Notifications Management Guide

Overview

InstantGate's notification center connects you with attendees at every stage of the event lifecycle. Compose rich HTML emails, deliver timely SMS reminders, and monitor performance metrics in a unified workspace.

Accessing Notifications

1. From the event dashboard: Choose the Notifications tab in the event management interface.
2. Direct URL: Go to /console/notifications.html?eventId={eventId} to open the tool instantly.

Credit System

Understanding Credits

• Email credits are consumed for each email sent to recipients.
• SMS credits cover text message delivery to each recipient.
• Credit usage varies based on your plan and message type.

Checking Your Balance

• Review current balances at the top of the notifications dashboard.
• Track real-time usage as campaigns send.
• Enable low-balance alerts to prevent last-minute surprises.
• Check your balance directly from the Credits dashboard.

Adding Credits

1. Select Add Credits.
2. Choose the email and SMS plan that matches your volume.
3. Complete checkout using your preferred payment method.
4. Start sending immediately after payment confirmation.

Notification Types

Email Notifications

• Design rich, on-brand layouts with HTML.
• Include images, buttons, and formatted sections.
• Track delivery, opens, clicks, and unsubscribes.
• Emails send from mail@instantgate.ca for trusted delivery.
• Automatically honor attendee unsubscribe requests.

SMS Notifications

• Send concise, text-only messages (160 characters per segment).
• Reach attendees quickly for urgent updates.
• View delivery confirmations for every number.
• SMS delivery currently supports recipients in Canada and the United States.

Creating Notifications

Step 1: Choose Notification Type

• Email: Ideal for detailed agendas, promotional offers, and branded content.
• SMS: Perfect for urgent alerts, last-minute logistics, and reminders.

Step 2: Compose the Message

Step 3: Select Recipients

• Send to all subscribers for major announcements.
• Filter to email only or SMS only lists.
• Create custom segments based on subscription type or engagement.

Step 4: Schedule and Send

• Send immediately for instant delivery.
• Schedule for later by choosing a future date and time.
• Review and confirm to finalize content, recipients, and timing.

Subscriber Management

Email Subscribers

Adding Individual Subscribers

1. Select Add Email.
2. Enter the attendee's email address.
3. Choose Add to save the contact.
4. Receive on-screen confirmation of success.

Bulk Adding Email Subscribers

1. Click Bulk Add Emails.
2. Upload a CSV, TXT, or XLSX file containing email addresses.
3. Map columns when prompted to match the system format.
4. Preview the import results before finalizing.
5. Process the upload; larger lists may take additional time.

SMS Subscribers

Adding Individual SMS Subscribers

1. Choose Add SMS.
2. Enter the phone number with area or country code.
3. Format numbers as (123) 456-7890, 1234567890, or +1 123 456 7890.
4. Confirm to add the contact.

Bulk Adding SMS Subscribers

1. Select Bulk Add SMS.
2. Upload a CSV or TXT file with one number per line.
3. Indicate whether numbers include country codes.
4. Validate formatting before importing.
5. Complete the import and review the confirmation summary.

Managing Subscriber Lists

Viewing Subscribers

• Use the All Notifications tab for a combined view.
• Review the Email Subscribers tab for email-only contacts.
• Check the SMS Subscribers tab to focus on text recipients.

Subscriber Information

• View email addresses or phone numbers at a glance.
• Review subscription dates and acquisition sources.
• Inspect engagement history such as opens and clicks.
• Identify active versus inactive status indicators.

Removing Subscribers

1. Select one or more contacts via checkboxes.
2. Choose Remove or Unsubscribe.
3. Confirm the action in the modal prompt.
4. Contacts are removed immediately from active lists.

Exporting Lists

• Download subscriber data as CSV for safekeeping or external tools.
• Filter exports by subscription type or engagement.
• Archive historical lists for compliance purposes.

Notification Best Practices

Email Best Practices

• Craft compelling subject lines to boost open rates.
• Design mobile-responsive templates for better engagement.
• Use clear call-to-action buttons that stand out.
• Keep branding consistent with your event visuals.

SMS Best Practices

• Keep messages short, actionable, and easy to read.
• Avoid abbreviations that could confuse recipients.
• Include only essential information like time, place, and contact info.
• Send test messages to confirm formatting.

Timing Considerations

• Send non-urgent campaigns during standard business hours.
• Schedule time-sensitive reminders close to the event.
• Respect recipient time zones for international audiences.
• Stagger sends to avoid spam filters and throttling.

Legal Compliance

• Collect consent before adding subscribers to your lists.
• Every email includes an unsubscribe link for immediate opt-outs.
• Recipients can reply STOP to SMS messages to halt further texts right away.
• Follow regional regulations for SMS messaging.

Troubleshooting

Messages Not Sending

• Check your credit balance for both email and SMS.
• Verify the recipient list contains valid contact information.
• Review message content for disallowed keywords or links.

Low Delivery Rates

• Clean subscriber lists regularly to remove hard bounces.
• Monitor bounce reports and address underlying causes.
• Update invalid contacts or request new permissions.

Credit Consumption Issues

• Track usage in real time while campaigns send.
• Set proactive low-balance alerts.
• Increase reserves before peak marketing periods.

Support & Resources

Need help? Contact us with your event ID, any relevant error messages, and a brief description of the issue. Check this cookbook first for quick solutions to common scenarios.