Engagement Hub

Learn about the messaging channels within Pendula, how to configure and send messages, best practices.

Introduction

Learn the fundamentals of Pendula’s Engagement Hub.
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Introduction to Engagement Hub
Introduction to Experience and Workflow Studio

Engagement Hub by Pendula allows businesses to interact with customers by connecting and configuring multiple channels such as SMS, Email, WhatsApp, and Push notifications, ensuring messages are timely, relevant, and engaging. Together with the Experience and Workflow Studio, it supports creating simple or complex customer journeys with multiple touch-points, ensuring seamless communication based on individual customer preferences.

What can you accomplish

Multi-channel, multi-step Flows

Connecting channels through the Engagement Hub supports the coordination of messaging across various channels from a single, centralised interface. This allows businesses to construct tailored journeys for customers, handling unique preferences at scale.
- Design and manage customer journeys.
- Integrate multiple channel touch-points within a single workflow.
- Deliver personalised and scalable customer interactions.
To get started, see
Working with SMS
Working with Email
Push notifications

Two-way conversations with reply matching

Engagement Hub enables dynamic two-way conversations based on customer responses through reply matching. This feature allows businesses to create interactive flows that respond appropriately to customer inputs. By matching replies to predefined keywords or patterns, businesses can guide customers through a personalised journey.
- Configure rules and recipes to manage expected replies.
- Implement conversation nodes to handle various customer responses.
To get started, see Best practices for reply matching.

Fallback configuration

Engagement Hub ensures no customer interaction is left unresolved with its fallback configuration and delivery tracking features. Easily set up fallback, follow-up, and success messages through the builder canvas, and track the delivery status of emails and SMS messages to ensure your communications are effective.
- Configure fallback and follow-up messages to ensure message delivery.
- Track email and SMS delivery outcomes.
- Guarantee that essential communications reach their intended recipients.
To get started, see Working with SMS.

SMS

Learn about configuring SMS nodes and creating engaging two-way conversations.

SMS, or Short Messaging Service, is a powerful communication tool that allows businesses to engage directly with customers through concise, timely messages. Pendula enhances this by enabling conversational SMS, where recipients can respond to messages and trigger automated follow-up actions. Pendula integrates seamlessly with your data sources, enabling automated actions based on specific events or conditions such as payment confirmations, invoice deliveries, or the start of a customer relationship. This integration allows for dynamic and contextually relevant communications that keep your audience engaged and informed.

Best practices for SMS communications

Understand the legal obligations of using SMS

When using SMS for marketing and communication, it is crucial to comply with legal standards applicable to the countries you operating within. Best practices to ensure consumer protection and privacy:

Always obtain either express consent before sending marketing SMS. Without this, messages could be considered spam.
Clearly identify your organisation within the SMS to avoid any ambiguity about the sender.

The mobile phone number your SMS are sent from is unique to your business and will not change. You might like to suggest to your customers that they save this number or add it to their contact list for future communication.

Provide recipients with an easy and clear way to opt out of receiving further communications. This can be achieved by including a simple opt-out instruction in every message, such as "Reply STOP to unsubscribe."
Ensure you are capturing and referring to your customers' communication preferences when sending out SMS, and always have a clear path for them to opt out if they wish.

  Hi [Name], this is [Your Company Name]. Thank you for signing up for the event!
  Visit [Link] for details. To opt-out of future messages, reply STOP.

Start with accurate data management

Pendula is directly connected to your data source. Keep your data source clean and up to date to make the most of any SMS communication. This includes:

Consistently updating and verifying mobile phone numbers and communication preferences across your contact records. This ensures that your messages reach the intended recipients without errors.
Checking your database to eliminate duplicate records. Sending multiple messages to the same phone number can lead to increased costs and customer dissatisfaction.
Store mobile phone numbers in international format (e.g., +61 for Australia), without any extra characters like spaces or text. This standardisation is crucial for global message delivery and ensures that inbound messages are correctly associated with customer records.

Why do mobile phone numbers need to be stored in international format?
When a recipient replies to one of your messages, it's received by Pendula in this format (we support SMS from all over the world). Therefore, for Pendula to match this message back to the correct contact record in your data source they need to be stored in this format.
Correct Format: +61400123456
Incorrect Format: 0400 123 456 or 0400123456

Understanding SMS Segmentation and Concatenation

The most effective SMS content is relevant, interesting and easily understood. It's designed for sending short messages which are rapidly delivered, with a high read and response rate.

Segmentation

SMS messages are typically restricted to 160 characters. When your message exceeds this limit, it must be segmented. Each segmented part of the message can hold 153 characters, not the full 160, because additional characters are needed to manage and reassemble the message parts correctly on the recipient's device. Aim to communicate your message within the standard SMS length of 160 characters. This limit keeps the message concise enough for quick consumption without needing segmentation.

Concatenation

This is the process of linking segmented messages so that they appear as a single, continuous message on the recipient’s phone. This is done automatically by most modern mobile devices, which recognise the segments and stitch them together seamlessly.

This message is exactly 160 characters, fitting within one SMS segment.

  Quick reminder: Your appointment is scheduled for tomorrow at 3 PM. Please reply
  YES to confirm or NO to reschedule.

This message is 290 characters, which would be split into two segments. The first segment uses 153 characters, and the remaining 137 characters form the second segment.

  Thank you for your recent purchase from our store! We hope you are delighted
  with your new items. Remember, if you have any questions or need support, don't
  hesitate to contact our customer service team. We're here to help!

If your message strategy involves longer narratives, consider how smartphones and carrier limitations might affect the delivery. Keep your messages below 750 characters (approximately 5 concatenated segments) to ensure compatibility and delivery across all devices and networks.

Managing non-GSM characters in SMS

When incorporating non-GSM characters—such as emojis or characters from non-Latin scripts—into SMS messages, understanding their impact on segmentation and encoding is important

Typically, SMS messages use the GSM-7 character set, including letters, numbers, and common punctuation, each encoded in 7 bits, allowing up to 160 characters per SMS.

Non-GSM characters require UCS-2 encoding, which uses 16 bits per character. This change reduces the maximum length to 70 characters per SMS. Each segmented SMS can then only contain 64 characters due to the additional space needed for headers. Non-GSM characters, like emojis, often consume more space than GSM characters. Most emojis count as two characters, but newer ones might take up to four. Messages with non-GSM characters are segmented when they exceed 70 characters, with each segment able to contain only 64 characters. This needs careful management to avoid unexpected costs and message fragmentation.

For a detailed guide on non-GSM characters, see Understanding non-GSM characters.

Pendula helps you identify when a non-GSM character is introduced to your intended messaging.

Stick to the GSM-7 character set, which include letters of the English alphabet, numbers, and common punctuation marks or symbols such as !,'@%$=.?/().. Avoiding characters outside this set ensures that your message remains within the single SMS limit and avoids potential delivery issues.

