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
Dashboard User Permissions
The Dashboard has various role permissions which you can assign to your users. User permissions can be managed from within the Dashboard individually and in bulk. See Import Users for more details.
Things to know
Only an Admin user can add and update their Dashboard Users
Depending on your plan, some permissions may vary per user role. For example, if your plan does not include loyalty, your marketing features available in the Dashboard will be limited.
Roles
Admin
The Admin Role has permissions to all features — campaigns, and store permissions in the Dashboard.
Marketing Manager
Depending on the plan you have, the Marketing Manager has permissions to all Marketing features — including campaigns, audiences, notifications, and insights — in the Dashboard. Their store permissions can be limited to view only data related to select stores.
Customer Support
The Customer Support role has access to all customer support features — including Member details and events — in the Dashboard. Their store permissions can be limited to view only events related to select stores.
Tech Support
The Tech Support role has access to all the tech support features — including events and device management — in the Dashboard. Their store permissions can be limited to view only device and events related to select stores.
Franchisee
Depending on the plan you have, there are 4 types of Franchisee roles with different access permissions:
Insights - can view their insights (excluding campaign data).
Insights & Support - can view their insights (excluding campaign data) and use the support features.
Insights & Marketing - can view their insights. For some plans without loyalty, this role does not apply. For some plans with local store marketing add-on, additional campaign features are available.
Insights, Marketing, & Support - can view their insights. For some plans without loyalty, this role will be limited. For some plans with local store marketing add-on, additional campaign features are available.
Employee
The Employee role is a Spendgo Lite only view.
Import Users
You can import a list of users into Spendgo using the Import Users feature. By uploading the required information in CSV format, you can import user settings, SMS schedule limitations, and store permissions. You can also use this operation to update users, using their email as the unique identifier.
Things to know
You must be a Dashboard Admin user to import Dashboard users.
Your CSV file should contain all the columns specific to the operation you are performing. Do not edit the column labels and make sure your file extension is .csv.
How-to format your import list
Download a sample CSV file
The following explains the column requirements:
First Name - user’s first name
Last Name - user’s last name
Email - user’s email (this must be a unique Dashboard email)
Password - user’s minimum 8-character password
User Description - user’s description can be used as an identifier, such as “AZ Franchisee”
Role - values must match exactly one of the following options:
Admin
Marketing Manager
Customer Support
Tech Support
Franchisee - Insights
Franchisee - Insights & Support
Franchisee - Insights & Marketing
Franchisee - Insights, Support, & Marketing
Employee (limited access to Spendgo lite only)
Store List - a semi-colon separated list of store names (these must be entered exacty as they are stored in the Spendgo system, navigate to your Settings / Store page for reference). Store permissions can be set for all role types except Admin roles where all stores are permitted. If no stores are specified, the user will have permissions to all stores.
Example: San Francisco; Reno; Dallas; New Orleans; Atlanta; New York
Send Limit Per Day - the maximum number of SMS messages the user can schedule within a day.
Send Limit Per Month - the maximum number of SMS messages the user can schedule within a calendar month.
Billing Status - leave blank, this is auto-generated in reports.
Timezone Display Preference - values must match exactly one of the following options:
America/Los Angeles
America/Chicago
America/Denver
America/New York
America/Phoenix
America/Puerto Rico
America/Guam
US/Hawaii
UTC
How-to import users
Navigate to Settings / Users
Click the “Import Users” link
Drag and drop or select your formatted CSV file for import
Click “Import” button
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.
Inventory Management
You can add a list of items into your account using the Add or update your items feature. By uploading the required information in CSV format, you can import your inventory and set items to qualify to earn points at specific stores. You can also use this operation to update whether an item qualifies to earn points.
Things to know
Depending on your plan, you may not have require access and will not be able to manage an inventory.
You must be a Dashboard Admin user to add inventory to your account.
Your CSV file should contain all the columns specific to the operation you are performing. Do not edit the column labels and make sure your file extension is .csv.
Your account can be configured to automatically read and all items that come in through the Spendgo Order APIs, Order webhooks, or in-store devices. When this is enabled, any new items that enter the Spendgo system will also be considered as eligible to earn points.
Items can never be removed as they are often associated with a transaction and Member’s points.
When updating your items or if you need to see items in your inventory, you can download the current inventory list at a particular store and use that list to update your existing items.
How-to format your import list
The following explains the column requirements:
item name - this is the item’s name. It must be exactly as it would print on the receipt or be passed in the API calls to Spendgo.
earns points - identifies whether the item qualifies to earn points. Values are TRUE to earn points, and FALSE to not earn points. An example of this is if you want your coffee drinks to earn points, but do not want your alcohol beverages to earn points.
store no - identifies at which store the item will be present and earn points at. Each item association with a store must be its own row (i.e. you must enter the item twice when associating the item with two separate stores). The store number must be the store number that is configured within Spendgo (navigate to Settings / Stores for reference).
