Message IQ's 2-way conversations are a powerful way for you to communicate with your customers and prospects. Chat over SMS in real time using the Conversations Tab.
In this article:
Starting a new conversation
Conversations can be started in four different ways:
A contact has been added to Message IQ because they have received an SMS through a HubSpot Workflow
A contact has directly messaged your IQ Number
You have started a conversation using the Message IQ widget directly from the HubSpot contact record
You have created a new contact and messaged them directly
In the first three cases, your IQ contacts are automatically created and a conversation begins.
If the contact is exists within Message IQ, you can use the search bar on the Conversations tab to find the contact and start chatting with them.
Using 2-Way Chat
2-Way chat is designed to help you quickly search, sort, filter, and prioritize messages from prospects and customers.
You can use this just like you would any other chat software or text messaging service.
By default, your left-hand Conversations Panel is sorted by the most recent message sent or received.
Use the universal search feature in the upper left corner to find the contact you want to message. You can search for contact names, or for specific words in a conversation.
The Conversations Panel will then display all conversations that match your search query.
When you click a contact in the Conversations Panel, you will see the entire messaging history with that contact - just like a regular text message.
Simply type a message using the message entry field at the bottom of the message. Press enter to send or click the pink Send button when you're ready.
Filtering Your Inbox
If you're messaging a large number of people, filtering your inbox is necessary to free up time and help you keep track of your most important messages.
At the top of your Conversations Panel is a dropdown menu with several filtering options.
All - This is the default setting that shows every conversation, sorted from newest to oldest.
Unread - This filters your messages by inbound messages you have not yet viewed/
Read - The moment you view a message in a conversation, it is marked as read. If you want to be sure to respond later, you can mark a conversation as Unread by clicking the pink arrow to the left of the contact name above the conversation.
UnReplied - This shows conversations where the latest message is an inbound message, and you have not yet replied to it.
Sent - This shows conversations where you have manually (i.e. not from automation) sent a message to a contact.
Starred - You can mark a conversation as important, or Starred, by clicking either of the star icons at the top and bottom of any conversation. Selecting this option from the dropdown will show you every conversation you have Starred.
Closed - If you no longer need to see the message, you can mark it as closed by clicking the pink arrow to the left of the contact name above the conversation. This can help clean your workspace so you can only focus on the task at hand.
User Info Sidebar
The User Info sidebar is a handy way to quickly edit a contact or learn more about them.
Next to the contacts name above their conversation history is a pink icon to pull up the sidebar.
Inside the User Info sidebar, you will find the user's name and contact information. You can edit any field other than the phone number.
If you're connected to HubSpot, you can click the orange "View HubSpot Contact" button, which will take you directly to the corresponding HubSpot contact record.
Creating Templates
Templates act as canned responses, which are useful when you're dealing with high volume of messages that require common answers to common questions.
You can add multiple templates at once from the settings page, or you can add a new template on the fly directly from any conversation.
If you come across a frequently asked question, simply type your common answer into the message entry field as you would any other message.
Before you hit send, click the pink save disk beneath the message entry field. This will trigger a modal with your template text already populated. Add an easy-to-remember name in the Template Name field and select Save my template.
You will now be able to use that template in the future.
Using Templates
Just beneath the message entry field, there is a dropdown menu labeled "Select Template."
All templates you've created in Settings > Templates, or as described above will appear in the dropdown.
Click on the appropriate template name and the message entry field will automatically add your template text. Make any edits necessary and press send when you're ready.
Adding Emojis
Let's face it: emojis are the 🐐
Click the pink smiley face beneath the message entry field to view a library of emojis.
Choose from recently used emojis or scroll through by category to find the right emoji for the moment.
You can also use the search feature at the top of the Emoji modal. For example, type "coffee" to quickly find the coffee cup emoji ☕.
Unsubscribing Contacts
If you need to manually unsubscribe a contact for any reason, click the Unsubscribe 🚫 icon beneath the message entry field.