Certain symbols, like curly brackets {} or the Euro symbol €, consume more than one character space. Using these sparingly can prevent unexpected message segmentation.

Keep your messaging relevant and valuable to your customers

To maintain customer interest and satisfaction, it is essential to ensure that every SMS sent holds significance for its recipients. Irrelevant messages not only disrupt the customer but also increase the likelihood of them perceiving the communication as spam.

Merge fields act as placeholders within your SMS template, which are automatically filled with specific data from your database when messages are sent. You can use a recipient’s first name to address them directly in the SMS, making the message feel more personal and engaging.

  "Hi {{First Name}}, don't forget your appointment on **{{Appointment Date}}**
  at {{Time}}. Reply YES to confirm."

For a detailed guide on Merge Fields, see Working with Merge Fields in Workflow Studio

Limit your CTA to one or two options

Ensure your call to action is clear and straightforward, so recipients aren't confused on how they are supposed to respond. Providing too many different reply options increases the margin for error and generally makes for a worse experience. If there is a lot of information you wish to capture via SMS, consider breaking this up over a series of messages with a question and answer approach for a seamless and easy to follow conversation.

"To confirm your appointment, reply YES. For rescheduling, reply NO."

If the interaction requires more detailed responses or multiple pieces of information, consider deploying a series of messages, each with a clear, actionable step. This approach helps maintain engagement without overwhelming the recipient.

Keep inbound responses unique

In SMS communication, the context of a response is primarily discerned from the sender's mobile phone number and the message content. This direct and straightforward method differs from channels like email, where additional metadata can provide context.

Pendula allows for the automation of SMS-based conversations by setting specific expected responses to sent messages. If a response from a recipient perfectly matches a predefined expectation, automated actions can be triggered accordingly. To ensure clarity and effectiveness in automated SMS interactions, it's critical to designate unique response triggers for different messaging campaigns. When multiple messages request the same response, it can lead to confusion about which message the recipient is responding to. For instance, if two promotions are sent to the same contact and both anticipate a 'YES' reply, it will be unclear which promotion the 'YES' refers to.

Instead of using a generic reply like 'YES' for multiple offers, tailor the responses to be distinct:

"Reply YESDEAL to accept the 20% discount offer."
"Reply YESTICKET to confirm your event ticket purchase."

Use specific keywords that relate directly to the message content, reducing the likelihood of overlap and ensuring responses can be accurately matched to the correct interaction.
Communicate clearly in the SMS what the expected response should be, using straightforward language that ties directly back to the message's call to action.

Pendula SMS capabilities

Reply matching

Pendula's reply matching feature automates SMS responses by recognising specific keywords in incoming messages. This allows for predefined actions to be triggered based on customer replies, streamlining interactions and ensuring timely, relevant communications. For example, responses to promotional SMS such as "YES" to accept an offer or "NO" to opt out can automatically initiate appropriate follow-up actions, enhancing efficiency and customer engagement.

For further information, see How reply matching works

Rules and recipes

Rules allow you to define conditions for acceptable replies, such as specific keywords or formats. This helps in tailoring responses that trigger specific actions within your SMS workflows. Recipes are predefined rules that simplify setup by providing common response patterns. This makes it easier to quickly deploy interaction scenarios without crafting conditions from scratch.

For further information, see Rules and recipes

Nodes for SMS management

Inbound message trigger node

Initiates a flow when a specific SMS message is received. It is configured to recognise predefined keywords or phrases within the text message, facilitating instantaneous engagement with customers.

For further information, see Inbound message trigger node

Conversation action node

Handles two-way SMS interactions, enabling conversations that can adapt based on customer responses.

For a detailed guide, see Conversation node

Outbound SMS node

Sends a single SMS to a designated recipient. The node offers two outcome paths based on message delivery status—sent and not sent. It handles fallbacks and failures by tailoring experiences based on these outcomes.

For a detailed guide, see Outbound SMS

Workflow action nodes

Workflow action nodes in Pendula enhance the flexibility and efficiency of SMS campaigns by allowing for dynamic responses based on evolving criteria. These nodes can re-evaluate conditions midway through a customer journey, segment recipients into tailored pathways, and integrate valuable feedback directly into your data systems. By orchestrating multiple interactions within a single flow, they effectively synchronize your SMS strategies with broader business processes. This functionality is crucial for adapting communication tactics based on progressing leads, or updating database records based on interactive customer responses.

Reference

Inbound message trigger

Complete overview of Flow Builder

The Inbound message trigger initiates a flow when it detects incoming messages that meet specified criteria or rules. This ensures that your automated workflows respond appropriately to each relevant customer interaction.

Understanding rules and recipes

Rules are specific conditions that a message must meet to trigger a response. These conditions can be based on the content of the message, such as keywords or phrases. Recipes are predefined sets of rules designed to match common patterns such as email addresses, phone numbers and more. They simplify the process of setting up common reply scenarios.

Merging rules and recipes within a path allows for comprehensive coverage of potential customer responses, ensuring the flow can handle the varied ways customers might respond.

For a detailed guide on each, see Rules and recipes

Usage scenario

The example below demonstrates the use of the Inbound Trigger Node within a flow that initiates an experience when a customer expresses interest in an event. By replying with ATTEND, the customer indicates their intention to attend the event, while replying with CONTACT signifies an interest to get in touch with the organisers. The Inbound Message Trigger node evaluates the different replies and appropriately routes the flow to handle each specific request.

Configuring the trigger

Path labelling
You can define clear labels for each path. These labels appear on the canvas, providing a visual representation of message routing within your flow.

Defining trigger criteria
Determine the specific conditions—known as rules or recipes—that incoming messages must meet to initiate the flow.

Implementing OR logic within paths
Multiple rules or recipes can be set within a single path, where each is connected with "OR" logic. This means that if an incoming message matches any of the listed conditions, it will follow that path.

If a reply matches several paths, the topmost path or rule will always take precedence. If a reply matches several triggers, all matching triggers will be fired.

Prioritisation in reply matching

The Inbound Message Trigger starts a flow in response to incoming messages that meet specific criteria. When a message is received, a systematic prioritising exact keywords before considering broader rules.

1. Active Conversations
The system checks if there are any ongoing conversations with the sender. If so, it looks for a match within these conversations first, prioritising exact keywords before considering broader rules.

2. Inbound SMS Triggers
If the message does not fit into any active conversation, the system then attempts to match it with any Inbound SMS Triggers. Here, all triggers that detect the keyword are activated.

3. Match Priority
Within a node, if multiple paths or rules could match a reply, the system follows the top-down priority. The first path or first rule of a path that aligns with the incoming message takes precedence.

4. Unmatched Messages
Messages that do not correspond with any active conversations or triggers are labeled as “unmatched.” If you have an Unmatched Message Trigger flow set up, it will then handle these messages to ensure no communication is left without a response.

For a detailed explanation on setting up an unmatched message trigger, see Unmatched Message Trigger Node.

