Using AskNicely’s Send Schedulers is an automated, "set it and forget it!" method of sending surveys that gives you full control of when to send Touch Base surveys to your Contacts. You can have one Send Scheduler send surveys to all of your Contacts, or create multiple Send Schedulers to either send different surveys at different times or dial in on specific groups of Contacts.
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Going Live With Your Send Scheduler
Anatomy of a Scheduler
All Send Schedulers live in the Send Page (the paper airplane icon in the Navigation Bar on the left side of AskNicely).
To get started, click the Add button. Each scheduler should have a unique and descriptive name. You can edit the name of a Scheduler by clicking the pencil icon to the right of the name.
By default, when creating a Scheduler, you will notice that the scheduler is "On." The scheduler must be On in order to edit it, but don't worry - Send Scheduler changes (including turning it on) take effect at midnight local time. You can save changes and turn it back off at any time without triggering the scheduler.
In the "Max Surveys for This Scheduler" field, set how many surveys you wish to send per day. AskNicely will queue up to this number of surveys per day from the pool of contacts who meet both your Send Scheduler Rules (see next section) and your Contact Rules.
We'll discuss "Custom Template" and "Custom Scheduler" drop-downs in the Additional Settings section below.
The "Days and Time to Send" section allows you to choose which days of the week you want this Scheduler to send surveys and the time you want them to be sent. All times will be in the time zone displayed.
Send Scheduler Rules
Scheduler Rules specify which audience any given Scheduler will be targeting. If there aren’t any rules specified, the scheduler will pull from all active Contacts who meet your Contact Rules.
To add rules, you’ll configure three fields:
- the Data Field
- the Operation rule
- the Data Point value in the third “open text” field.
Data Fields
You can pull from any Standard Data Field (segment, name, created date) or Custom Data Field that you have brought into AskNicely to form the “audience” for this survey. The more Custom Data you bring in with your Contacts, the more options you have for narrowing who receives the survey. For example, you may want to survey only contacts who have a specific segment, or contacts who are in a specific region.
Operation Rule
Working like a logic function, the Operation Rule tells the scheduler how to define how the Data Field is interpreted. Standard options include "is", "is not", and "contains". Depending on the type of Data Field, the options will change.
Hot Tip: “Is” means, “Is an EXACT match.” “Contains” is a “softer” operator - so if you put “Contains” instead of “Is” in the example below, Platinum wouldn’t have to be capitalized - it could be “platinum”, or even just “plat.” With a broad Data Field we suggest "contains" to cast a wider net, incorporating variations such as spelling errors in the dataset.
Data Point Value
If the Data Field has had time to process in AskNicely, some data points will appear as autofill options. Newer Data Fields may need additional time to appear. You can always type in a value if it is not an immediate option.
Rule Statements
To add another rule click the +And or +Or buttons.
+Andgroups the rules together. The full statement must be "true" in order for Contacts to quality for the Scheduler.+Orproduces a rule exclusive of an +And statement. Both rules can exist and be true for the Scheduler but Contacts can still qualify for the Scheduler in the +Or statement even if it does not qualify for the +And statement.
Example 1
IF
Segment is online
AND
Product is shoes
OR
Product is socks
The Scheduler thinks you are saying:
"I want to survey everyone where the Segment value is online
and the Product value can be shoes OR socks"
Hot Tip: Save time by creating one Scheduler for multiple segments or Data Fields that you want to receive the same Survey Template. The +Or statement can group multiple exclusive rulesets together to simplify survey sending. Increase your automation power with Dynamic Fields in your Multiple Survey Templates to ensure a personalized experience on the Contact's end.
Example 2
IF
Segment is online
AND
Product is shoes
OR
Segment is
AND
Product is socks
The Scheduler thinks you are saying:
"I want to survey everyone who bought shoes online and
everyone who bought socks in store"
Your scheduler won't start sending surveys until midnight on the night where you turn the scheduler to "On" (radio toggle in the top right), so if you're done setting up your scheduler but aren't ready to send yet, leave it "Off" for now.
Additional Settings
"Custom Template" dropdown
In most cases, it is not necessary to change the setting in this field. The defaulted "No custom template" means the contacts who qualify for the Scheduler will be sent your Default Survey Template.
This setting is handy for accounts that have Multiple Survey Templates and want to override the Trigger Field value for Contacts that determines which Survey Template they are meant to receive. Choosing a specific Survey Template will affect ALL Contacts that qualify for that Scheduler.
Custom Contact Rules
By default, every Send Scheduler will obey your Global Contact Rules at the bottom of the Send Page.
However, there may be occasions where you will want to have custom rules for a specific Send Scheduler. Select Custom Rules from the dropdown to override your Global Contact Rules and set a different length of time to wait between sending surveys to existing and new Contacts.
Going Live With Your Send Scheduler
If the Send Scheduler is off, no surveys will be sent. Once a scheduler is turned on, it will activate starting at midnight local time. Approximately 1-2 hours before the earliest time selected for any Scheduler, eligible Contacts will be sent to the Queue.
The Send Scheduler is a simple-looking tool with the capability to build in incredible flexibility, but things can get complex pretty quickly. We recommend trying to keep it very simple - if you find yourself with more than 4 schedulers, we recommend reaching out to our Support Team to see if things can be streamlined.