Tourmie’s direct messages are an essential tool for maintaining effective and personalized communication with your guests. This guide enables you to harness the power of direct messaging, allowing you to send bulk communications effortlessly—whether for important updates or targeted campaigns. Engage your guests with timely and meaningful messages that strengthen their connection to your property and enhance their overall experience.
Understand Direct Messages
What are Direct Messages?
Direct messages allow you to communicate one-on-one or in bulk with your guests, providing a personalized touch that enhances their experience. Unlike automated messages, direct messages are sent as part of targeted campaigns for specific needs, such as important updates, promotions, or urgent communications.
Types of Direct Messages
Direct messages can be utilized for a wide range of purposes, including:
Important Updates: Notify guests about last-minute changes, maintenance work, or weather alerts that may affect their stay.
Exclusive Promotions: Offer tailored discounts or packages to delight your guests.
Upselling/Cross-Selling: Highlight additional services or experiences like early check-in, airport transfers, local activities, or special dining options to enhance their stay while increasing your revenue.
Real-Time Assistance: Respond promptly to guest inquiries or requests during their stay, ensuring a seamless and comfortable experience.
Feedback Requests: Ask guests for reviews or suggestions after their stay to gather valuable insights and improve your services.
Benefits of using Direct Messages
Direct messages offer a multitude of benefits for both accommodation businesses and guests:
Personalized Communication: Build stronger connections by addressing guests directly with customized messages.
Enhanced Guest Satisfaction: Quickly resolve concerns, provide real-time assistance, and make guests feel valued.
Flexible Outreach: Send messages on demand for various purposes, from urgent updates to tailored offers.
Increased Engagement: Use direct messages to share unique recommendations, promote services, or upsell amenities, encouraging guests to interact more with your property.
Improved Reputation: Thoughtful and timely communication leaves a lasting impression, boosting guest loyalty and positive reviews.
Create a Direct Message
To create a new direct message:
Go to Messages.
From the “Direct messages” card, click + New direct message.
Then, fill in the following information:
1. Name your message: Give your message a descriptive name. This will be visible only to you and help you easily identify it later.
2. Choose your delivery method: Select how you want to send the message:
Email: The most common method.
SMS: Ideal for urgent messages or when there is no guest email.
Push Notification: For guests who have enabled push notifications on their devices, after their first visit in your guest guide.
WhatsApp: If you have enabled WhatsApp integration.
3. Write your message: Write the content of your message. You can use the formatting options (bold, italics, etc.) and add dynamic shortcodes to insert guest-specific information like their name, booking details, personalized guide URL, etc.
Email message: Write the subject line and body text of your email message.
SMS message: Write the body text of your SMS message.
Push notification: Write the title and body text of your push notification.
WhatsApp message: Write the body text of your WhatsApp message.
4. Choose recipients: Use the provided filters to select the guests you want to receive the message. You can filter them by check-in/out date, booking date, property, booking channel, and more.
Example: To send a message only to guests who checked-in yesterday:
Date: Select the date.
Action Date: Choose "Check-in".
If you have multiple properties, you can also select the specific property or properties where the guests checked in.
View selected recipients: After selecting recipients, click "View recipients" to see a detailed list of guests who will receive the message. Double-check the list to ensure you're targeting the correct audience.
Exclude a recipient: If you need to exclude a specific guest from receiving the message, simply toggle the switch next to their name. The switch will turn red
to indicate that they have been excluded.Use the search bar: Quickly find specific guests by entering their name in the search bar.
Clear filters: If you want to start over, click the "Clear all filters" button to reset the selection criteria.
5. Send now or schedule for later: Decide whether to send the message immediately or schedule it for later.
Manage your Direct Messages
Once you've sent or scheduled a direct message, you can easily manage and track it within the Templates tab in Messages.
View Direct Messages
Click on the "Direct" tab to display a list of your sent and scheduled messages. You can use the search bar to quickly find specific messages by name.
View Message Template Details
Each message displays key information such as:
Name: The name you assigned to the message.
When to send: Indicates whether the message is scheduled for later or sent immediately.
Type: The type of message (e.g., SMS, email).
Send at: The exact time the message was scheduled or sent.
Status: Shows the current status of the message (e.g., Scheduled, Sent, Skipped).
Edit a Message Template
On Templates, locate the message template.
Click on the template name. This will open the editor where you can modify the message content, delivery channels, and recipients.
Make the necessary changes and click "Update".
Duplicate a Message Template
On Templates, locate the message template.
Click the quick actions
icon, and then, click "Duplicate".
Delete a Message Template
On Templates, locate the message template.
Click the quick actions
icon, and then, click "Delete".
Important: Deleting a message template will also delete any scheduled messages associated with it.
Communication Channels
1. Email Messages
Email messaging is free.
You can add your own email address to maintain consistency in your communications and encourage your guests to open and trust your emails.
View Email tips here.
2. SMS Messages
SMS messaging requires an available SMS balance.
To view your SMS balance or purchase credits go to Settings > Subscription > Extras. You can enable automatic recharge for SMS credits with your desired amount to keep your balance always adequate.
The SMS charge varies depending on the recipient’s country number. You can see the SMS pricing table and the approximate number of messages you can send per country when purchasing units.
You can set the Alphanumeric Sender ID that will appear in your sent SMS messages, making your messages more recognizable and trustworthy. See an example here.
View SMS tips here.
3. Push Notifications
Push notifications are free.
They are a powerful way to send real-time alerts and updates directly to your guests' devices. They appear as small pop-ups on the user's screen, even when the guest guide isn't open.