For a detailed explanation, see How reply matching works and Best practices for creating two-way conversations with reply matching.

When an inbound message comes into Pendula, both the phone number and the keywords in the message body are used to match an inbound message to a flow and continue the recipient down the correct path of their customer journey.
What happens if the message matches two or more flows?
Only the most recent flow will be matched.
What happens if it matches a recipient number, but no flows?
When Pendula receives an inbound message, first it checks if it will trigger an active flow with an inbound message node trigger. If there’s no match, then Pendula looks for any messages that might have been sent to this number; if it was expecting any keywords from this number as part of a conversation node (outbound SMS) in any active flow.
What happens if it doesn’t match either a recipient number, or a flow?
The message will be persisted into the database and Pendula will publish an UnmatchedMessageEvent to the event queue.

Mergefield explorer

Mergefields function as dynamic placeholders within a flow, automatically populated with actual data as the flow progresses. Below are key mergefields accessible in subsequent nodes following the Inbound Message Trigger

Mergefield name	Description	Possible outputs	Definition and examples
`fromNumber`	The number from which the message was received		"+61 400000000"
`matchedIntent`	The intent/branch matched based on the message content		Indicates the flow's path or intent that the incoming message has triggered, based on its content (e.g., “YES”).
`matchedPart`	The part of the message that matched the rule		Specifies the segment of the inbound message that fulfilled the criteria of a rule. This is helpful when the Contains rule is used. For example, "annie@acme.com" would be the matched part of the message "my email is mailto:annie@acme.com
`matchedType`	Classifies the kind of rule match that prompted the flow to activate. This can be used in later nodes such as Criteria Filter.	Exact Match (Trigger)	An inbound message has been matched to the is exactly rule in an Inbound SMS Trigger Node.
		Rule Match (Trigger)	An inbound message has been matched to a free response, a rule or recipe in a Inbound SMS Trigger Node.
`messageBody`	The entire body of the inbound message		“Yes, thank you”.
`timeStamp`	The time at which the message was received in Unix Epoch time in milliseconds		“1672534861000”

Opt-in and opt-out flows

Opt-in and opt-out trigger flows should be used as final 'catch all' flows. Triggers contain limited context, meaning if a customer decides to opt-out mid-flow, you would not be able to see which flow caused the opt-out. Instead, in your marketing flows, add opt-in and opt-out paths of your Conversation Nodes for a richer context.

For other best practices, see Best practices for creating two-way conversations with reply matching.

Opt outs will not affect active flows. This means if a recipient is mid-way through an active flow and triggers an opt-out flow, they won’t drop out of the active flow. They will however, be excluded from any new flows. For example, if Pendula is waiting on a reply from a particular number and that person messages 'STOP' (as an opt-out) and then messages 'CONFIRM' in response to the original offer, the flow will continue on the 'CONFIRMED' path.

In the following example, we have two flows.

Flow I triggers an experience when the keyword OFFER is used. The flow prompts the customer to either CONFIRM or DECLINE the offer and based on the reply, sends outbound SMS.

Flow II is an opt-out flow that triggers an experience when the keyword STOP is used. The flow updates the CRM, and sends the confirmation outbound SMS to the customer.

Here is an example conversation where the person messages 'STOP' (as an opt-out) and then messages 'CONFIRM' in response to the original offer, the flow will continue on the 'CONFIRMED' path.

Reference

Unmatched message trigger

Complete overview of Flow Builder

The Unmatched message trigger is a global flow that is triggered whenever a message is marked as “Unmatched”, when UnmatchedMessageEvent is published to the event queue. A message is marked as “Unmatched” when a received message is not matched to any active Conversations or Inbound SMS message triggers, thus effectively addressing messages that otherwise would remain unprocessed.

Only ONE unmatched trigger flow can be active at a time. Drafts can be created but cannot be activated if there is a duplicate.

Usage scenario

The following example demonstrates a practical application of the Unmatched Message Trigger within a flow, illustrating how these messages are processed to ensure no customer inquiry goes unaddressed.

Send all Unmatched messages to your system of record, and let the customer know the message has been received and an agent will be in touch shortly.

When an Unmatched message is received, start a conversation with the customer which seeks to clarify the intent of their message. Send the message body from both the trigger and Conversation node to your system of record, and let the customer know the message has been received and an agent will be in touch shortly.

Configuring the trigger

This trigger requires minimal setup. Simply ensure that it's active within your desired flow to begin capturing any unmatched inbound SMS messages.

Mergefield Explorer

Mergefield name	Description	Definition and examples
`fromNumber`	The number from which the message was received	"+61 400000000"
`messageBody`	The entire body of the inbound message	“Yes, thank you”.
`timeStamp`	The time at which the message was received in Unix Epoch time in milliseconds	“1672534861000”

Given the limited mergefields, scenarios requiring comprehensive context—such as understanding the specific prompt a customer is responding to—might not be fully addressed.
For example, if a customer replies with feedback in response to an upsell flow, the context such as what the customer was replying to would not be included in this trigger. In this scenario, we recommend adding a free reply path to your conversation node instead to capture and send it to your platform.

To learn more, see Best practices for creating two-way conversations with reply matching.

Reference

Conversation node

How does reply matching work?
Best practices for creating two way conversations with reply matching

Configure your customer conversations based on anything you receive and progress flow experiences based on what a reply contains, all through the Conversation node on the canvas.

The conversation node allows you to ask your customer a question through the Outbound SMS tab and craft the reply paths depending on their reply through the Replies tab. Before configuring the Replies tab, we strongly recommend reading how Reply Matching works and best practices for configuring workflows with rules.

Usage scenario

The following example demonstrates a practical application of the Conversation message action node within a flow, that sends an confirmation message following a inbound message trigger. Depending on the reply, the experience follows it’s respective path.

Configuring the action

Outbound SMS

Edit the outbound SMS, replies and the reply expiry settings. You can refer to the merge fields section to see how to reference a merge field.

Values in the recipient field must follow the internationally standardised E.164 format: [+] [country code] [recipient number including area code]. For example, an E.164 format Australian number: +61400000000.

Total characters

The number of characters in your message. Not that this does not account for the merge field values – depending on what it renders to, the final character count will vary.

Non-GSM characters

Non-GSM characters (e.g. emojis) are characters that increase the size of your SMS. These can be identified with the orange highlights over these characters.

Copying and pasting from other programmes such Microsoft Word or Google Docs will surface any non-GSM characters present. These will be highlighted automatically.

Learn more about non-GSM characters and SMS size here.

Preview and test

You can also view a preview of the message as it will appear to recipients in the conversation preview.

Replies

In the replies tab, you can label a path’s name (appears on the canvas) and define how responses are matched to this path. You can tailor what happens in each path, in later nodes.

There are two ways to match responses to a path: 1) Expected reply or 2) Free reply.

Expected reply

Expected replies are replies you anticipate on receiving. This includes listening for exact keywords, a certain phrase or word(s) within a sentence, or formatted text (such as email addresses or mobile numbers). You can choose from a pre-written recipe, or build your own 'rule'.

