Generate opt-in requests for marketing text messages

Overview

To send marketing text messages to customers, you first need a record that they opted into your marketing messages. You can send opt-in requests directly from ServiceTitan or allow customers to opt in through your emails or website.

Things to know

• To send any text messages through ServiceTitan, you must complete the Register for Texting form otherwise your messages will be blocked. For more, see Register your business for SMS and MMS delivery.

• Your Marketing Registration needs to be approved by The Campaign Registry (TCR) before you can send customers opt-in requests for marketing text messages. For more, see Submit Marketing Registration.

• We do not recommend sending opt-in requests to customers in bulk. Receiving unexpected opt-in requests may annoy or frustrate customers, leading to a negative experience. They may also mistake your opt-in request for spam if they're not expecting it.

• To be eligible for SMS Marketing, the customer's contact number must be added as a mobile-type contact. Also, make sure that Marketing Updates is selected for the mobile number and the Marketing SMS Opt-In status is set to Opted In.

Add phone number for opt-in requests

After your Marketing Registration is approved, add the phone number you want to use to send opt-in requests for your marketing text messages.

Note: The steps for adding a new phone number can differ depending on your phone integration. For more, see Add or edit tracking numbers and Assign tracking phone numbers to Marketing Pro campaigns.

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to Marketing Pro > Marketing.

3. Scroll down to the Text Message Opt-In section and click Add Phone Number. 

4. On the Add New Number pop-up that opens, enter the Area Code or ZIP Code you want the number to correspond to.        

   Note: You can only add a local number to send opt-in requests. You cannot add a Toll-Free number.

5. (Optional) If you want your number to include a particular set of digits, enter them in the Contains field.

6. Click Search Numbers. 

7. Select a number from the search results and click Choose Number. 

8. Enter the Forwarding Number. 

9. Set the Default Call Type as Lead or Not Lead.

10. When finished, click Add Number.

11. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen.

You can now begin sending opt-in requests to your customers.

Generate opt-in requests

To send marketing text messages to a customer, you must first have a record that they opted in. To generate opt-in requests, you can:

• Send opt-in requests from the customer record

• Add opt-in links to your email templates and website

• Add an opt-in form to your website

• Generate opt-in requests as a technician using forms in ServiceTitan Mobile

Send opt-in requests from the customer record

We recommend training your customer service representatives (CSRs) to ask customers if they want to receive promotional marketing text messages. They can then send the customer an opt-in request directly from the customer record.

To send an opt-in request from the customer record:

1. Search for and open the customer record for the customer.

2. In the side menu, click Edit next to Contact Methods.

3. Click Send Request or Re-Send Request to send the opt-in request to the customer.        

   Note: You cannot send a request to a customer if they are already opted-in for marketing text messages.

      

The Marketing SMS Opt-In status changes to Pending after you send the opt-in request. For more, see Understand opt-In statuses.

Add opt-in links to your email templates and website

You can add opt-in links to your email templates and website. Customers can then easily opt-in to your marketing text messages directly from your emails or website.

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to Marketing Pro > Marketing.

3. Scroll down to the Text Message Opt-In section.

4. Click Copy Code for the Opt-In Website Link. 

5. Add the Opt-In Website Link to your email templates or website. For more, see Create email templates.

This link opens the customer's messaging application with the prewritten message, "I would like to sign up for marketing text messages!". After the customer sends this message, they will be opted in for SMS Marketing.

Add opt-in form to your website

You can add an opt-in form to your website for customers to fill out to opt into your marketing text messages. When a new customer fills out the form, a lead automatically generates in ServiceTitan.

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to Marketing Pro > Marketing.

3. Scroll down to the Text Message Opt-In section.

4. Click Generate Form to generate your Opt-In Form.

5. Click Copy Code for the Opt-In Form. 

6. Add the Opt-In Form to your website.

Customers can then provide their name and phone number directly on your website to opt-in to your marketing text messages.

Generate opt-in requests as a technician using forms in ServiceTitan Mobile

Technicians can use forms in ServiceTitan Mobile to automatically send opt-in requests to customers. To do this, you must first configure a form to apply the Request SMS Opt-In tag whenever a customer agrees to opt in.

There are two recommended ways to set this up:

• Automatically apply the opt-in tag when the form is completed.

• Add a question to the form that applies the tag based on the customer's response.

Option 1: Apply the tag when the form is completed

1. Create a new form or edit an existing form.

2. In the Display on section, select Both Office and Technician Sides to ensure technicians can access the form in ServiceTitan Mobile.

3. In the Apply tags to section, set the form to apply the Request SMS Opt In tag to the job when the form is completed. 

4. Make additional updates to the form as needed. For more, see Forms.

5. When finished, click Save.

When technicians complete this form in ServiceTitan Mobile, an SMS marketing opt-in request is automatically sent to the phone number associated with the job's customer notifications. If customer notifications aren't configured for your ServiceTitan account, the request is sent to the phone number from the lead call that generated the job booking.

Option 2: Add a question to a form that applies the tag

1. Create a new form or edit an existing form.

2. In the Display on section, select Both Office and Technician Sides to make sure technicians can use the form in ServiceTitan Mobile.

3. Click + Add new item.

4. In the Header field, enter the question you'd like your technicians to answer. For example, Does the customer want to receive marketing updates via SMS?

5. (Optional) Select the Required option to make the question mandatory.

6. From the Type dropdown, select the type of question you want to create.

7. Enter the answer options for your question. For example, you can add Yes and No as options. 

8. Make additional updates to the form as needed. For more, see Forms.

9. Click Save.

10. Click Add Conditional Logic, then click Add Rule to create a new rule.

11. Configure the rule to apply the Request SMS Opt In tag to the job when a customer agrees to receive marketing SMS messages. 

12. When finished, click Save & Publish.

If a customer agrees to receive marketing SMS messages, an opt-in request is automatically sent to the phone number associated with the job's customer notifications. If customer notifications aren't configured for your ServiceTitan account, the request is sent to the phone number from the lead call that generated the job booking.

Understand opt-in statuses

The status of an opt-in request indicates whether a customer has agreed to receive your marketing text messages. You can view the opt-in status for a phone number in a customer's contact methods in the customer record or your Marketing Pro settings.

An opt-in request can be in one of the following statuses:

• Unknown: An opt-in request was sent more than 24 hours ago, but the customer has not responded. In rare cases, this status may also indicate that the customer previously opted out of all SMS messages from your company and later resubscribed to transactional messages only by replying with a subscribe keyword to one of your transactional tracking numbers.

• Pending: An opt-in request was sent to the customer within the last 24 hours, but they have not replied.

• Opted In: The customer was sent an opt-in request and agreed to receive marketing text messages.

• Opted Out: The customer was sent an opt-in request but chose not to receive marketing text messages.

• Global Opt-Out: The customer has opted out of all notifications from your company, including transactional texts.

View opt-in status by phone number in Marketing Pro settings

You can see all of your customers' phone numbers and their opt-in status in your Marketing Pro settings.

1. Go to the top toolbar and click Settings .

2. In the side panel, go to Marketing Pro > Phone Numbers. 

3. On the Phone Numbers screen that opens, you can:        

   • Track the status of each phone number.

   • Search for a specific phone number to view its status.

   • Click Opt In for a phone number to send an opt-in request for marketing text messages.

   • Click Opt Out to opt a phone number out of receiving your marketing text messages.

   • Click the header of a column to sort it in ascending or descending order.

   • Filter the phone numbers by opt-in status.

Want to learn more?

• See Submit Marketing Registration

• See Create Marketing Campaigns using SMS