• We continue to learn as more activity is being run across different sectors, with varying objectives. We hope that clients will continue to share knowledge and feedback to us – so we can continue to develop our service to make it work even better in the future.
  • The SMS alert should come from an organisation people have heard of ("UNICEF") - or an individual ("FredSmith") - but as you can only use up to 11 characters, and you don't have enough - then "Voicemail" can work well, as it explains to the recipient that they have a voice message to pick up.
  • Say enough in the SMS alert to get people to listen – but not too much – tease people to get them to listen to their voice message! Don't give too much detail away or confuse people.
  • Using a celebrity name can double or triple listen rates – people want to hear what a celebrity supporting a charity, or perhaps the Manager of a football team have to say… and then make it very obvious that the message comes from them.
  • Personalise the SMS alerts if you can - "Fred, you've been left a message by David Beckham…" it makes it seem more for them and special, and thus lifts listen rates.
  • The voice message should sound natural – rather than being read from a script… perhaps draw up a set of points to get across/key words etc. – but then let the person do it in their own way. Keep it short and sweet if promoting something as people want to hear the information and then take action - don't have them switch off by boring them!
  • If you are having a call to action after the message - i.e. perhaps you have set the message up so that the person can be put through to a designated number with one click - then mention this in the voice message - "you can speak to one of our team, by choosing 2 after this message…”
  • Always play back the recording having done it - to check it sounds ok, and the signal has not dropped out for a second. It’s easy to re-record it until you get it right.
  • Ideally pre-record the message - but make sure that the format it has been recorded in "works" with CleverVoice - the best way is to send it to yourself, to test it out. Any issues then contact CleverVoice and we can convert it to a format that will work, i.e. a .wav format. (Guidance on formats is in our FAQs)
  • If you want to put a URL in the message, best put it at the end of the alert SMS so it doesn't get in the way. Keeping things simple (i.e. just getting people to listen to their message) is often best.
  • When to send the messages? It depends on what it is about and obviously the urgency - but giving people time during the day to pick them up when convenient we think is best - perhaps 11am in the morning. Best to avoid Fridays if possible - unless last minute instructions ahead of a weekend event perhaps.
  • Give people time to pick up the messages. If it is for an event, then send it the day before - or at least a few hours ahead - to maximise the chances of people listening.
    More information and advice is available on the FAQs: https://www.clevervoice.com/frequently-asked-questions/