Standard Broadcasts with Gloo have always been a go-to way to save time and instantly connect with your people. In just minutes, you can send a message to everyone (or just specific groups or people) and it feels personal for each recipient since each person receives it individually, not in a large group thread.
Now, we’re excited to introduce Smart Broadcasts, a powerful upgrade to everything you already love. Smart Broadcasts take your messaging to the next level with improved formatting, clearer insights, and a more efficient use of credits. No more guessing how your messages are performing—you’ll have better visibility into who’s opening and engaging with what you send.
Instead of sending a pure text, Smart Broadcasts are sent to people as a simple link—they just tap on the link to view your full message! This is very similar to Gloo's Memos feature, but in many ways is even more powerful. And since all texts are sent as simple, shortened links, no more worrying how many messaging credits each message costs! All Smart Broadcasts will only cost 1 credit per recipient, no matter how long, formatted, or complex the message is, and whether or not it contains pictures or videos.
The best part? You’re in control. You can keep using Standard Broadcasts the way you always have, or start exploring Smart Broadcasts today to elevate your communication experience.
How to send a Smart Broadcast
To learn how to send a Smart Broadcast, you can either check out this quick video, or follow the step by step instructions below!
Under your Communications menu navigate to Outbound -> Broadcasts. Click Create New Broadcast.
Select Smart Broadcast.
First, you need to select who you want to send the Smart Broadcast to: individuals, groups, or your entire congregation. Just check the boxes next to the people or groups you'd like, or simply check the Send to Everyone box. Note that you can scroll through your list, or search by specific names or groups.
As you add people and groups, the total number of expected recipients will live update on the right side of your screen. Individual people will appear in blue, and groups will show in purple.
If there is a group or individuals you'd like to exclude, just add them in the exclusions section. For example, maybe you'd like to send your Smart Broadcast to everyone except for the visitors group. Just select Send to Everyone and then add the visitors group to the exclusion list.
Note that if your Gloo account contains any Explorers, that group will be automatically excluded from all Smart Broadcasts. This was done as a safeguard against accidentally sending unwanted church communications to anyone who isn't necessarily part of your church community. But if you'd like the Smart Broadcast to be sent to the Explorers, simply remove that group from the exclusion list.
Now that you have your recipient list set, it's time to craft your message. Remember that when people receive a Smart Broadcast, they'll receive a quick preview, along with a link to tap that will take them to the full message. We'll call that the Landing Page Content, which is the first thing you'll design.
If you've used Gloo Memos in the past, this will look very familiar to you. You can check out that guide for more information, but when formatting a Smart Broadcast, the sky is the limit! Add pictures, links, and emojis; use bullet points and lists, and different font size and colors; format a beautiful message that your church will love to read!
We'll call out just a few options below to enhance your message:
Insert a link by typing out some text (ie click here to watch the sermon), highlighting the text, and clicking the link icon. You can then copy/paste the URL you'd like to link to.
Insert an image into your Smart Broadcast by uploading an image from your device
Insert a video into your Smart Broadcast. You'll be able to either upload an image from your device or record one on the spot.
Personalize your message by adding user data so that each recipient receives the text with their first, last, or full name inserted. Note that if the person you are sending to does not have a name, this will be left blank when sending the Smart Broadcast to them.
Add a more fun and personal touch by using emojis.
Now that your landing page, aka the content of your Smart Broadcast, is designed, it's a great idea to add a Text Message Preview to your message. Use this to write a quick message to people that they'll see immediately, telling them what your Smart Broadcast is about. In a digital age of scam messages, getting a text with just a link in it and no context can be scary! Add a preview here to let people know what you are texting about.
Note that you can also use the Insert User Data option here to personalize your Smart Broadcast with people's names!
In an effort to ensure each Smart Broadcast only costs you a single messaging credit per recipient, we have gated this preview at 130 characters. However, if you use the Insert User Data option, it makes this number more difficult to calculate since we don't know how many characters each person's first, last, or full name will be. So if you use this option, make sure to give yourself a little more buffer space to ensure only a single credit is used! You can always view the total credits the Smart Broadcast will cost at the bottom of the screen.
Finally, you can add a title and image that will display on people's phone as a preview of the link they are about to tap on. This piece is optional, but helps to customize and personalize your message.
Pro Tip: Consider uploading an image of your church logo here so that people can be confident the message is coming from you!
Now that everything is formatted, let's review what it will look like when people receive the Smart Broadcast. You may have noticed the Preview on the right side of your screen updating as you've made these edits. This shows the full picture of what people will experience when you text them!
First, the Message section shows how the Smart Broadcast will look when people receive it on their phones. They will see your Text Message Preview, then the link to tap on, and then finally a preview of the content using the title and image you've selected. You can then view exactly what they'll see when they tap the link in the Landing Page section of the preview.
One small note to be aware of is that each recipient will receive a specific, custom link that will help you to track later whether or not they've opened your Smart Broadcast. So the link displayed in the preview is simply a placeholder, and not the actual link people will receive.
One more note on the preview people will see on their phones - some people may report that the link that's sent to them is not clickable. This is due to an Apple (iOS) setting. In order to protect individuals from spam, Apple blocks links and makes them un-clickable when the text is coming from an unknown contact in people's phones.
The way to get around this is to have your people save the number in their phone as a contact with your church name, because this basically communicates to Apple that the number is "safe." This will enable the links sent from that contact to be clickable.