How-to add or update items to your inventory
Navigate to Settings / Inventory
Drag and drop or select your formatted CSV list
Note: any item names that already exist in the inventory at a store will be overridden with the new settings.Click the “Upload” button
Advanced Settings
In the Advanced Settings, you can set whether discounting applies to all items in your inventory or to only the items qualified to earn points.
Example order with discounting applied to all items
In this example, the full discount is applied to the order because the discount can be applied to all items.
1x Coffee $2.50
1x Cocktail $10.00
Discount - $5.00
Subtotal $7.50
Example order with discounting applied to qualified items only
In this example, the cocktail item does not qualify and cannot be discounted; therefore, only $2.50 of the $5.00 offer is used on this order. If there were 2 coffee items (or 2 qualified items in the basket), the full discount value of $5.00 would be used.
1x Coffee $2.50
1x Cocktail $10.00
Discount - $5.00
Subtotal $10.00
How-to download your inventory list
Navigate to Settings / Inventory
Scroll down to the Download your items section
Select the store you want the inventory list pulled from
Enter in your email for the report to be delivered to
Click the “Download CSV Report” button
Points Threshold Campaign
A Points Threshold campaign allows you to set the number of points a Member needs to earn an offer. A feature of the Points Threshold offer is it can be configured to automatically earn an offer — this means when a Member has enough points (e.g. Member has 50 points at a 50 points threshold), their points will auto convert into an offer. The set points threshold value is removed from their account and an offer is added. The auto-earn will happen every time the threshold is met while the campaign is live.
When a Points Threshold is not set to automatically earn, a Member can continue to earn points on their account and when the set threshold is reached, the offer then becomes available for use. The Member does not have to use the offer at that threshold, they can continue to earn points and instead use a higher threshold offer.
Campaign Examples
Automatically Earned Points Threshold
$5 off for every 50 points earned
Points Threshold
Free Dessert at 40 points
$5 off at 60 points
$10 off at 100 points
Things to Know
You are limited to only one (1) active Points Threshold offer where the auto-earn is enabled. When a points threshold is set to automatically earn, there is no way for the Member to reach any higher point threshold.
If you plan to support both types of Points Thresholds — automatically earned and not automatically earned — it is important the automatically earned threshold is greater than all other point thresholds. Otherwise, points will automatically convert into an offer and your Member will not be able to reach the higher threshold values. For example:
50 points Fountain Drink for 50 points
100 points $10 off for 100 points
200 points $20 Off automatically at 200 points
This works, a Member who has 199 points can use 50 or 100 points on a Free Drink or $10 off respectively. However, once they hit 200 points, this will automatically become a $20 off and their balance reduced.
50 points Free Coffee for 50 points
100 points $10 off automatically at 100 points
200 points $20 off for 200 points
Member will not be able to reach 200 points because their balance will be deducted 100 points as soon as they reach that level and given the $10 off offer.
With an automatically earned Points Threshold, when a Member earns a large sum of points at a time, the points will automatically convert into multiple offers. For example, if your auto-earn threshold is 50 and the Member’s first purchase is a catering order worth $300, the Member will earn 6 offers. This also means if you are setting up a notification based on this offer being earned, mutliple notifications may be triggered to the Member’s number or email address.
Creating An Offer Campaign
See Offer types for more information.
Go to the Campaigns tab in the Dashboard
Click the Create link in the top nav
Select the Points Threshold automation
Define the Point Threshold at which the offer should be available
Automatically Earned will be enabled by default. Enable or disable the auto-earn feature, and click Next Step
Define your offer configurations and click Next
Define the target audience to receive the offer by turning on the segment and defining your audience filters. Then click Next
Enter a unique campaign name for your internal reference
Schedule your campaign start date and time
(Optional) Schedule your campaign end date and time. If this is not defined, your campaign will be ongoing with no end date
Review your campaign details and click on Schedule to create your new campaign
Points Offers
There are two types of points offers — add points and multiply points — and several ways to create these points offer for Members in your Dashboard. You can use any of the following campaign types to issue points offers:
Date & Time Campaign
Target an audience with a single-use add or a multiply points offer on a set date and time.
Example Use Cases
Giving points to Members based on their number of visits.
Giving points to Members based on their total spend over a period.
Multiplying points for online transactions for a limited time.
Considerations
Date & Time points offers are not perpetual and are one-time use.
Depending on the audience size and complexity, it can take 30-90 minutes for everyone to be issued the offer.
See how to create a Date & Time Campaign.
Registration Campaign
Reward member’s for completing their account with bonus points.
Example Use Case
Give bonus points to new members for completing their account.
Considerations
Registration points can only be earned once. It will only be added to their account once the person has completed their account setup by verifying their email address.
See how to create a Registration Campaign.
Recurring Campaign
Target an audience with a single-use add or a multiply points offer on a recurring interval.
Example Use Cases
Multiply points on Tuesdays for email and SMS subscribers.
Considerations
Recurring points offers are not perpetual and are one-time use.
Depending on the audience size and complexity, it can take 30-90 minutes for everyone to be issued the offer.
See how to create a Recurring Campaign.
