will vary.
For a text messagesEnter appropriate text to replace the variables, indicated by double curly brackets (e.g. {{day}}) See in the example, the template with variable placeholders, and the same template below with the variables filled out. The user must enter the text to replace the variable(s) or the curly bracket placeholder will be sent out. Character count and message segments may vary based on variable entries.
Example Template:
Stop by Juice Bar - {{location}} on {{day}} to try our new holiday flavors! While supplies last. Text STOP to cancel, HELP for help. Msg&DataRatesMayApply.
Example message send with variables filled out:
Stop by Juice Bar - 123 Avenue on Tuesday to try our new holiday flavors! While supplies last. Text STOP to cancel, HELP for help. Msg&DataRatesMayApply.
Note: if there were no variables in the message, this step can be skipped.
For offers
The possible fields you may be asked to enter are:
• Discount code (optional) - the promotion code that maps the offer discount to your POS discounts.
• Limit timeframe (optional) - time of day in the week the offer should be available. Applies to 2x points and 3x points offers only.
• Offer expiration - define when the offer should expire — no expiration, on a fixed date, days after earned, hours after earned (up to 24 hrs), or days after first presented to member in a display.Select the Members whose favorite store you would like to target with the message. You will only be able to select from stores you have access to.
Give your campaign a unique name.
Schedule the campaign and click Save.
You may not schedule on a blackout window, blackout dates will be greyed out in the calendar. If you have reached the maximum number of SMS campaigns that can be scheduled within a day or week period, an error will ask you to update your schedule send time. If your payment is not up to date, you will not be able to schedule a new campaign until payment is resolved.
Billing a Single User
Billing a single user for marketing is a feature that comes with the Local Store Marketing add-on. It allows users (e.g. Franchise users) to run their own campaigns and manage their own spend on text message campaigns.
Franchisee users with marketing permissions can securly subscribe and manage their payment information enabling text message campaigns in their account.
Things to Know
All payment information is hosted by a 3rd-party application, Chargebee, which allows for a secure way to manage your payment and plan information.
User-level billing is only available to Enterprise accounts with the local store marketing add-on enabled. Billing rules only apply to two roles: Franchisee - Insights & Marketing, and Franchisee - Insights, Marketing & Support. Other roles either do not have marketing permissions or are not restricted by user-level billing rules.
At minimum, a Franchise user must have an active subscription to a “Single-User Marketing” plan for the current calendar month to schedule any campaigns. You can subscribe at anytime in the month, there is no prorated rate; this is a volume based plan. Any overages will be charged to your card on file. Subscription renewals are processed on the first of every month at 00:00 AM PST.
To cancel or downgrade your subscription email billing@spendgo.com before you next monthly renewal, your services will continue to be available until the end of the month and you may be charged overages to your card on file if you exceed your plan’s messaging allocation.
Note: you must be a Franchisee - Insights & Marketing or Franchisee - Insights, Marketing & Support in a Enterprise account with local store marketing add-on enbaled to see the billing settings.
When your payment is good to go, you will see a notification that states “Status: Everything is running smoothly!”. It May take up to 30 minute for your first payment to process and for you account to be enabled.
When your payment needs attention, you will see a red notification that states: “Needs attention: Please check your billing information.”
Subscribing to a Plan
To start sending text messages, you need to first subscribe to a plan. If you have already subscribed and want to manage your payment and plan information, skip to the Manage Payment section below.
Navigate to your Dashboard Settings / Profile
Click the Manage Payment button
You will see the standard “Single-User Marketing” plan on-screen. Proceed to checkout.
Your email will be auto-filled. Click Next.
Enter your first and last name and click Next.
Enter your billing information and click Next.
Enter your credit card information and click Next.
Review your information and click Pay & Subscribe.
Manage Payment
You already have a plan and you want to:
Add a message bundle to your plan
Update your billing information
Add a new payment
Update existing payment
View billing history
Reactivate subscription
Add a Message Bundle
Increase your monthly volume by adding on a message bundle to your plan. Changes are applied to the next calendar month.
Navigate to your Dashboard Settings / Profile
Click the Manage Payment button
Your email will be auto-filled. Click Next.