You can add as many rules or recipes within a path. The relationship between each rule/recipe is "OR".

If a reply matches several paths within a node, the topmost path or rule will always be matched. If a reply matches several rules across different active conversations, the reply will be matched with the recipient's most recent conversation. Learn more about Reply Matching

Free reply

Free replies are replies that anything your customer say. They do not have to fulfil any rule to be matched as a 'free reply'. A free reply can contain alphanumeric characters, with or without emojis, and other special characters (such as è). We recommend having a Free Reply path for most flows to ensure unprompted customers replies to your message can be matched to this experience. Learn more about best practices

When the Free Reply path is enabled, it will always be positioned as the last path. This is because if a reply can match multiple paths in a node, the top-most path is always matched first. Learn more about rules, regex and recipes

Outcomes

Configure different experiences based on the outcomes of this node:

Replies
The experience continues on the path if an inbound reply is matched to an expected or free reply path. Reply paths can be configured in the Replies tab. Refer to Mergefield explorer section to see possible outputs.

Not sent
The experience will either end or continue on this path depending on the toggle settings. Specifically, the Outbound SMS part of this node has failed to send due to an error.
When toggled off, the experience will end and exit the flow. When toggled on, the Not Sent path will be visible on the canvas, and the experience on this path can be configured. Refer to Mergefield explorer section to see possible outputs.

No reply
Depending on its toggle settings, the experience will either end or continue on this path if no reply is received after the reply expiry period has elapsed. By default, this configurable reply expiry time is set to 2 days.

This configurable wait time determines how long Pendula should keep the flow open to inbound replies. Once the wait time has elapsed with no reply received, the experience will continue on this 'No reply' path. The flow will no longer match the recipient's inbound messages to the keywords in this flow. You can change the wait time by clicking on the pencil icon.

When toggled off, the experience will end and exit the flow. When toggled on, the No Reply path will be visible on the canvas, and the experience on this path can be configured. Refer to Mergefield explorer section to see possible outputs.

Please note this is different to offer expiry. Reply expiry lets your flow successfully ‘complete’. If you want to build offer expiry functionality into your Pendula flow, you should use criteria split nodes. Learn more about criteria split nodes here.

Mergefield explorer

In later nodes, when viewing the available mergefields for the Conversation node in mergefield explorer you can expect to see:

Mergefield name	Description	Possible outputs	Definition and examples
matchedIntent	The path label (string)	Example: "Yes" would be the matched intent from the path named "Yes".
matchedPart	The part of the message body that was matched with your rule (string)	Example: "annie@acme.com" would be the matched part of the message "my email is annie@acme.com".
matchedType	The reason why a message was matched (string)	`Exact Match (Conversation)`	An inbound message has been matched to the `is exactly` rule in a Conversation Node.
matchedType	The reason why a message was matched (string)	`Rule Match (Conversation)`	An inbound message has been matched to a free response, a rule or recipe in a Conversation Node.
outcome	The final Outbound SMS message delivery status (string)	`success`	The Outbound SMS message was sent to the mobile carrier for delivery, and an inbound message was matched to a path in this node. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path.
outcome	The final Outbound SMS message delivery status (string)	`failure`	The Outbound SMS message failed to be sent. See outcomeReason (below) for possible reasons. The experience will continue (if configured) or exit the 'Not Sent' path.
outcomeReason	The reason for a message delivery (string)	`expired`	No reply was received within the configure timeframe. The experience will exit the flow.
		`reply`	An inbound SMS was matched to a reply path in this node. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path.
		`failed: [reason]`	The carrier has accepted the Outbound SMS message, but encountered an error while sending it to the recipient. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`failed-normalization`	The recipient's phone number is invalid. Ensure it is present and in the correct E.164 format. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`other-error`	Another error was found while sending the Outbound SMS message to the recipient. Contact Support for further troubleshooting. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`rejected`	The carrier has rejected the Outbound SMS message. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`validation-error`	An invalid value was found in the node. Ensure your message body is not empty, and that your expiry time is between 1-10 days. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
timestamp	The time at which the message was received in Unix Epoch (milliseconds)	Example: "1714975027"

Reference

Outbound SMS

Complete overview of the flow builder

Send a single SMS to a designated recipient. The node offers two outcome paths based on message delivery status—sent and not sent. Handle fallbacks and failures by tailoring experiences based on these outcomes.

An Outbound SMS progresses on the Sent path after 10 minutes by default. This wait time is configurable, and exists to monitor for any sending failures that may occur. Learn more in Outcomes section of this article

Usage Scenario

The following example demonstrates a practical application of the Outbound SMS within a flow, that sends an confirmation message following a event sign-up.

Configuring the action

Settings

Edit the recipient field and the message body. Refer to the merge fields section to see how to reference a merge field.

Total characters

The number of characters in your message. Not that this does not account for the merge field values – depending on what it renders to, the final character count will vary.

Non-GSM characters

Non-GSM characters (e.g. emojis) are characters that increase the size of your SMS. These can be identified with the orange highlights over these characters.

Learn more about non-GSM characters and SMS size here.

Copying and pasting from other programmes such Microsoft Word or Google Docs will surface any non-GSM characters present. These will be highlighted automatically.

Preview

This is how the message will appear to recipients.

Outcomes

Configure how the experience should continue after this node depending on outcomes of this node.

The possible outcomes of the Outbound SMS are:

Sent

The experience will continue on this path if no failure notifications are received within the default wait time of 10 minutes.

This configurable wait time exists to monitor for any sending failures that may occur after the SMS has been sent to a mobile carrier for delivery. You can change the wait time by clicking on the pencil icon, and when edited, the 'Not sent' wait time will be synced too.

For example, if a sending failure occurs within the default 10 minute wait time, the experience will progress onto the 'Not Sent' path. If no sending failures occur within the default 10 minute wait time, the experience will progress onto the 'Sent path'.

Not sent
The experience will either end or continue on this path (depending on its toggle settings) if a sending failure has occurred within the default wait time of 10 minutes.

This configurable wait time exists to monitor any sending failures that may occur after the SMS has been sent to a mobile carrier for delivery. You can change the wait time by clicking on the pencil icon, and when edited, the 'Sent' wait time will be synced too.

When toggled off, the experience will end and exit the flow. When toggled on, the Not Sent path will be visible on the canvas, where you can further configure the experience on this path. You can refer to Merge fields section below to personalise experiences continuing on this path.

