Create a Standard Message

You can get really creative and specific with Messages in terms of who sees what Message when. There are many options to explore — get creative and experiment! If you're looking for ideas on other Messages you can create, start over at Explore Messages where you'll find links to examples by industry. 

This article will walk you through creating a simple standard Message. The Banana Shirt Message in the example below will serve up a call-to-action for the visitor to pre-order a new design of shirt. This Message will show to any visitor the first time they visit a page that has the J&G Beacon installed. 

You need to have the Messages & Beacons: Create, edit, delete permission to follow these steps. 

Head to Messages from the top menu and you're on your way!

1

Click Create Message in the top right corner if you're not already on the New Message screen. Give your Message a name that only your Help Scout Users will see. Choose Standard for the Display type, then click Create.

2

Start on the Create tab. First up, choose the Beacon that will show this Message. Make sure the Beacon you choose is installed on the pages where you want this Message to appear on your site or web-based app. 

Set an optional Heading and Subtitle (up to 255 characters), then enter the Body of the Message (up to 500 characters). Choose an image to display if you would like. These elements will be visible in the final Message. 

For more on the options for the message body formatting, including inserting images or videos, see Style Your Message.

3

Select the Action you want to take and define the button text for your action. Choose whether you want the message to repeat. 

Check out Messages Actions, Events, and Audience for more details on each Action, including full details on the microsurvey options available. 

4

Choose whether your Message will show a button, and if so if it should show the standard Beacon button or one of your User's avatars. Select the avatar option and you'll see an Edit link to choose which of your team's avatars will be this Message button. 

A preview of your Message will show on the right side of your screen as you fill in these fields.

5

Click the Events tab at the top of the page. Choose First visit to show your Message to visitors the first time they land on a page with your Beacon.

Head over to Messages Actions, Events, and Audience for more detail on the Sequence of events or Manual options.

6

Click Audience as the top of the page. Choose Everyone to show the message to all visitors that meet the Event criteria.

See Messages Actions, Events, and Audience for more information on the Selected people option.

7

Click Schedule at the top of the page. Choose Now to start your Message showing as soon as you finish the setup. Choose At a certain time to specify dates for the start and end of the Message campaign. 

8

Click Save in the top right corner when you've set each option, then choose Review and Start to review your choices and start the Message, following the schedule you set. Click Start and confirm it to get things going. 

And ta-da — you've created a Message! 🎉

Hop in there and try different options, and check out Messages Performance Reports for more information on the metrics available.