Pre-Knock and Post-Knock Text Messages
Increase engagement before and after a door knock by automatically sending text messages to voters. Campaigns can send a reminder before an advocate arrives or automatically follow up based on the outcome of the visit.
Prerequisite: Your campaign must have an approved 10DLC brand and campaign before SMS texting can be used. If your organization is not 10DLC approved, pre-knock and post-knock texting will not be available.
How It Works
The setup consists of two steps:
Create the text messages in your survey.
Schedule the pre-knock text from your campaign's SMS page.
Post-knock texts are sent automatically and do not require scheduling.
Step 1: Create Text Messages in Your Survey
Open your survey and scroll to the Texting section.
Here you can configure both Pre-Knock and Post-Knock messages.
Pre-Knock Text
Enable Pre-Knock Text and enter the message you want voters to receive before an advocate visits.
You can personalize the message using merge fields such as:
First Name
Last Name
Example:
Hi {First Name}, we'll be in your neighborhood today and would love the opportunity to speak with you.
Post-Knock Texts
Enable Post-Knock Texts to automatically send a text after a door knock.
Select one or more door outcomes (dispositions) that should trigger a message.
Supported dispositions include:
Not Home
Gated / No Access
Dangerous / Dog
Deceased
Moved
Hostile / Refused
Survey
Each selected disposition can have its own customized message.
For example:
Not Home
Sorry we missed you today! We'd still love to connect.
Survey Completed
Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today!
Like pre-knock texts, post-knock messages also support merge fields.
Step 2: Schedule a Pre-Knock Text
Once your survey has a pre-knock message configured, open the campaign and navigate to the SMS section.
The configured message will appear under Pre-Knock.
From here you'll:
Select which walkbooks should receive the message.
Choose the date.
Choose the time.
Click Schedule.
Choosing Which Walkbooks Receive the Text
Click the Send To dropdown.
You can choose:
All Walkbooks to notify every voter in the campaign.
One or more specific walkbooks if you only want to notify voters assigned to selected walkbooks.
This is useful when advocates are canvassing different areas on different days.
Sending a Text from an Individual Walkbook
If you only want to send a pre-knock text for a single walkbook, open that walkbook.
The SMS section allows you to schedule the message directly for that walkbook without affecting the rest of the campaign.
This is ideal when teams are canvassing independently or on different schedules.
How Post-Knock Texts Are Sent
Unlike pre-knock texts, post-knock texts are fully automatic.
After an advocate records a door outcome in the mobile app:
The disposition is saved.
The system checks whether a text has been configured for that disposition.
If one exists, the message is sent automatically.
No additional action is required from the advocate.
For example:
A voter marked Not Home receives the Not Home follow-up.
A voter marked Moved receives the Moved message.
A completed Survey can trigger a thank-you text.
The campaign's SMS page is used to schedule pre-knock text messages. Once scheduled, message delivery and performance can be monitored from the campaign's Texting Outreach page.
That more accurately reflects the workflow:
Build the messages in the Survey.
Schedule pre-knock texts from the SMS section.
Monitor results from the Texting Outreach page. This makes the user journey much clearer.
Viewing Text Message Statistics
Statistics for both pre-knock and post-knock text messages are available on the Texting Outreach page.
There you can monitor the performance of your texting campaign, including:
Messages scheduled
Messages sent
Delivery status
Estimated reach
Credits used
Additional texting performance metrics
The Texting Outreach page provides a centralized view of all SMS activity across your campaign, making it easy to track scheduled pre-knock messages and automatically generated post-knock follow-up texts.