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Email and SMS

Email and SMS are the two direct-invite channels. Both can send to a single recipient or to a list, and both respect your suppression and opt-out rules automatically.

Sending an invitation​

From a survey's Distribute tab:

  1. Choose the channel (email or SMS).
  2. Single recipient — enter one address or phone number.
  3. Bulk — paste a list of addresses, one per line or comma-separated. Duplicates are removed automatically.
  4. Optionally pick an email template (email only).
  5. Send.

Each send is checked against suppression before it goes out. The result tells you how many were sent, suppressed, and failed. A single bad recipient never fails the whole batch — it's reported individually.

How SMS surveys work​

SMS has two modes, chosen automatically based on the survey:

  • Interactive — if the survey's questions can be answered over SMS, the conversation starts immediately and the respondent replies turn by turn.
  • Link-based — otherwise, Davies CXsmart generates a short link and texts it to the recipient.

Email templates​

Email invitations can use a reusable template that you build under Admin → Email templates. A template has a name, subject, HTML body, and a plain-text fallback.

Personalisation variables​

Templates support merge variables that are filled in per recipient:

VariableResolves to
{{link}}The survey link (click-tracked).
{{surveyUrl}}The survey's URL.
{{surveyId}}The survey's identifier.
{{name}}The recipient's name, when provided.
{{custom_…}}Any custom column you mapped in a file-drop send.

If you don't choose a template, a simple default invitation is used.

Open and click tracking​

Templated emails include:

  • An open pixel that records when the email is opened.
  • Click-wrapped links that record when the survey link is clicked.

The Email templates page shows aggregate open rate and click rate across all sends that used each template.

Recipient activity and bounces​

Davies CXsmart tracks delivery outcomes per recipient — sent, opened, clicked, and bounced — so you can see how a campaign performed and investigate delivery problems. Hard bounces are handled so repeatedly undeliverable addresses are not contacted again.

:::tip Keep your lists clean Bounces and opt-outs feed your suppression controls. Review Suppression and opt-out to understand how contacts get blocked and how the contact-frequency cap protects respondents from over-surveying. :::

Scheduling​

Bulk and file-drop sends can be scheduled for a future time rather than sent immediately. See File drop for the scheduled-send workflow.

Next steps​