A one-time passcode will be sent to your email, enter your one-time passcode on the screen and click Login.
Click on your current plan.
Click Edit Subscription.
Click Add Addons.
Select your Addons and Add.
Click Update Subscription to apply the updates to the next calendar month.
Add Your Payment Information
Add a new credit card.
Navigate to your Dashboard Settings / Profile
Click the Manage Payment button
Your email will be auto-filled. Click Next.
A one-time passcode will be sent to your email, enter your one-time passcode on the screen and click Login.
Click Payment Methods.
Select Add New to add a new payment.
Enter in your payment details and click Add.
Update Your Payment Information
Update an existing credit card on file.
Navigate to your Dashboard Settings / Profile
Click the Manage Payment button
Your email will be auto-filled. Click Next.
A one-time passcode will be sent to your email, enter your one-time passcode on the screen and click Login.
Click Payment Methods.
Select the payment method to edit and click Edit Payment.
Enter in your payment details and click Update.
Update Your Billing Information
Update the billing information we have on file.
Navigate to your Dashboard Settings / Profile
Click the Manage Payment button
Your email will be auto-filled. Click Next.
A one-time passcode will be sent to your email, enter your one-time passcode on the screen and click Login.
Click Billing & Shipping Addresses.
Click on your Billing or Shipping information.
Enter in your new details and Update.
Reactivate Subscription
Reactivate your subscription at anytime.
Navigate to your Dashboard Settings / Profile
Click the Manage Payment button
Your email will be auto-filled. Click Next.
A one-time passcode will be sent to your email, enter your one-time passcode on the screen and click Login.
Click on your current cancelled plan.
Click Reactivate Subscription.
Click Confirm.
Personalize with Variables
Variables are text placeholders within a text message. When creating an SMS template, the message can be created using variables which will later be substituted with proper content when the template is used. This allows Admin users to limit the content which is editable for local store marketing.
Things to know
Variables are only available with SMS templates.
Variables are limited to user-defined variables. Wherein the user who is creating a campaign from the template will be able to enter the values which should replace the variables in the message.
Examples
Example Template with variables
Stop by Juice Bar - {{location}} on {{day}} to try our new holiday flavors! While supplies last. Text STOP to cancel, HELP for help. Msg&DataRatesMayApply.
Example message with variables content replaced
Stop by Juice Bar - 123 Avenue on Tuesday to try our new holiday flavors! While supplies last. Text STOP to cancel, HELP for help. Msg&DataRatesMayApply.
Related articles
Blackout Dates
Blackout dates allow you to set dates when campaigns cannot be scheduled on by users with limited marketing permissions. The blackout dates only govern the campaigns created from a template.
Things to know
Depending on your plan, you may not have access to the blackout dates feature. Blackout dates are only available to Accounts with the Enterprise with local store marketing add-on. Blackout dates can only be managed by Dashboard Admin and Marketing Manger user roles. Franchisee users with marketing permissions are able to view blackout dates only.
Once a blackout date is deleted, this cannot be undone.
Blackout dates are saved and displayed in UTC timezone.
When a user is scheduling the send time of their campaign through the use of a template, the input will prevent the selection of blackout dates (blackout dates will be greyed out).
You can only edit blackout dates in the future. If your start date is in the past, but your end date is in the future, the end date will still be editable.
Creating a blackout date when a template campaign is already scheduled will not prevent that campaign from running. Blackout dates must be created beforehand to prevent a template campaign from being scheduled.
How-to create a blackout date
Navigate to Campaigns / Blackout Dates
Click the “+ New Blackout Date” button
Name your Blackout Date for your reference
Enter the start date (the UI will allow you to select a timezone, but after it has been saved it will be saved and displayed in UTC)
Enter the end date
Click Save
How-to edit a blackout date
Navigate to Campaigns / Blackout Dates
In the row of the blackout date to be edited, click Manage / Edit.
Enter changes to the blackout date and Save.
How-to delete a blackout date
Navigate to Campaigns / Blackout Dates
In the row of the blackout date to be edited, click Manage / Delete
Confirm you want to delete the blackout date. Once confirmed, it cannot be undone.