To receive the notifications, your guests must enable push notifications when they first access your guest guide.
View Push Notification tips here.
4. WhatsApp Messages
To enable WhatsApp messages, you must first connect your WhatsApp account to Tourmie.
Sending messages to contacts you haven't communicated with in the past 24 hours will incur charges, which are billed monthly by Meta.
To begin a conversation with a guest, you first need to send an approved message template. Tourmie automatically generates a message template with the text "Hello."
View WhatsApp tips here.
Manage Scheduled Messages
View Scheduled Messages
Once you've sent or scheduled a direct message, the pending or scheduled messages for this template will be listed under the Timeline tab in Messages. You can quickly find specific messages using filters such as date, property, message type, or message status.
The Timeline tab displays all scheduled messages, including:
Name: The name of the message template.
Property: The property (or properties) associated with the message.
Guest: The name of the guest the message is scheduled for.
Channel: The channel through which the booking was made (e.g., Airbnb, Booking.com).
Type: The type of message (e.g., SMS, email).
Send at: The scheduled time for the message to be sent.
Delivered at: The time at which the message was actually delivered.
Status: The current status of the message (e.g., Scheduled, Sent, Skipped).
Statuses of Messages:
Pending: The message has been scheduled.
Queued: The message is queued.
Sent: The message has been sent.
Skipped: The message has been skipped.
Canceled: The message has been canceled.
Skipped Messages Explained
To view the reason a message skipped:
On Timeline, locate the skipped message and click on it.
On the Details tab, you will see a notification about why the message failed to send.
A message may fail to send for a variety of reasons, including:
Insufficient SMS balance: There is not enough SMS balance available to send the SMS message.
Missing message text or subject: The message text or subject has not been completed.
Shortcodes without values: You used shortcodes in the message text or subject, but there is no data for those shortcodes.
Missing recipient email: The recipient’s email address is not available in the booking.
Missing recipient phone number: The recipient’s phone number is not available in the booking.
Guest booking was canceled, deleted, or rejected: The message cannot be sent because the guest’s booking was canceled, deleted, or rejected.
Booking channel not included in the message: The booking channel through which the booking was made is not enabled for sending that particular message.
Important: At this time, direct emails are not supported for bookings on Airbnb. For this specific booking platform, you can choose to send messages via SMS.
Resend a Skipped Message
To resend a skipped message:
On Timeline, locate the skipped message.
Click the Resend icon.
Cancel a Scheduled Message
To cancel a scheduled message:
On Timeline, locate the message you want to cancel.
Click the quick actions
icon, and then, click "Cancel".
If you want to delete a direct message template and cancel all of the scheduled messages associated with it, follow these instructions.
Useful Tips for Direct Messages
Generic Tips
Keep it Concise: Direct messages should be short, sweet, and to the point. Get straight to the message and avoid unnecessary fluff.
Personalize: Use shortcodes like guest names, property details, and other relevant information to make messages feel more personal and engaging.
Clear Call to Action: Include a clear and concise call to action. Tell guests what you want them to do (e.g., "Click here for more information", "Book your stay now", "Reply with any questions").
Be Respectful: Always maintain a professional and courteous tone. Avoid using aggressive or offensive language.
Test Different Approaches: Experiment with different messaging styles, lengths, and times to find what resonates best with your guests.
Tips for Emails
Email address: Add your own email address to maintain consistency in your communications and encourage your guests to open and trust your emails.
Subject line: Make sure your email subject line is clear, concise, and attention-grabbing. The subject line should tell the recipient what the email is about and why they should open it.
Design: Use a clean and simple design for your emails.
Greeting: Start your email with a personal greeting, using the guest’s name. This will make your email more personal and engaging.
Body: Keep the body of your email short and to the point. Get to your main message quickly and avoid using unnecessary jargon or technical terms.
Closing: Close your email with a friendly sign-off and your contact information.
Spam avoidance: Don’t send too many emails or emails that look like spam, as this can annoy your guests.
Tips for SMS
Sender ID: Define a consistent sender ID so that your guests know who the message is from.
Character limit: Keep in mind that SMS messages have a character limit (1 SMS = 160 characters). Be concise and to the point.
Language: Use simple and friendly language that is easy to understand. Avoid using jargon or technical terms.
Emoji: Emoji are supported in SMS messages, but they are considered Unicode characters, reducing the number of characters per message from 160 to 70. Additionally, older emoji count as one character, while newer emoji count as two characters.
Send time: Send your SMS messages at a time that is convenient for your guests, considering their time zone and habits.
Frequency: Avoid sending too many SMS messages, as this can annoy your guests.
Tips for Push Notifications
Clear and concise: Keep your push notification messages short and to the point.
Consider timing: Send notifications at times when guests are most likely to be active and receptive.
Clear call to action: Tell guests what you want them to do (e.g., "View our guide", "Book now").
Frequency: Avoid sending too many push notifications, as this can annoy your guests.
Tips for WhatsApp Messages
Personalization: Use WhatsApp to send personalized messages to your guests, including their names and other relevant information.
Be conversational: Use a friendly and informal tone that mimics natural conversation.
Clear and concise: Avoid long, rambling messages. Get to the point quickly.
Send time: Send your SMS messages at a time that is convenient for your guests, considering their time zone and habits.
Frequency: Be mindful of the frequency of your WhatsApp messages to avoid overwhelming your guests.
If you still have questions about Tourmie’s direct messages, feel free to contact us via chat.