Once you're done formatting everything, it's time to schedule or send your message! You can send the message immediately by clicking Send now. Or you can Send later, and select a date and time for the message to be sent.
If you have a Gloo+ membership, you can also set your Smart Broadcast to be recurring! Select the Recurring option and choose how often you'd like the Smart Broadcast to be sent (daily, weekly, monthly), and a start and end date.
Note: If you are sending a Smart Broadcast later, or scheduling a recurring message, if the timezone your device is in does not match the timezone of your account, you will be shown a warning like the one above. Your message will send based on the timezone of the account, not of your device.
The bottom of the screen will show you how many messaging credits this Smart Broadcast will cost. As mentioned above, most Smart Broadcasts should only cost 1 messaging credit per recipient, but if you use the Insert User Data option in the preview text, that may stretch into more. Check out the box here to ensure you know how many credits your Smart Broadcast will cost.
If you need to, you can save your Smart Broadcast as a draft to come back to later. Or, if you're ready, click Send Broadcast to send it out!
View Analytics for Gloo+ Members
What makes Smart Broadcasts even more exciting than just beautifully designed messages that only cost 1 credit is their new analytics! When you click the View icon next to any Smart Broadcast you've sent out, you'll be able to see who has clicked on the link so that you can know exactly who interacted with your message.
Note: Analytics for Smart Broadcasts are currently only available to Gloo+ users. If you have a free account, click here to learn more about how to upgrade to Gloo+ for access to this, and many other exciting features!
When you click into the Analytics page for that Smart Broadcast, you'll get a readout of some of the key statistics:
Sent to: The total number of people your Smart Broadcast was sent to
Click Rate: The percentage of people who clicked the link they received
Total Clicks: The total number of times the link was clicked (since each recipient may click it more than once)
Unique Clicks: The number of unique recipients who clicked the link at least once
Clicks Over Time: A chart showing when people clicked the link
Recipients: An overview of each recipient who has clicked the link at least once
Viewing all of your past and future Broadcasts
In your main Broadcasts tab, you'll be able to view and manage all Broadcasts that you've previously sent, all Broadcasts scheduled for later, any drafts you may have saved. All Broadcasts will be shown with the following information available:
Type: Whether this Broadcast was normal (no icon), Smart (purple chart), or Recurring (green arrows)
Groups/People: Which groups and/or individuals this Broadcast was sent to
Status: The Broadcast's sending status (Pending, Sending, Sent, Scheduled, or Scheduled- Recurring)
Credits: How many total credits this Broadcast cost
Recipients: How many total recipients the Broadcast was sent to
Message: The content of the message (for normal Broadcasts, the full content is shown; for Smart Broadcasts only the Text Message Preview is shown)
Sent/Scheduled: The date and time the message was sent at or scheduled for, depending on which tab you are viewing
Creator: Which Gloo team member created and sent the Broadcast
Any Broadcast that you have sent in the past will be displayed in the Sent tab. You can change the sort order any way you'd like, but by default the Broadcasts will be displayed in the order that they were created.
Note that this is slightly different from the order they were sent, since it's possible you created a Broadcast and scheduled it for later, but then sent another one in the meantime. To order your Broadcasts by their actual time of sending, simply click the arrow in the Sent column.
If you have scheduled any type of Broadcast to be sent later, you can always view those under the Scheduled tab.
Finally, you can view, edit and delete any drafted Broadcasts under the Drafts tab.
Needs Attention Broadcasts
Free Gloo accounts are entitled to 500 free messaging credits each month, and Gloo+ accounts are entitled to 15,000 messaging credits each month. In general, if you try and create a Broadcast that will exceed that limit, you will be immediately warned and be unable to schedule or send the Broadcast. But what if you schedule a Broadcast for next month, but by the time that date comes around you've exceeded your credit limit for that month? That's where the Needs Attention tab comes in.
If a the date comes around and you don't have enough credits to send a previously Scheduled Broadcast, that Broadcast will not be sent, but will be moved to the Needs Attention tab. It will explain the reason it didn't go out (insufficient credits), and help you take steps to get it sent out.
If you have a free Gloo+ account, you'll need to upgrade to Gloo+ in order to send more messages during that month. For you, this page will display a banner for Gloo+. Click Get Gloo+ to learn more.
If you already have a Gloo+ account but have used all 15,000 credits, you'll need to purchase a Powerpack in order to send more messages during that month. For you, this page will display a banner for Powerpacks. Click Add a Powerpack to purchase.
If you do choose to purchase either Gloo+ or a Powerpack, you can return to this tab afterwards and send the Broadcast by clicking the 3 dot drop down on the right side and selecting Retry. You can also Edit the Broadcast from here before retrying.
If you choose not to purchase, you can also Delete the Broadcast to remove it from your account entirely.
Duplicate, edit, or delete Broadcast messages
The contents of any Broadcast can be easily copied and pasted into a new Broadcast, in case you need to send several very similar Broadcasts. Just hover your mouse over the message in your Sent log and click the copy icon that appears. The text will be copied, and then when you open a new Broadcast just right-click your mouse and paste the message in.
You can also duplicate a message by clicking the 3 dot drop-down to the right of the message and selecting Duplicate. This will immediately open a new Broadcast with the old content copied in, and you can make any adjustments you need before sending.
If you click the three dot dropdown menu on the right side of a Scheduled Broadcast that has not yet been sent, you can edit or delete the existing message, duplicate it, or send it right away. If you delete a Scheduled Broadcast before it is sent, this message will not be delivered to anyone.
