A Keyword is a word that a user texts in to your short code to subscribe to your mobile list. Keywords comprise between 2 and 20 alphanumeric characters (accents and punctuation are not supported in the United States). Provided that the Keyword isn't already taken or otherwise reserved on your shortcode (like STOP and HELP, for example), a Keyword will be available for your use.
When a user texts in a keyword, it automatically triggers the pre-set conversation. For example, if someone texts PRODUCTS to join your list announcing new products, you could immediately ask them for their zip code and email address.
You are prompted to add keywords whenever you create a new phone opt-in path. Once you’ve added keywords to an opt-in path, you can access and manage them from the Keywords sub-tab.
Keywords Sub-Tab
The Keywords sub-tab displays all the keywords in your Mobile Commons account and their associated opt-in paths. You can also download a .csv of this page. You can also search to see if a keyword is available on your shortcode.
Click on any of the words in blue on the Keywords sub-tab to link to that keyword, active campaign, or opt-in path.
If you click on a keyword, you’ll be taken to a page where you can change or remove that keyword.
If you want to remove the keyword, click the Remove link and then click Done. Be sure that you click Done if you want to remove the keyword! If you are on a shared shortcode a keyword will stay available only to your organization for a 30-day grace period. During that time you may re-add the keyword to any of your opt-in paths. After 30 days that keyword is then released and made available to anyone on your shortcode.
If you want to add a keyword, type it into the keyword field. If the word is available, click Add, and then click Done. Again, it is very important to click Done after each action.
You can add multiple keywords for each opt-in path. This can be an effective way to do A/B testing for your outreach materials, as you can track which keyword is used more often. Alternately, you could funnel different audiences into the same path. Mobile Commons will keep track of which keyword users text when they join your campaign.
Keyword Validity and Availability Check
Mobile Commons will run a validity check and let you know if your keyword is available, unavailable or invalid. Mobile Commons does not accept special characters in your keywords. You can not add . or _ between words in a keyword.
When selecting a phrase (words with spaces between them) the phrase and the words stripped of the space will automatically save. For example, if you select "my word" as a keyword, "myword" will also automatically be saved.
When trying to insert an invalid character into your keyword you will get an "contains invalid characters" error message. You should create a different keyword without special characters.
If a keyword has already been taken on your shortcode you'll get an "is already taken" error message. If you are on a shared shortcode this means the keyword has been taken by your organization OR another organization using that shortcode. If you are on a dedicated shortcode it means you already have that keyword in use.
Keywords and 72 hour Conversational Holds & Shared Shortcodes
If you are using a shared shortcode it is important to note that a subscriber will stay in conversation with your SMS content for 72 hours. If they text a keyword from your company during those 72 hours, they will be directed to that keyword's response. If they text a keyword from another company during those 72 hours the platform will read that as a response to the last message you sent them. These 72 hours are to provide a context for messaging, if you or your subscribers would like to get out of this conversation before the 72 hours simply texting "Clear" will remove this contextual hold.
In addition to "Clear" any interaction with "STOP" or "HELP" keywords will also not maintain the 72-hour hold. If a subscriber replies with clear, stop or help to your content and then texts another company's keyword on that shortcode they will be served that keyword's response.
Choosing Effective Keywords
When choosing Keywords, there are certain best practices that can help you get the most out of Mobile Commons. In general, Keywords should:
- not be generic or common to "routine" conversation, like MORE, IF, or THE, which could lead to erroneous opt-ins
- be unique to your communication channels (so the success of your calls-to-action can be tracked and compared among channels)
- be as short as possible (long keywords can lead to higher frequency of errors)
- be easy to spell and spelled correctly (so they aren't autocorrected to something else when typed and sent from a handset) - they should not be acronyms or a mix of numbers and letters (TEXT2WIN, for example)
If applicable, you should also add "backup" Keywords (for homophones, misspellings, and punctuated variations) to your opt-in paths.