Merge fields

You can reference any merge fields from nodes previous to this node. Learn more about merge fields

In later nodes, when viewing the available merge fields for the Outbound SMS node in merge field explorer you can expect to see:

Merge field	Description	Possible outputs	Output definition
outcome	The final message delivery status (string)	`success`	The message was sent to the mobile carrier for delivery, and no failure notifications were received during the set time period. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path.
outcome	The final message delivery status (string)	`failure`	The message failed to be sent. See outcomeReason (below) for possible reasons. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
outcomeReason	The reason for a message delivery (string)	`success-timeout`	The SMS was sent to a mobile carrier for delivery, and no failure notifications were received during the set wait time. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path.
		`failed: [reason]`	The carrier has accepted the message, but encountered an error while sending it to the recipient. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`failed-normalization`	The recipient's phone number is invalid. Ensure it is present and in the correct E.164 format. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`other-error`	Another error was found while sending the message to the recipient. Contact Support for further troubleshooting. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`rejected`	The carrier has rejected the message. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`validation-error`	An invalid value was found in the node. Ensure the message body is not empty. The experience will continue along the 'Not Sent' path (if configured) or exit the flow.

Email

Learn how to configure email node, design emails, set up custom domains, and more.

Get started

Working with Email

Effective email communication is essential for engaging customers and achieving business goals. This article covers best practices for writing and sending outbound emails, emphasising the use of Pendula for personalisation, design, testing, and security.

General guidelines for writing emails

Keep subject lines concise and relevant, and use action-oriented language to encourage recipients to open the email. Avoid using all caps or excessive punctuation, which can trigger spam filters
Focus on delivering one main message or call to action per email. Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and clear headings to make the content easy to read and understand.
Maintain a friendly yet professional tone. Avoid using jargon or overly complex language. Tailor the tone to match your brand's voice while ensuring it resonates with your audience.
Include a clear and conspicuous unsubscribe link in every email and honour opt-out requests promptly, adhering to legal requirements where applicable, such as the five working days timeframe in Australia. Ensure that your email header information, including the "From" and "Reply-To" addresses, is accurate and not misleading.

Personalisation with merge fields

Using merge fields in emails allows for dynamic personalisation, making messages feel more relevant and engaging to each recipient. Merge fields automatically insert specific data from your database into your email templates, such as names, order numbers, or other details.

Hello {{FirstName}},
This is a reminder for your appointment on {{AppointmentDate}} at {{AppointmentTime}}.

For more details, see Working with merge fields and Designing emails with Outbound Email node

Using the email builder

In Pendula, there are two primary methods for designing emails within the Outbound Email Node: building from scratch using an email builder with a drag-and-drop interface or utilising custom HTML code. While custom HTML offers flexibility, it may cause visual discrepancies across different email clients. For instance, background images in custom HTML may not render correctly in Outlook, which defaults to a white background unless otherwise configured. To ensure visual consistency, we recommend using Pendula's email builder.

For more details, see Outcome Email Node and Designing emails with Outbound Email node

Optimising email campaigns with A/B Testing

A/B testing is a powerful method for optimising your email campaigns by comparing different versions to see which performs better. In Pendula, you can use the Criteria Filter to implement A/B testing.

The example below demonstrates the use of a Criteria Filter in an A/B testing scenario, initiated by a form submission. The Criteria Filter divides customers into two groups based on predefined criteria. Customers who meet the criteria for Group A receive Email A. Conversely, those who do not meet the criteria for Group A and fall into Group B receive Email B.

This setup allows for a direct comparison between different marketing approaches. By analysing the results from both groups, you can determine which email version is more effective in achieving your goals, such as higher open rates or conversion rates.

For a detailed guide, see Criteria Filter and Criteria Split

Ensuring email delivery coverage

Email delivery events provide critical insights into the performance of your email communications. Key events include clicks, opens, deliveries, and bounces (with soft bounces indicating temporary issues and hard bounces indicating permanent ones).

In Pendula, the "Outcomes" tab in the Outbound Email Node allows you to configure the workflow path based on these events. The "Sent" path is followed if no failure is detected within the default 10-minute wait time or if the email is opened or clicked. The "Rejected" path is followed if a failure occurs within the wait time and can be toggled on in the node settings.

Merge fields in the subsequent nodes help track and personalise email delivery outcomes. The Outcome field indicates whether the email was successfully delivered (success) or failed (failure), and the Outcome Reason field provides specific details (e.g., opened, failed: [reason], rejected).

By configuring these outcomes and using merge fields, you ensure comprehensive email delivery coverage, effectively managing both successful deliveries and failures.

For more details, see Outcome Email Node

Email security

Ensuring email security with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is essential for preventing spoofing and phishing attacks. SPF verifies that incoming mail comes from authorised hosts, DKIM uses cryptographic signatures to ensure email integrity, and DMARC instructs mail servers on handling emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.

Using a custom domain allows you to configure these records, enhancing your email credibility and deliverability. With Pendula, SPF is pre-configured, DKIM involves adding CNAME records to your DNS, and DMARC requires setting up a TXT record for additional security and reporting.

For more information, see Setting up Custom Domains for secure email delivery using Pendula

Reference

Outbound email

The outbound email node sends a single email with optional attachments. There are outcomes for 'sent' and optionally 'rejected', allowing you to continue an experience even if there is a sending failure or bounce. You can learn more about this in the outcomes section below.

Configuring the action

Sender Details

Sender name: The name that appears to recipients, identifying the sender of the message.
From address: The email address that appears as the sender when recipients receive the email. The 'From address' must be a verified email address, or from a verified domain.

Contact Support to set up a custom From address.

Email details

Recipient: The individual who will receive the email. Merge fields may be referenced here.
Email subject: A brief description or summary that conveys the purpose or content of the email to the recipient. Merge fields may be referenced here.

Branded-outbound-email

Attachments

Uploading attachments

Use the attachments tab to manage attachments for an outbound email. This tab allows you to upload files from your local machine as attachments, and allows you to view (download) existing attachments; as well as delete them.

email attachments.png

You can upload as many attachments as you like, however, the email design and attachment size combined must be less than 10MB to send successfully. As email size can change depending on merge fields used, you must take this into account when designing an email with attachments.

We check attachments before uploading successfully. The cases where a file will not be uploaded successfully include:

File size too large. You must upload files less than 10MB.
File type not supported. We support TXT, HTML, ICS, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WebM, MP4, MPEG, PDF, DOC, DOCX, XLS, and XLSX.
File name taken. Please rename your file and upload again, or delete the existing file.
Server unavailable. Please contact support.

Attachment indicator

On the flow canvas, outbound email nodes that have attachments are denoted by a circular blue paperclip badge on the node icon:

email attachments indicator.png

In the case that you finish designing your flow that has outbound email nodes with attachments, try to activate the flow, and are presented with this message:

The following attachments are unavailable and can't be accessed...

You will need to either delete the listed attachments, or upload them again to proceed and activate the flow.

Designing email

Build from scratch

Use the email builder to design your email. This tool allows you to edit, drag, and drop content into the email canvas. The design panel includes sections for Content, Blocks, Body, and Images. You can move items around by hovering over them and using the pan icon, and you can use the redo/undo buttons to adjust your design. Once the email is built to your satisfaction, click the Save icon.

Use HTML code

If you prefer to use custom HTML code, select the HTML option and paste your code into the text field. You can preview the template before saving the node.

