SMS Conversations
SMS Conversations makes it easy to offer friendly, real-time support through text messaging. Customers simply send a message to your SMS number and your team can reply directly from a shared inbox. It’s a practical way to deliver helpful service after a purchase, answer quick questions, and gather feedback—all while keeping communication warm and efficient.
How Conversations works
Think of Conversations as a text message inbox for your business. Whenever a customer sends a text that isn’t tied to a keyword like STOP or JOIN, a new conversation begins in Delivra. From there, you can respond just like you would in any text thread.
A few key things to know:
You cannot start a conversation with a customer; they must text you first.
You cannot text anyone who hasn’t opted in to SMS.
Branded sender IDs (alphanumeric numbers) cannot be used with Conversations as they cannot receive inbound messages.
Viewing your Conversations
Open the inbox
Select Conversations in the left sidebar.
A red notification will indicate unread messages are in your inbox
Review the inbox for inbound conversations. A blue dot indicates a new or unread message.
Conversation details
When you open a thread you will see:
The last 50 messages between your team and the profile, including any flow, campaign, and auto-responder messages you sent.
Profile details: SMS subscription status, location if available, recent activity, and message they're responding to.
Conversation statuses
Open: Active conversations needing attention or awaiting a reply.
Snoozed: Temporarily hidden until the date and time you choose.
Closed (archived): Completed conversations that no longer appear in your inbox but can be reopened.
Each conversation is also marked read or unread. Unread conversations display a blue dot.
Snoozing a conversation
Snooze lets you hide a thread until you’re ready to come back to it—ideal if you need more time to research or want a reminder to follow up.
Go to the Conversations tab and open a thread.
Click Snooze.
Enter the exact date and time you’d like the conversation to reappear.
Click Confirm.
At the scheduled time, the conversation automatically returns to your Open messages. To view snoozed threads at any time, use the Status filter and choose Snoozed.
Closing and reopening
Close a conversation
Archive completed threads to keep your inbox clean.
Open the conversation.
Click Close.
If the customer sends a new message later, the thread reopens automatically.
Reopen a conversation
Go to the Conversations tab and filter by Closed.
Open the conversation.
Select Re-open.
The thread returns to your inbox in chronological order.
Blocking a profile
To stop receiving messages from a profile:
Open the conversation.
Click the three vertical dots.
Select Block Profile.
Blocking closes the conversation, removes all past and future messages, and prevents new notifications. Blocked messages cannot be recovered.
Marking messages as unread
Use this when you want to return to a message later.
Open the conversation.
Click the three vertical dots.
Select Mark Unread.
The blue dot indicator reappears for that conversation.
Filters
You can filter your inbox by:
Status: Open, Closed, or Snoozed
Read state: Unread or Read
Attribution: Responses tied to specific campaigns or automations
Replying to subscribers
Open the conversation and use the reply field below the message history.
The SMS contact must be subscribed to your SMS program. Messages to contacts who have not opted in will not be delivered.
Enter your text and either press Enter on your keyboard or click "Send Message". You can also include images, gifs, and emojis if your SMS number is MMS-enabled.
Key settings for Conversations
Access settings from the Inbox tab by clicking the gear icon.
Auto-responder
If no one is monitoring the inbox, update the message with clear expectations. Example: “This inbox is not being monitored due to the holiday. We’ll return on Monday.”
- Auto-responder messages will be visible on a contact's profile and on SMS tracking statistics report.
Notifications about new messages
Email notifications: Off by default. Send an email to one or more addresses when a new message arrives. Helpful if SMS is part of your support workflow.
Unread message indicator: On by default. Shows the number of profiles with unread conversations.
Practical use cases
Post-purchase support: Confirm orders and shipments, while letting customers know they can reply with questions.
Answer common questions: Use automation for FAQs and provide a path to a human when needed.
VIP outreach: Send exclusive offers or set up a concierge-style SMS service.
Collect feedback: Invite customers to reply with short reviews or even product photos.
Recover abandoned carts: Focus on offering help with the product rather than pushing for purchase.
Best practices and tips
Respond quickly: Aim to reply within the hour. Customers expect faster responses via text than email.
Check local time: Avoid sending before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in the recipient’s timezone.
Set expectations: Use your auto-responder when you’re not available to reply live.
Key limitations
- Conversations can only be initiated by your customers.
- You cannot message profiles who are not currently opt-ed in to receive your SMS messages.
- Branded sender IDs (alphanumeric) are not supported for Conversations because they cannot receive inbound messages.
- Confirm opt-in and other recognized keywords (STOP/START/HELP) are handled outside Conversations. All other inbound messages route to the Conversations inbox.
Interested?
SMS Conversations is available on the Professional license and above. Your account must have SMS enabled to use Conversations. Contact your Customer Success Manager at success@delivra.com about enabling this feature in your account!