How do I use Broadcast Goals?

This article provides info on how to set up an organization to begin sending broadcast messages 📢

Broadcasts are outbound campaigns where Hustle will deliver an initial message automatically to contacts in an organization who are targeted in a broadcast goal. Replies to broadcasts from contacts are available for review from the Inbox where the broadcast was launched or admins can select agents from groups to respond to messages at web.hustle.com. 

Skip to: 

• What do I need to know before I get started with Broadcast?
• How do I get Broadcast? 
• How do I set up my organization’s inbox? 
• How do I set up a broadcast goal?
  • How do I set up link tracking in a broadcast goal?
  • How do I use link tracking in a broadcast goal?
• How do I launch a broadcast goal?
• How do I schedule a broadcast goal? 
• How do I use local time zones? 
• How do I edit a broadcast goal? 
• How do I stop a broadcast goal?
• How do I enable broadcast reply workflows? 
• How can agents reply to contacts in Broadcast goals?
• Where can I see my broadcast conversations?
• What data is available for broadcast messaging?
• How can I retarget contacts in a broadcast goal?
• How do I add agents and admins to use Broadcast?
• How do I add contacts to message? 
• How do automations work with Broadcast?
• Best Practices
• How do I share product feedback for Broadcast?

What do I need to know before I get started with Broadcast? 

Before getting started on Broadcast admins should consider the following:

• When Hustle Broadcast is enabled for a Hustle account, account admins can select if they want broadcast to be available for all organizations or specific organizations from Account Settings -> Broadcast.
• Organization, account admins, and managers (with this permission enabled) can launch broadcast goals.
• Only organization, account admins, and managers (with this permission enabled) can access the inbox.
• Once your inbox is set up, when a new contact messages or calls the inbox phone number, a new conversation thread will be created for that contact in the inbox. 
• There is only phone number per inbox, but you can set up multiple inboxes for your org! 🎉
• Broadcast goals can only be launched when the applied TCR campaign is fully approved. 
• The inbox does not currently support initiating or receiving calls. 

How do I get Broadcast?

To enable broadcast for your Hustle account, see How do I get Broadcast?

How do I set up my organization’s inbox?

For Hustle accounts with broadcast enabled, you will have the option to launch broadcasts from the Broadcast tab of the organization menu. In order to launch a broadcast, admins can first set up the organization's Inbox by adding a phone number and associating that number with an approved TCR campaign.

For organizations texting in the U.S. and U.S. territories only: If you have not yet registered a TCR campaign for 10dlc see: How do I register for 10dlc with Hustle?

To set up an inbox: 

1. Select the organization where you want to launch a broadcast
2. From the organization menu, go to Inbox > Setup Inbox
   
   
   
    

3. Select an area code for the phone number you want to send broadcasts from then Save
   
   
    

   Note: Phone inventory in specific area codes is not guaranteed. If an area code is not available, the page will display a warning.

   
    

4. Next, associate your new phone number with a TCR campaign from the Inbox Phone Settings. To apply a TCR campaign to the Inbox phone number, go to Settings > Inbox > Phone Settings > Edit > select a TCR campaign > Save
   
   
   
    

   Note: If the organization does not yet have an approved TCR campaign, you will not be able to complete the Inbox Setup. You may be able to select the TCR campaign, but if it is still awaiting carrier approval, the following banner will show, and broadcast goals cannot be launched until the campaign is approved. See: How do I register for 10dlc with Hustle? for more registration details.

Once Inbox Setup is complete and the TCR campaign is approved, broadcast goals can be launched from the Goal tab of the organization menu.

✨ For a deeper dive into how to use your inbox, check out our related article: How do I use the Inbox?

How do I set up a broadcast goal?

Once Broadcast is enabled for the account and Inbox Setup is complete, you can set up your broadcast goals in an organization. 

To set up a broadcast goal: 

1. From the admin panel, go to the organization where you want to send a broadcast 
2. From the left navigation, click Goals -> Add Goal -> Broadcast
   
    
3. In the General section, enter the following information:
   1. Name 
   2. Description (optional)
   3. Select the Inbox that messages will be sent from.
   4. Start Date & Time (when goal will move to Active, targeting will lock, and reply workflows will become available to agents in the web app) 
   5. End Date & Time 
   6. In the Contacts section, choose which contacts you’d like the goal to target. 
      • Select from the available targeting filters Tags, Custom Fields, Groups, Contacts, Broadcast Goal Results, Dialer Goal Results, Audiences, or Audience Category. 