Export HTML

After designing an email, the HTML can be exported (downloaded) easily by clicking the 'Export HTML' button:

Note that using custom HTML may cause visual discrepancies across different email clients. Pendula recommends using the email builder for consistent visual results.

For a detailed guide on designing emails, see Designing emails for Outbound Email node.

Outcomes

The outbound email node can send recipients down different flow paths based on email delivery; we call these outcomes, and you can manage these on the Outcomes tab.

Sent

The outbound email node waits for failures for 10 minutes before a 'sent' outcome is determined. This wait time is configurable, and exists to cater for the inconsistencies in email client failure / delivery reporting.

If the email is opened or a link within is clicked by a recipient, a 'sent' outcome is determined immediately.

The experience will continue on this path if no failure notifications are received within the default wait time of 10 minutes, or immediately if the email is opened or a link is clicked. An opened or clicked email event is confirmation that the email was sent successfully.

Wait time configuration for sent path

This configurable wait time exists to monitor for any sending failures that may occur after the email has been sent to a carrier for delivery. You can change the wait time by clicking on the pencil icon. When edited, the 'Rejected' wait time will be synced too.

For example, if no sending failures occur within the wait time, the experience will continue down the 'Sent' path. If the email is opened or a link is clicked during this wait time, the experience will continue the experience down the 'Sent path'.

Configuring the wait frame for Soft Bounces

Soft bounces occur when an email cannot be delivered temporarily, often due to a full inbox or server issues. To cater for soft bounces, we recommend setting the wait time to 960 minutes (16 hours) within Pendula. This gives the carrier enough time to try sending the email again after a soft bounce, and progress an experience based on the final delivery status (Sent or Rejected). Keep in mind that if a recipient opens the email or clicks a link, the process advances along the 'Sent' path immediately.

Rejected path

The experience will either end or continue on this path (depending on its toggle settings) if a sending failure has occurred within the default wait time of 10 minutes.

If a sending failure occurs, a 'rejected' outcome is determined, and you can choose to continue the experience down the 'rejected' path; if configured.

When toggled off, the experience will end and exit the flow.

When toggled on, the Rejected path will be visible on the canvas, where you can further configure the experience on this path. You can refer to Merge fields section below to personalise experiences continuing on this path.

Wait time configuration for reject path

For example, if a sending failure occurs within the default 10 minute wait time, the experience will continue down the 'Rejected' path.

Merge field explorer

In later nodes, when viewing the available merge fields for the Conversation node in merge field explorer you can expect to see the below.

Only one outcomeReason will be displayed. For example, if your email continues on the 'Sent' path, you will see either "opened" or "success-timeout", not a combination of these outcomes.

Mergefield name	Description	Possible outputs	Definition and examples
outcome	The final email delivery status (string)	`success`	The message was sent to the carrier for delivery, and no failure notifications were received during the wait time period, OR the email was opened. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path.
outcome	The final email delivery status (string)	`failure`	The message failed to be sent. See outcomeReason (below) for possible reasons. The experience will continue along the Rejected path (if configured) or exit the flow.
outcomeReason	The reason for a message delivery (string)	`opened`	The email has been opened by the recipient. Please note different email clients and devices handle what is considered an 'opened' email differently. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path, and skip the wait time.
		`failed: [reason]`	The carrier has accepted the email message, but encountered an error while sending it to the recipient. The experience will continue along the Rejected path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`failed-normalization`	The recipient's email is invalid. Ensure it is present and in the correct email format. The experience will continue along the Rejected path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`other-error`	Another error was found while sending the email message to the recipient. The experience will continue along the Rejected path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`rejected`	The carrier has rejected the email. The experience will continue along the Rejected path (if configured) or exit the flow.
		`success-timeout`	The email message was sent to a carrier for delivery, and no failure notifications were received during the wait time. The experience will continue on the 'Sent' path.
		`validation-error`	An invalid value was found in the node. Ensure your flow error warnings have been addressed. The experience will continue along the Rejected path (if configured) or exit the flow.

How to

Designing emails with Outbound Email node

Outbound email node

In this article, we focus on the process of building emails from scratch using the email builder.

Understanding the Interface

The design panel is organised into several sections: Content, Blocks, Body, Images, and Upload. Each section allows you to add and customise different elements to create a visually appealing and functional email.

To move content or a row, hover over the item to reveal the pan icon. Click and drag the item to its new desired location.

To redo or undo an action, or to preview the email on different screen resolutions, use the icons located at the bottom right corner of the interface.

You can also utilise merge fields to dynamically insert personalised data, such as the recipient's first name, based on the nodes in the flow. This is ideal for personalising emails to increase engagement and relevance.

Once you are satisfied with your email design, click on the Save icon to save your changes.

You need to save the node itself to make sure that the design is saved. Further, you also need to save the Flow to make sure the template is saved.

To delete a content block, select the item on the canvas and click the bin icon to remove it.

Depending on the content block, additional actions may be available. For example, text blocks might include options for bold, italics, and other text formatting features.

Choose your styles

When designing your email in Pendula, the Body settings allow you to customise the overall appearance of your email.

Text Color and Background Color: Adjust the colours to match your brand’s aesthetic.
Content Width: Set the width of the email content, with the default being 500px.
Content Alignment: Align your content to the Centre or Left as per your design preference.
Font Family: Choose from a set list of fonts, with Arial being the default. Note that some fonts may not be supported by all email providers or browsers. If your chosen font isn’t supported, the closest web-safe font is displayed as a fallback.
Font Weight: Select between Regular and Bold font weights.
Preheader Text: Under email settings, you can set the Preheader Text, which is the short summary text that follows the subject line when viewing an email from the inbox. Ensure the preheader text is concise and engaging, typically around 40-50 characters.
Links: Under links, customise the appearance, including their Color and whether they are Underlined.

By configuring these settings, you can ensure that your email design is visually consistent and aligns with your brand identity.

Adding Blocks

Blocks allows the addition of pre-made columns or rows, enabling you to structure your email layout efficiently. Here’s how you can use and customize blocks:

Select a Pre-made Block:
- Choose from a variety of pre-made blocks that best suit your layout needs.
Customise Row and Column Properties:
- Upon selecting a block, you can further customise its properties.
- Under Columns, you can determine the number of columns to include in a row and its layout.
Column Properties:
- Background Color: Set a specific background color for each column.
- Padding: Adjust the padding to control the spacing within each column. You can toggle More options to add unique values to each side.
- Border: Customise the border settings for each column. You can toggle More options to add unique values to each side.
  - Border Type
  - Border Color
  - Border Width
Row Properties:
- Background Color: Set the overall background color for the row.
- Content Background Color: Specify a background color for the content within the row.
- Background Image: Choose a background image via stock options, upload your own, or provide a URL.
- Padding: Adjust the padding to control the spacing around the row’s content. You can toggle More options to add unique values to each side.
- Responsive Design:
  - Hide on Desktop: Toggle whether a row should be hidden on desktop devices.
  - Mobile Settings: Choose whether the row should be hidden on mobile or if the columns should not stack (stacking is the default behaviour).

