Creating and utilizing SMS Keywords (Coming Soon)

You will learn

• What is a keyword in SMS
• Creating a keyword
• Setting up the keyword trigger
• Adding steps to a keyword
• Reviewing and enabling a keyword
• Building a multi-step keyword
• Sharing a keyword with employees
• Viewing keyword analytics
• Adding a keyword to a campaign
• Keyword permissions and visibility
• Using draft keywords
  
  Or view the Video Tutorial

What is a keyword?

A keyword is a specific word that employees text to your Workshop phone number. When Workshop receives that word, it automatically kicks off a flow, so no one on your team needs to reply by hand.

Keywords give employees quick, on-demand access to what they need, right from their phone, while cutting down on repetitive requests for your team. You decide exactly what happens next.

Common examples include:

• HUB – Reply with a link to your employee engagement hub, so employees don’t have to remember the URL or dig through old communications.
• IT – Offer a short menu of IT support options and route the employee to the right form, status page, or confirmation.
• Seasonal or time-bound keywords – Share details for open enrollment or a company event, with an expiration date.

Note: If you’ve built a journey before, keywords will feel familiar. You set a trigger and then lay out the steps that follow. The difference is that a keyword’s trigger is always a word an employee texts in, so you don’t select an audience in the trigger.

Creating a keyword

1. In the top navigation, select Text > Keywords.

2. Select Create keyword.

3. In the keyword builder, select Configure starting point to open the trigger settings.

Setting up the keyword trigger

1. Enter your Keyword. Keep it short and easy to type using common words. Workshop confirms whether the keyword is available to use.

• A word can only be used by one active keyword.
• Keywords can’t include special characters or spaces.

2. Under Which inboxes would you like to monitor?, select the phone number employees will text.

• A keyword can only be associated with one phone number.

3. Under How closely does a message need to match?, choose a match option (see below).
4. Under When should the keyword expire?, select Never, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, or After a specific date.
5. Select Continue.

Match options:

• Contains the keyword – The message can include other words. For example, “Where is the employee hub?” triggers the HUB keyword.
• Matches the keyword exactly – The message must contain only the keyword. For example, only “HUB” or “hub” triggers it.

Both options are case insensitive.

Tip: Use an expiration date for seasonal or time-bound keywords, like open enrollment or a company event. Evergreen keywords, like HUB, can be set to never expire.

Adding steps to a keyword

After the trigger, add the steps that run when an employee texts your keyword.

1. Select the + icon below the trigger.
2. In the Add step panel, choose a step type: Email or Text message (Send), Wait (Timing), Conditional split (Logic), or an action such as adding the enrollee to a list.
3. For a Text message step, select the Phone number, enter a Message name (shown internally only), and write your message.
4. Select Continue.

Note: If the phone number has an auto-reply message configured, a notice appears in the text message step. You can manage auto-replies in your company settings. If an employee’s message matches or contains a keyword, the phone number’s auto-reply isn’t sent.

Reviewing and enabling a keyword

1. Select Review & enable in the top-right corner of the builder.
2. Confirm the keyword, inbox, response matching, expiration, and flow summary look correct. This page also shows whether messages send on weekends and on blackout dates.
3. Optionally, select Test keyword to try it out before going live.
4. Select Enable keyword.

Tip: We recommend keeping both Send on weekends and Send on blackout dates turned on. Keyword messages are always triggered by an employee, so they expect a reply right away. You can change these at any time from Settings in the keyword builder.

Once enabled, your keyword is live. Any employee who texts it gets the response instantly, and you never have to resend it.

Employees can use a keyword as often as they need. After someone exits a keyword flow, they can be re-enrolled immediately.

Tip: Not ready to go live? Select Save & exit to keep your keyword as a draft.

Building a multi-step keyword

A single reply is just the start. You can build more intricate keywords that branch based on how an employee responds. For example, an IT keyword can help employees report issues without needing to remember where a specific form lives.

1. Create a keyword, such as IT.
2. Add a Text message step with a short menu, such as “Reply 1 for a hardware issue, 2 for an outage or system down, or 3 for software or login help.”
3. Add a Wait step to give employees time to reply.

4. Add a Conditional split that checks for a specific SMS response (for example, 1). The flow branches into Responded and Did not respond.
5. Under Responded, add a follow-up text for that option, such as “Sorry you’re experiencing a hardware issue. Someone from IT will reach out to you.”
6. Under Did not respond, add another split for the next option (for example, 2) and follow up with a link to your IT status page. Repeat for each option.

You have the same tools available in a journey: send a text, add the enrollee to a list, split on a response, and more.

Note: You can monitor incoming responses from within Workshop, then follow up with the employee. Employees get fast help, and your team gets a clear view of what’s coming in.

Editing a keyword’s messages

Just like in a journey, the text messages and automated emails in a keyword flow can be edited at any time, even while the keyword is live.

• Anyone who triggers the keyword after your changes are published receives the latest published version of each text or email.

Turning a keyword off or on

Keywords can be turned off or on at any time using the Keyword is on toggle at the top of the keyword builder.

Keep in mind:

• Keywords with an end date – If a keyword has a specific end date, you can’t turn it back on. Clone the keyword instead.
• Keywords already in use – If the word is already in use by another active keyword, you can’t turn the keyword back on.

Sharing a keyword with employees

Once your keyword is live, let employees know it exists.

• Text messages – The easiest place to share a keyword. Add it to your message copy and tell employees to text it back.
  • Only enabled keywords are available to add to a text message, so enable your keyword before you send.

• Emails – Include keywords to point employees to additional details or remind them how to find information later.

• Employee handbook – List your available keywords so employees always have a quick reference for what they can text in and what they’ll get back.

Viewing keyword analytics

1. From Text > Keywords, select a keyword.
2. View the number of unique people who have texted the keyword on the trigger step.
3. Select the trigger to open Keyword details, then expand Responded with the keyword to see who texted in and whether anyone enrolled more than once.

From a campaign, you can also see how many SMS responses included a keyword, listed under Total responses.

Adding a keyword to a campaign

Adding a keyword to a campaign grants campaign members access to view the keyword and any text messages or emails within its flow. This makes it easier to collaborate and share analytics.

1. Open the keyword and select Settings in the left panel.
2. Under Add to campaigns, search for a campaign or select Create new campaign.
3. Select Update.

Keyword permissions and visibility

• Creating keywords – Any user who can send text messages can create a keyword.
• Multiple phone numbers – If your Workshop SMS account has multiple phone numbers, users can only create keywords for the phone numbers they have access to send from.
• Visibility – Users can only see keywords configured for the phone numbers they have access to or that were explicitly shared with them via a Campaign.
• Granting access – To give others visibility into a keyword and its messages, add the keyword to a campaign.

If a keyword has been shared with you, what you can do within it depends on your permissions:

• You can only add email and text message steps for channels you have access to send to.
• You can only add steps that add people to or remove people from a list if you have permission to manage lists.
• You can only select lists you have access to manage.
• You can only enable a keyword if you have permission to send text messages.

A user’s text permissions and phone number access are set in their user settings, under Can they send text messages? and Which number(s) can they send from?

Using draft keywords

Keywords are available to all SMS customers, and every account comes with a set of draft keywords to use as inspiration. Draft keywords appear in your Keywords list with a Draft status.

• Edit any draft keyword to make it your own.
• Delete any draft keywords you don’t need.

Tip: Not sure where to start? Begin with something simple, like HUB, and build from there.

Video Walkthrough