To learn more about targeting contacts by Audience or Audience Category, see How do I target Audiences in goals?

1. Default targeting filters. All Broadcast Goals will have two default targeting filters set: 
   • Who are textable - Broadcast goals can only target textable contacts. 
   • In active groups or audiences - excludes contacts in archived groups from the targeting. If this is removed, please note the goal will target all contacts across all groups and audiences in the organization, both active and archived. 

2. Broadcast goals can also retarget contacts from previous Broadcast, P2P, or Dialer goals in the organization. From the Contacts section of the broadcast goal form, admins can add a filter for Broadcast Goal Results, P2P Goal Results or Dialer Goal Results. 

   Note: In Broadcast goals targeting is locked at the time of launch, so contacts added after launch that match the targeting will not be added to workflows for the goal.

    

3. In the Agents section, use the Add Group Agents dropdown to select the group(s) whose agents will send messages. Select one or multiple groups. 
4. Agent Instructions (optional)
5. Optionally, add a trackable link for your broadcast goal. Skip to How do I set up link tracking in a Broadcast goal?

6. Add your scripts. For advice on writing scripts, check out How do I Write Scripts? 

   Note: The variable for <Opt Out: Stop to Unsubscribe> defaults to “Stop to unsubscribe” in the script body. Account admins can edit this language from the Account Settings -> Contents & Templates -> Opt Out Language. The opt out language set at the Account level will apply to all organizations in the account.

    

7. Click Save Draft to save Broadcast Goals as drafts to preserve your work. You can go back and edit more before you are ready to launch. 

8. The Review page will show all the details for your Broadcast goal. To make any changes, click Cancel and Continue Editing. Otherwise, hit Continue and type the leads targeted number to confirm and launch your goal! 

    

How do I set up link tracking in a Broadcast goal?

Admins can set up trackable short links using the subdomain of their choice to increase deliverability and engagement rates. Sending links in a broadcast goal is a great way to boost engagement with your audience! Links using your subdomain (rather than a third party domain like bit.ly) result in a much higher deliverability rate making this the perfect option if you would like to send shortened links without the associated deliverability risks. 

If you want to include a direct URL, you can insert the URL directly into the script.

Account admins can set up trackable short links from Account Overview → Content & Templates → Link Tracking. 

To add a new domain, click 'Add Domain'.

3. Update DNS Record with Hustle IP Address: To complete the connection, edit your domain's DNS settings and update all “A records” with the below Hustle IP addresses. We recommend using all 4 A records below, so if there is only one A record (or none), simply add more. See instructions from common domain registrars GoDaddy, Namecheap, or Domain.com.

Once the new domain has been added in Hustle, admins will still need to update their DNS. After they update the DNS, Hustle will automatically detect the DNS update and set up an SSL certificate for them, and the domain set up will be complete.

Please note it may take a few minutes to several hours for the DNS to update. 

Pro Tip: Set up your trackable short link well in advance of when you plan to use it in a broadcast.

Once the short link is fully set up, admins will see the 'Active' status in the Account Overview.

How do I use link tracking in a broadcast goal?

In the broadcast goal form, admins can add the short link in the Link Tracking section, by clicking 'Add Link'.

Admins and managers can further customize the short link for their script:

Name: The name of the variable that can be inserted into scripts.

Destination URL: The URL where you want users to go.

Display URL: The URL that will show in the message and track recipient clicks.

Preview Title: The text that appears above the display URL.

Preview Image: This image will show in your message with the preview title. Images may not display on all devices.
 

Once the link has been saved, admins and managers will be able to view, edit, or delete the short link from the goal form.

Once the goal is launched, admins and managers can track the number of contacts that click on the link and the total number of clicks.

How do I launch a Broadcast goal?

1. When you are ready to begin sending messages to contacts targeted in the broadcast goal, select Review at the top of the page. 
   
   

    

2. Review the details for your goal, including Contacts Targeted, Inbox, and hours of operation and click Continue.

3.  Enter the number of contacts to launch or schedule the goal! At the goal start time, Hustle will automatically begin sending messages.