Switch between the desktop and mobile tabs to make respective changes for each device type.

Adding Content

Content allows the addition of columns, HTML, and other visual elements such as text, buttons, dividers, and images. Here’s how you can add and customise content in your email:

- Similar to blocks, columns can be added with customisable properties.
- Smart Headings: AI-powered suggestions for headings. Type your text and click Get suggestions to receive around five suggestions. Adjust the tone to friendly, luxury, relaxed, professional, bold, or witty. Your text must be at least two words. To get new suggestions, you can click on refresh. To change your prompt, you should exit out of the content panel.
- Heading Types: Choose from H1 to H4.
- Color: Customise the text color.
- Font Family: Use the global font set in the body or choose a different font.
- Font Weight: Set the font weight (regular, bold, etc.).
- Font Size: Default size is 14px, but it can be adjusted.
- Text Alignment: Align the text to the centre, left, right, or justify.
- Line Height: Default is 140%, adjustable.
- Container Padding: Adjust the padding around the heading, with a default setting of 10px. Toggle More options for unique padding values for each side.
- Hide on Desktop/Mobile: Use the tabs to set visibility options, ensuring the image is displayed or hidden on specific devices.
- Similar customisation options as headings.
- You will not find smart text on the content panel, but you can select the text and use tools that appear on top of the text. These tools support AI functionality like spelling and grammar checks, text expansion, summarisation, rephrasing, tone adjustments and general text formatting options.
Pendula supports multiple methods for adding images to your email:
- Upload your own: Drag and drop your files into the upload zone or select Upload image.
- Previously uploaded images: When you upload an image, we save that file in Pendula. Access previously uploaded images by selecting More images > Uploads.
- Image URL: Replace the placeholder image URL with your desired image URL.
- Stock Images: Choose from millions of stock images licensed under Creative Commons Zero by selecting More images > Stock images.
- Magic Image (AI): Use AI to create images tailored to your content needs.
Customising option includes:
- Auto-Width toggle: Automatically adjusts the width of the image to fit the content area.
- Alignment: Set the image alignment to left, right, center, or justify.
- Alternate text: Provide alternate text for accessibility.
- Under Actions
  - Link Settings: Add a URL to make the image clickable.
  - Target Settings: Specify how the link should open (e.g., in a new tab).
  - Action Options: Choose actions like opening a website, sending an email, or calling a phone number.
- Container Padding: Adjust the padding around the image, with a default setting of 10px. Toggle More options for unique padding values for each side.
- Hide on Desktop/Mobile: Use the tabs to set visibility options, ensuring the image is displayed or hidden on specific devices.
Outside of the content pane, you can also insert images by Clicking on Upload (Allows importing your own images via upload or URL.) Clicking on Images (Allows choosing images from a library of free-to-use images under Creative Commons Zero. Additionally, you can use AI to create images as well.)
Smart Button: Works similarly to headings, allowing text formatting such as bold, italicize, underline, or subscript via the toolbar.
Under Actions:
- Set a link for the button and choose the target.
- Select actions such as opening a website, sending an email, or calling a phone number.
Under Button Options:
- Text Color: Customise the button text color.
- Background Color: Set the button background color.
- Auto-Width Toggle: Enable or disable auto-width for the button.
- Font Family: Use the global font set in the body or choose a different font.
- Font Weight: Set the font weight (regular, bold, etc.).
- Font Size: Default size is 14px, but it can be adjusted.
- Alignment: Align the button left, right, centre, or justify.
Under Spacing:
- Line Height: Default is 120%, adjustable.
- Padding: Customise padding with more options toggle for unique values on each side.
- Border Settings: Adjust border type (solid, dashed, dotted), color, and width, with more options toggle for custom values.
- Rounded Border Size: Default is 4px, adjustable with more options toggle for unique values.
Container Padding: Default is 10px, with options to set unique values for each side.
Visibility: Choose to hide the button on desktop or mobile by switching between the respective tabs
The Divider element helps you create visual separation between sections of your email.
- Line Width: Adjust using a slider.
- Line Type: Choose between solid, dotted, or dashed lines.
- Line Width: Default is 1px, but adjustable.
- Line Color: Customise the color of the divider line.
- Alignment: Align the divider left, right, centre, or justify.
The HTML element allows you to insert custom HTML code directly into your email.
- Custom HTML Code: Enter your custom HTML code in the provided code box.
- Container Padding: Default is 10px, with options to set unique values for each side.
- Hide on Desktop/Mobile: Use the tabs to set visibility options, ensuring the image is displayed or hidden on specific devices.
The Menu element lets you create navigational menus within your email, providing a structured way for recipients to access different sections or links.
Adding Menu Items:
- Click Add a new item to include a new menu item.
- Customise each item with text, URL, target, and action (e.g., open website, call, or email).
Customisation Options:
- Font Family: Use the global font set in the body or choose a different font.
- Font Weight: Adjust the font weight.
- Font Size: Customise the size of the menu text.
- Text Color: Set the color for menu text.
- Link Color: Customise the color of the links.
- Alignment: Align the menu items left, right, centre, or justify.
- Layout: Choose between a horizontal or vertical layout.
- Separator: Add a separator text between menu items.
- Padding: Adjust padding with more options toggled on by default.
Container Padding: Default is 10px, with options to set unique values for each side.
Hide on Desktop/Mobile: Use the tabs to set visibility options, ensuring the image is displayed or hidden on specific devices.

Known bugs

The paragraph spacing is not correctly rendering between the email builder and the email sent. In the email builder, adding a new paragraph by pressing enter shows no paragraph spacing, whilst the email sent will correctly render the space between the two paragraphs.

Email builder preview	Email sent

How to

Setting up Custom Domains for secure email delivery using Pendula

For marketers looking to authenticate their brand and to boost credibility in their client communication, sending emails from a custom domain is imperative. In this guide, we'll walk you through the process of sending emails from your company’s domain. We’ll also cover important topics like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, all critical to fortifying your domain’s email security

Understanding SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Before setting up your custom domain, it's important to understand these key email authentication terms

Sender Policy Framework (SPF):

SPF verifies that incoming mail from a domain comes from a host authorised by that domain's administrators. This is a must-have.

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM):

DKIM uses public-key cryptography to sign an email with a private key, verifying that parts of the email have not been modified during transit. This is a must-have.

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC):

DMARC works with SPF and DKIM to detect and prevent email spoofing. It instructs the recipient’s mail server on what action to take if an email fails SPF or DKIM checks. This is optional but highly recommended.

DMARC + SPF: DMARC ensures the header “From:” address matches the return path or envelope “From:” address in the SPF record, thus validating the source of the email.
DMARC +DKIM: DMARC ensures the header “From:” domain matches the d= domain in the DKIM signature. This validates the authenticity of the message.