Templates
Templates are pre-designed layouts that help you create content for campaigns such as text messages and offers. Text message templates allow you to set certain variables, while offer templates allow you to set details for the offer itself. These templates can be accessed by other users with marketing permissions. They define the basic requirements for the campaign and limit the user to a few parameters that are specific to a store or store group.
It's important to note that each template campaign is limited to reaching audience members who are associated with the user's store permissions. For example, if a user has access to Store A and Store B, they can only target members who have Store A or B set as their favorite store. If the user chooses to do so, they can further limit the reach to just Store A when setting up their campaign.
Things to know
Depending on your plan, you may not have access to all our template options. Templates are only available to Accounts with the Enterprise with local store marketing add-on. Templates can only be managed by Dashboard Admin and Marketing Manger user roles. Franchisee users with marketing permissions are able to view and use a template, but cannot create, edit or delete any templates.
Once a template is archived, this cannot be undone.
The audience associated with your template cannot include a favorite store filter. You will not be able to select this upon creation. Once your template is saved, do not edit the audience to include a favorite store filter. This can override the favorite store filter layer applied at the time the campaign is scheduled.
Scheduling of a template campaign is governed by the blackout dates and will be limited to when blackout timeframes are not scheduled. Blackout dates do not limit regular campaigns created by Admin or Marketing Manager Users.
When an account is configured to bill on a single-user level, the users will be required to have a valid billing information and payment to schedule and run any of their existing text message campaigns. Please see billing a single-user for more details.
How to create a template
You must be an Admin or Marketing Manager user to create templates.
Navigate to Campaigns / Templates
Select all the action types you want to create (you may select one action or both):
Text Message
Offer
For the a Text Message, enter in your text message content.
To enter a static variable within your message, begin by typing double open curly brackets, {{ , and select from the available variable options:{{ day }}
{{ date }}
{{ enter text }}
{{ location }}
{{ time }}
Note: You may use as many of these static variables within your text for your template. When the template is used to create a campaign, the User will at that time be presented with the option to manually enter the value that should replace the variable.
For an Offer, select from the offer types and continue to enter your offer details.
Click Next Step
Define the target audience and click Next Step
Note: You will notice there is no favorite store filter, this is not available for templates. Favorite store targeting is applied to the template when it is being scheduled by the user.Enter a unique template name and Save.
How to use a template
You must be an Admin, Marketing Manager, Franchisee - Insights & Marketing, or Franchisee - Insights, Support & Marketing user to use templates.
Navigate to Campaigns / Templates.
In the row of the template to be used, click “Use Template”.
Depending on the template contents go through the on-screen prompts, you will be asked to fill your text message and/or offer details relevant to the pre-built actions of the template.
For a text message, you will be asked to manually enter in the text to replace the variable placeholders within the message.
Note: if there were no variables in the message, this option is not displaed and the step can be skipped.For an offer, you may be asked to enter the when the offer should expire, when the offer can be redeemed, or the POS Discount code that may be required for mapping the discount code to your POS (not all Spendgo to Third-Party integrations require this, please check with your operations for details. When not required, you can enter any placeholder and it will be ignored).
You can select to narrow down the target audience based on the member’s favorite store. However, it's important to note that you can only target members whose favorite stores are within your accessibility. To select all the stores within your access, click the Select all link and click Next.
Enter a unique campaign name.
Note: once the campaign is created, your campaign name will be displayed with a timestamp at the end of it to preserve it’s uniqueness across your brand.
Schedule the message send and click Save.
Note: you may not schedule on a blackout window, blackout dates will be greyed out in the calendar. If a User has reached the maximum number of SMS campaigns that can be scheduled within a day or week period, they will see an error and be asked to update their schedule send time.
How-to edit a template
Note: Only Admins and Marketing Manager roles have permissions to edit a template.
Navigate to Campaigns / Templates.
In the row of the campaign to be edited, click Manage / Edit.
Enter changes to the template and Save.
How-to archive a template
Note: Only Admins and Marketing Manager roles have permissions to edit a template.
Navigate to Campaigns / Templates.
In the row of the campaign to be edited, click Manage / Archive.
Confirm you want to archive the template. This cannot be undone once confirmed.