Note: Once launched, a broadcast goal will send messages from the scheduled start time until the scheduled end date and time. Please bear in mind that changes cannot be made to a broadcast’s targeting or scripts after a broadcast goal is launched. Be sure to preview your broadcast goal, double check all links, liquid variable fields, and targeting filters before launching! 

How do I schedule a broadcast goal?

Scheduling is now available so that you can set up a broadcast message to go out at a later date / time 🎉

When drafting your broadcast, set the Start Date and Time to the future date / time you'd like your broadcast to begin sending. End Date & Time will ensure all messages not sent before that time are expired and will not go out to the targeted contacts. You can review this on the Broadcast Goal Stats page after launch. 

For scheduled broadcast goals (before the Start Time), you can adjust the targeted contacts in two ways: 

• You can edit the targeting criteria in the goal form until the goal is launched
• You can edit contacts to include or exclude them from the targeting criteria up until the broadcast start time. For example, if you have a scheduled goal targeting contacts with the tag "Outreach", adding or removing the "Outreach" tag from a contact will add or remove them from the goal targeting. But once the goal launches, the targeting is locked in and adding or removing the tag from contacts will not change the target audience.

When you're ready to schedule the goal, click 'Review', check over the details, and 'Schedule Goal'.

How do I use Local Time Zones?

You can set your broadcast goal to use contact-specific time zones based on the special postal code field. With the postal code field, hours of operation will be applied to individual contacts based on their local time zones. Contacts without a known postal code will use the default Inbox or Group time zone. Check out How do I add contacts? to learn how to import these field for contacts. 

To enable local time zones for a broadcast goal, toggle Use Contact's Local Time Zones in the goal form. This setting can not be changed after launch, so make sure to toggle it during setup! 

How do I edit a broadcast goal? 

Once a broadcast goal is launched, certain fields can be edited by admins or managers (with this permission enabled). 

• Fields that can be edited:
  • Goal name/description
  • Agents
  • Link tracking (not including display URL)
  • Scripts (not including Broadcast initial script)that can be edited:
• Fields that cannot be edited:
  • Inbox
  • Start time
  • Broadcast end time
  • Contacts targeted
  • Broadcast initial script
  • Link tracking display URL

To edit an Active goal, admins or managers can select '...' > 'Edit' option from the Goal page or 'Edit' from the Goal Performance page. 

Admins and managers can edit any field for broadcast goal drafts by selecting  '...' > 'Edit' option from the Goal page or 'Edit' from the Goal Performance page. 
 

How do I stop a broadcast goal?

When drafting a broadcast, there is an option to set an end date and time for a broadcast to stop sending messages. When enabling this setting, please also choose a timezone.

Note: This setting cannot be changed after launching a broadcast.

Once the End Date & Time has passed, messages that have not yet been sent to carriers, will be marked as “expired”. The total number of broadcast messages that “expired” is available from the Goal Performance page by selecting the Goal from the Goal page.

Note: Expired messages are not included in your bill 👍

If you've already launched your broadcast, click on Goals in the left menu to navigate to the Goals page, then click the name of the broadcast you'd like to pause or end. 

For active Broadcast goals, you'll see the options to Pause Broadcast or End Now. 

If you select End Now, any pending messages will be cancelled. Messages on their way to phone carriers will still be delivered. 🚨 This cannot be undone. 🚨

How do I enable broadcast reply workflows?

Reply workflows are a way to organize replies from a broadcast goal, and use agents to send field those messages from the agent web app. Reply Workflows are now available for all broadcast goals 🥳

✨ Please note: Assignments between agent-contact pairs in Hustle groups will be disregarded in broadcast goals. This means that if reply workflows are enabled, reply messages will be available to any agent in the group(s) selected on a first come first serve basis.

Broadcast reply workflows are only available in the agent web app at web.hustle.com, and are not available via the mobile app. 

To enable broadcast workflows for a goal, during setup on the goal form, you will see the option to select Agents. In the dropdown, you can select the Group(s) whose agents you'd like to use for your broadcast reply workflows. 

How can agents reply to contacts in Broadcast goals?

Once a broadcast is launched and replies start coming in, agents from the groups selected will see a new tab available in the web app at web.hustle.com called Text Workflows (Beta). They can click on this tab to access broadcast reply only workflows. 