Why use a custom domain?

A custom domain is crucial for implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC because it allows you to control and configure the necessary DNS records. These records authenticate your email, verifying that it genuinely comes from your domain, thus preventing spoofing and phishing attacks. This setup enhances your brand's credibility and trustworthiness, ensuring your emails are recognised as legitimate by recipients' email providers and reducing the risk of being marked as spam.

Setting up your custom domain with Pendula

Step 1: Provide your domain

Start by providing Pendula with your desired domain name. This is the initial step to get your domain registered with Pendula's email service.

Step 2: Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Records

Email authentication is crucial for ensuring your emails are recognised as legitimate. Setting up these records will enhance your email credibility and reduce the risk of your emails being marked as spam.

SPF Setup

Pendula has SPF set up out of the box. No additional action is required from your side.

DKIM Setup

Obtain CNAME Records:
- After you provide your domain, Pendula will provide a set of CNAME records.
- These records are necessary for linking your domain with Pendula, allowing authenticated email sending.
Add CNAME Records to DNS Settings:
- Log in to your domain registrar’s DNS management section.
- Enter the CNAME records provided by Pendula. These records will reference Amazon SES, Pendula’s default email sending service. Example of CNAME Records:
  
  Name: [provided by Pendula]
  
  Type: CNAME
  
  Value: [provided by Pendula]

DMARC Setup

Setting up DMARC is strongly recommended to improve email security.

Create a TXT Record:
- Log in to your domain registrar’s DNS management section.
- Create a new TXT record with the following details:
  
  Name: _dmarc.example.com (replace example.com with your domain).
  
  Type: TXT
  
  Value: v=DMARC1; p=none;

The above basic configuration instructs email servers to take no action if an email fails SPF or DKIM checks. For better security, customise this value based on your organisation's needs, such as setting p=quarantine or p=reject.
None: Do nothing with the email
Quarantine: Place failed emails in the spam folder
Reject: Delete email
rua: This specifies the email address or addresses where you receive your DMARC Aggregate Reports. These reports give you valuable insights into how email senders use your domain
ruf: This specifies the email address or addresses where you receive your DMARC Forensic Reports. Unlike the aggregate reports, these reports give insights into emails that fail SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication.

How to check if your email has passed SPF, DKIM and DMARC

To verify the status of your email authentication methods, you need to examine the full email headers. Here’s how you can do it using Gmail:

First, send a test email to your address
Open the email and click on the down arrow next to the sender details to view the initial headers.
Ensure the “mailed-by” and “signed-by” headers match your domain, indicating SPF and DKIM passes.

Further, you can view full headers

Click on the three dots in the upper right corner of the email and select “Show original” to view the full headers in HTML format.
Look for “PASS” indicators next to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC results.

Push notifications

Learn how to set up push notifications with Pendula
How to

Setting up push notifications in Pendula
Make a web request Data Action

What is a push notification?

A push notification is a message sent from a server to a user's mobile device, appearing in the notification area of the device. These notifications are designed to deliver timely, relevant information to users, helping to keep them engaged with the application even when it is not actively being used.

On a mobile application, a push notification is typically triggered under one of two conditions (or both):

An event occurs inside the application:

This refers to notifications generated by the app itself based on user interactions or scheduled events. For example, a calendar app may send a reminder notification to the user about an upcoming meeting or event.

An event is received from an external application:

In this scenario, an external system or application sends data to the mobile app, which then triggers a push notification. For example, a weather app might receive data from a weather service indicating a severe weather alert, prompting the app to send a push notification to the user.

Pendula supports the second use case, where an external event triggers a push notification.

Sending push notifications from Pendula

Push notifications are sent from Pendula over HTTP, using the web request node. This allows you to send push notifications at any point in a flow where you want to communicate with your customer.

Messages are sent as JSON payloads to the backend of your push notification solution, allowing you to choose the format, timing and destination for each message.

Push notification examples

Our JSON payloads can be customised to support simple or complex use cases.

For example, you can send a simple push notification to thank a customer on an anniversary.
```
  {
  "message":{
    "token":"zbk3RNwTe3H0:CI2k_HHwgIp...",
    "notification":{
      "title":"Happy Annivesary!",
      "body":"Thank you for shopping with us! Check your email for a special thank you from us."
    }
  }
}
```
Or a complex notification that lets you adjust the notification to suit the platform your customer is using.
```
  {
    "message": {
        "token": "zbk3RNwTe3H0:CI2k_HHwgIp...",
        "notification": {
            "title": "Summer celebrations",
            "body": "It's time to celebrate summer with these great offers!!"
        },
        "android": {
            "ttl": "86400s",
            "notification": {
                "click_action": "OPEN_ACTIVITY_1"
            }
        },
        "apns": {
            "headers": {
                "apns-priority": "5"
            },
            "payload": {
                "aps": {
                    "category": "NEW_MESSAGE_CATEGORY"
                }
            }
        },
        "webpush": {
            "headers": {
                "TTL": "86400"
            }
        }
    }
}
```

Introduction

Introduction to Engagement Hub

What can you accomplish

Multi-channel, multi-step Flows

Two-way conversations with reply matching

Fallback configuration

SMS

Working with SMS

Best practices for SMS communications

Understand the legal obligations of using SMS

Start with accurate data management

Understanding SMS Segmentation and Concatenation

Managing non-GSM characters in SMS

Keep your messaging relevant and valuable to your customers

Limit your CTA to one or two options

Keep inbound responses unique

Pendula SMS capabilities

Reply matching

Rules and recipes

Nodes for SMS management

Workflow action nodes

Inbound message trigger

Understanding rules and recipes

Usage scenario

Configuring the trigger

Prioritisation in reply matching

Mergefield explorer

Opt-in and opt-out flows

Unmatched message trigger

Usage scenario

Configuring the trigger

Mergefield Explorer

Conversation node

Usage scenario

Configuring the action

Outbound SMS

Replies

Expected reply

Free reply

Outcomes

Mergefield explorer

Outbound SMS

Usage Scenario

Configuring the action

Settings

Outcomes

Merge fields

Email

Working with Email

General guidelines for writing emails

Personalisation with merge fields

Using the email builder

Optimising email campaigns with A/B Testing

Ensuring email delivery coverage

Email security

Outbound email

Configuring the action

Sender Details

Email details

Attachments

Designing email

Outcomes

Merge field explorer

Designing emails with Outbound Email node

Understanding the Interface

Choose your styles

Adding Blocks

Adding Content

Known bugs

Setting up Custom Domains for secure email delivery using Pendula

Understanding SPF, DKIM, and DMARC

Sender Policy Framework (SPF):

DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM):

Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC):

Why use a custom domain?

Setting up your custom domain with Pendula

Step 1: Provide your domain

Step 2: Implementing SPF, DKIM, and DMARC Records

How to check if your email has passed SPF, DKIM and DMARC

Push notifications