Tracking unsubscribed and re-subscribed members

To track unsubscribed and re-subscribed members, you must create two activity types in iMIS.

Creating the activity types

Do the following to create the activity types:

  1. Go to Settings > Contacts > Activity types.
  2. Select Add new activity type:
    • Type - TEXTUNSUB
    • Description - Tracking opt-outs in iMIS Text Messenger
    • CEU type - Category
    • UF_1 (text) - ToFormatted
  3. Click Save & Exit.
  4. Select Add new activity type:
    • Type - TEXTUNSUB_A
    • Description - Text Unsubscribe Archive
    • CEU type - Category
    • UF_1 (text) - ToFormatted
  5. Click Save & Exit.

Understanding the TEXTUNSUB activity type

The TEXTUNSUB activity is written in two different scenarios:

  1. When the user sends an opt-out keyword after receiving a message. The unsubscribe activity is written in real time for the user.
  2. When a user has previously unsubscribed from the service and they are contacted via a campaign. Twilio will send back an error code for that user in you campaign log which we then create an unsubscribe activity for.

Note: You will be charged for text messages that are sent to mobile numbers that have opted to Unsubscribe from your Toll-Free Number. See Removing unsubscribes from campaign.

Activities will be created for the member when Twilio responds with an error code of "unsubscribed":

  • Activity Type: TEXTUNSUB
  • TransactionDate: the UTC date/time the SMS was sent
  • Id: the iMIS ID of the individual
  • CEU Type: "Text Manager" (hard coded to identify the source application)
  • UF_1: the "To" phone number (the member who unsubscribed)

Understanding the TEXTUNSUB_A activity type

When attempting to send SMS messages to your members, you may see Error Code 21610, which means that member has chosen to opt-out of receiving these messages. To help track these unsubscribed members, we have added in an Activity Type for unsubscribing (these activities are changed to a different activity type “TXTUNSUB_A“ when a member resubscribes - only available in North America).

When Twilio responds with an error code of "unsubscribed" or when a user responds to TextManager with an Opt-Out keyword, we find their existing Unsubscribe activity (TEXTUNSUB) and change it’s activity type to archive it (TXTUNSUB_A). The new activity type will contain the following information:

  • Activity Type: TXTUNSUB_A
  • TransactionDate: the UTC date/time the SMS was sent
  • Id: the iMIS ID of the individual
  • CEU Type: "Text Manager" (hard coded to identify the source application)
  • UF_1: the "To" phone number (the member who unsubscribed)
  • Through Date: the UTC date/time the SMS was sent to resubscribe to the TextManager service

This process means you can have multiple re-subscribe activities but you can only have one unsubscribe activity which indicates they are currently unsubscribed from the service.

This will allow you to know the window of time in which a user was unsubscribed by reviewing the TXTUNSUB_A activity’s time span between transaction date (date of unsubscribe action) and thru date (date of resubscribe action).

Opt-in/out keywords

There are specific keywords members must use to opt-in or out from text messages.

Opt-out

If a member wants to opt-out of text messages, they must use any of the following keywords:

  • STOP
  • STOPALL
  • UNSUBSCRIBE
  • CANCEL
  • END
  • QUIT

They will receive the following message: You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe.

Note: The opt-out is controlled by the individual's carrier and relayed to Twilio. Opt-out is set based upon the Mobile Number and not by any setting in iMIS.

Opt-in

If a member wants to Opt-In on text messages, they must use any of the following keywords:

  • START
  • UNSTOP

They will receive the following message: You have successfully been re-subscribed to messages from this number. Replay HELP for help. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg&Data Rates May Apply.

Note: The opt-In is all controlled by the individual's carrier and relayed to Twilio. Opt-In is set based upon the Mobile Number and not by any setting in iMIS.

Removing unsubscribes from campaign

You will be charged for text messages that are sent to mobile numbers that have opted to Unsubscribe from your Toll-Free Number. Due to this, you should consider filtering out contacts that have a TEXTUNSUB activity on their record in the query used for Target Audience.

Do the following:

  1. Download the CSI_Activity_TEXTUNSUB business object: CSI_Activity_TEXTUNSUB
  2. Import the business object into iMIS.
  3. In the Sources tab of the query used for the Target Audience, add the CSI_Activity_TEXTUNSUB business object and use the Not Exist relationship (matching on iMIS ID).