Note:  Reply Only Workflows are dynamic! When an agent is added to a group that is targeted in an active Broadcast goal, they will receive a reply workflow. When an agent is removed, they will no longer have an available reply workflow.

When there are messages that need a reply, agents can click the 'Reply' button to access the available workflow and respond to the contact(s). 

If there are no available reply only workflows, agents will see that the workflow is 'Completed'. 

After an agent responds to a message, they can click the 'Next Contact' button to message the next contact in the workflow. 

From the workflow, agents can also archive a conversation thread. This option is intended for conversations that do not require any further response, and will clear out that message thread from workflows. 

Where can I see my broadcast conversations?

Replies to broadcast goals can be managed from the inbox of the organization. To access the inbox, select Inbox from the organization menu.

From the inbox, you can view and reply to conversations as well as opt out contacts.

Pro Tip ✨ Admins can now opt out leads in bulk straight from the Inbox!

Details related to the contact’s profile are also visible including the contact’s name, phone number, tags, and any notes & follow up comments.

The Inbox is broken into three different views 👀:
 

• Replies: Contains the message threads of all the recipients who have responded to your broadcasts (as seen above), excluding opt outs.
• All: Contains the message threads for all of the recipients of broadcasts sent from your organization (excluding opt outs), including contacts who did not respond.
   
• Opted out: Contains only the message threads of folks that replied to a broadcast with opt-out language and were removed from future messaging. 

Note: Admins and managers can opt in to receive a daily email notification when Inboxes they have access to have messages that need replies! Click on your initials in the top right corner and select Profile Settings. Scroll down to Email Notifications and toggle the setting for Inbox Reply Notifications on.         

What data is available for my broadcast messaging?

For each Broadcast goal in your organization, admins and managers (with the correct permissions) can view data on the Goal Performance page. To navigate to this page, click Goals on the left admin panel, click on the name of a launched Broadcast goal.

Admins and managers (with this permission enabled) can view overall Goal Performance, including Message Stats such as messages that are ready to be sent, sent messages, delivered messages, percentage of engagement, opt out rate, and error rate.

On this page, admins and managers can also view the goal details including the Start/End Date & Time, the selected inbox, contact targeting filters, if local time zones were enabled, and initial script.

Admins and managers can view Goal Activity History (i.e. created by, scheduled by, launched by, paused by, resumed by, ended by, goal completion date and time.

Broadcast message data is available via the Account Usage Report, Organization Usage Report, and Messages Export. For integrated contacts, Broadcast messages will now sync to your VAN, Salesforce, and Blackbaud Luminate integrations 🙌

If you have questions about your remaining message allowance, contact your client success manager. If you do not know who your client success manager is, contact support@hustle.com

How do I add agents and admins to use Broadcast?

When broadcast is enabled for an account, organization and account admins will have access to the inbox and broadcast capabilities. 

To add an admin to the organization see How do I add an organization admin?

To add an agent to the group you're targeting in a Broadcast goal, see How do I add agents?

How do I add contacts to message?

Admins can broadcast messages to contacts in an organization. There are a number of ways for contacts to be added to an organization:

• Upload contacts to groups individually 
• Upload contacts to groups via CSV
• Upload contacts to groups via integration
• Import contacts via the API
• Contacts can call or message the inbox phone number

For more information see: How do I add contacts to Hustle?

How do automations work with Broadcast?

For Broadcast goals, admins can set up automations that use Keyword, Group, and Tag initial triggers and select an inbox to use an automation. Inboxes that are fully configured are equipped to automatically send messages to contacts based on keywords. 

Check out our help article to learn more: How do I use Keywords and Automations?

Admins can also view data about their Automations here: Using Reports as a Hustle Admin

How can I retarget contacts in a broadcast goal?

Admins and managers (with this permission enabled) can retarget contacts based on Broadcast and Dialer Goal results! 

From the Contacts section of the Broadcast goal form, admins and managers (with this permission enabled) can add a filter for Broadcast Goal Results, P2P Goal Results, or Dialer Goal Results. 

For this example, we will add a targeting filter for Broadcast Goal Results. We will target contacts who were messaged in a previous goal. 

Here's what the final targeting filter will look like! 

Best Practices

Check out our best practices that will make sure your message is delivered, and increase response rates and conversions at Hustle Best Practices. 

We always love to hear what you think! Let us know at product@hustle.com or email your CSM or support@hustle.com.