Purchase Total
Gives all Members the ability to make a purchase within the campaign live period to earn an add or multiple of points on the order. This has an unlimited usage within the campaign live period.
Example Use Cases
On-going multiply points earn during from 2pm to 5pm on Wednesdays for happy hour.
Limited time points multiplier
Considerations
Purchase Total is always available to all Members and cannot be targeted. It can only be limited to select stores where the bonus points can be earned.
Can also be used to increase the base earn rate from 1 point per $1 spent to N points per $1 spent.
See how to create a Purchase Total Campaign.
Purchase Items
Gives all Members the ability to make a purchase within the campaign live period to earn an add or mutliply offer for every qualifying item. This has an unlimited usage within the campaign live period.
Example Use Cases
Multiplying points on
Considerations
Purchase Items is always available to all Members and cannot be targeted. It can only be limited to select stores where the bonus points can be earned.
See how to create a Purchase Item Campaign.
Note: Date & Time and Recurring are similar, in that these points offers are issued in advance and availble in a Member’s account — this means the points offer is available to a specific Member and ready for their use until it expires. Whereas Purchase Total and Purchase Items points are not considered in a Member’s account until they make a qualfied action. A qualified action is making a purchase (for the Purchase Total campaign), or making a purchase of a qualifying item (for the Purchase Items campaign). Purchase Total and Items is not targetable to an audience. it is open to all Members to participate if they make the qualified action within the campaign live period.
Support Events
Support events includes transactions that you can filter and manage from within the dashboard.
Link a transaction
Members sometimes forget to enter in their phone number at the time of their purchase and would like to claim their earnings post-transaction, for this, you can link a transaction to the member.
Navigate to Support > Events
Use the filters to find the specific transaction.
Note: Selecting one day and the store location of the transaction are always required at minimum to filter through the events.Once you’ve located the transaction, click Manage > Link
Enter in the member phone number to be linked to the transaction and click Link
Transfer a transaction
In some cases, the wrong transaction was claimed or a member wants to transfer their transaction to a different account, for this you can transfer the transaction to a new member.
Navigate to Support > Events
Use the filters to find the specific transaction.
Note: Selecting one day and the store location of the transaction are always required at minimum to filter through the events. The transaction must already be assigned to a member in order to be transferred.Once you’ve located the transaction, click Manage > Transfer
Enter in the new member phone number to transfer the transaction to and click Transfer
Unlink a transaction
If the wrong transaction was claimed, for this you can unlink the transaction from a member.
Navigate to Support > Events
Use the filters to find the specific transaction.
Note: Selecting one day and the store location of the transaction are always required at minimum to filter through the events. The transaction must already be assigned to a member in order to be unlinked.Once you’ve located the transaction, click Manage > Unlink
Review and confirm by clicking Unlink
View a transaction
View the details of a transaction — line-items, discounts, etc.
Navigate to Support > Events
Use the filters to find the specific transaction.
Note: Selecting one day and the store location of the transaction are always required at minimum to filter through the events.Once you’ve located the transaction, click Manage > View
Requested Password Reset
When a member requests a password reset, they must provide their account email through the Member Portal forgot password page or through the Spendgo APIs. Once this request has been submitted, the member will be sent a password reset link that directs them to provide and confirm their new password.
You have the option to define how a member can receive their password reset link — either by Spendgo’s default email notifications, text notifications, or your third party email integration.
Via Default Spendgo Email
No setup is required, this is automatically enabled using the Spendgo template and sent from ‘donotreply@spendgo.com’.
Via Text Notification
In the Spendgo dashboard you can enable the Requested Password Reset text notification:
Navigate to Settings > Notifications
Create a new notification
Select the notification type Requested Password Reset and click Next Step
Enter a unique Event Name
Define whether to require opt-in for members.
Note: We recommend to leave require opt-in turned off; you will want all requests to receive this one-time notification.Select your medium as Text
Enter in your text message content and click Next Step. For more info, see Text Message Compliance
Note: The unique reset password link is automatically appended to the end of each member’s message on send. A placeholder link "https://my.spendgo.com/p/placeholder" is displayed in the UI.Review and confirm by clicking to Create your notification
Via 3rd-Party Email Notification
The benefit of using your email integration is to send the link within your own template and from your own domain. In the Spendgo dashboard you can enable the Requested Password Reset email notification:
Navigate to Settings > Notifications
Create a new notification
Select the notification type Requested Password Reset and click Next Step
Enter a unique Event Name
Note: Jot down the event name as you have entered it. You will use this to map your event to the mailing in your email provider platform.Select your medium as Email
Review and confirm by clicking to Create your notification
Log into your integrated email provider platform to create your template. Insert the reset password link placeholder into your template. See notification placeholders.
Configure your event name trigger and complete the setup.
Helpful links:
• Setup a custom event in Emma
• Setup an automated event API in Mailchimp
• Event notification placeholders
Both Emma and MailChimp require emails to be subscribed in order to send an email. This is a limitation that can result in some members not receiving their notification.