Personalization makes your marketing messages feel more relevant to customers. By tailoring your SMS and Rich Communication Services (RCS) campaigns, you can build a stronger connection with your audience and improve how well your messages are received.

This article explains how to use personalization in MoEngage SMS and RCS campaigns, including one-time, periodic, and event-triggered messages.

The SMS & RCS content fields that can be personalized contain the placeholder text Type @ to personalize.

SMS RCS

Data Personalization

You can personalize your messages using user attributes, Product Sets, and Content APIs. To insert personalization into a message field, type @. The personalization menu opens, as shown in the following image:

Choose Fallback

When you personalize a message, a fallback option helps ensure content is always displayed, even if the chosen attribute is unavailable for a user or fails to display correctly.

You can select from these fallback options:

• Select No Fallback in case there is no alternative to the failed attribute. The personalized attribute will be substituted with an empty string in case of personalization failure.
• Select Do not send SMS & RCS when you choose not to send the SMS & RCS in case of personalization failure.
• Select Replace text in case you choose to replace the failed attribute with a text of your choice. The personalized attribute will be replaced with the text you provide in the Fallback text field in case of personalization failure

Personalization for Business Event-Triggered Campaigns

In business event-triggered SMS & RCS campaigns, you can use attributes from the mapped business event to personalize messages. This allows you to use a single template for multiple campaigns, significantly reducing effort and enabling automation. For example, you can create one campaign template to communicate information about various new web series, personalizing each message with details like series name, image, cast, and air date based on user interests.

To personalize content with business event attributes:

1. Type @ in the content creation step to invoke the personalization editor.
2. The attributes of the Business Event mapped to the campaign are shown under the Business Event Attribute, as shown in the following image:
   
3. Select the attribute you want to use for personalization, and then customize your message.

For more information, refer to Message Personalisation.

Personalize using Content Blocks

Content Blocks are reusable content snippets you can use across various campaigns. These are especially helpful for standard elements like headers, footers, signature blocks, or terms and conditions.

To personalize your messages using a content block:

1. Type @ in the message section.
2. In the personalization menu that appears, click the Content blocks tab.
   
3. Click Done to add the selected Content Block, and it gets added to the message as shown below.
4. Turn on the Insert only the content of the content block toggle to disconnect the content from the existing content block, and any future updates to the content block will not be reflected in the campaign. This step is optional.

SMS RCS

For more information, refer to Personalize Content Using Content Blocks.

Personalize Using Auxiliary Data

You can personalize your SMS & RCS content using auxiliary data by selecting the auxiliary data attributes in the personalization editor.

To personalize content using Auxiliary Data attributes:

1. Type @ in the Message field to invoke the personalization editor.
2. Select the Aux Data tab.
3. In the Aux data drop-down list, select the Auxiliary Data file whose attribute you wish to use for personalization.
4. In the Lookup value drop-down list, select the primary key specified for the Auxiliary Data during import. This will identify the user for whom the Auxiliary Data is being fetched.
5. In the Attribute drop-down list, specify the attribute to be personalized using Auxiliary Data.
6. Click Done. The Auxiliary Data JINJA gets added to the field or the editor.
   

For more information, refer to Personalize Campaign Content Using Auxiliary Data.

Personalize Using Content APIs

SMS Campaigns can be personalized using Content APIs to deliver relevant and timely information to the customers. 

Add Content APIs

Content APIs can be added to the MoEngage dashboard. Using the following navigation to access Content API: Settings > APIs > Content API and click Add to add the Content API. For more information, refer to Personalize Content Using Content APIs.

Create a Personalized Campaign using Content API

1. Type @ in the content creation step to invoke the personalization editor.
2. In the SMS and RCS personalization pop-up, navigate to the Data Personalization tab.
3. Search for Content API and select the API from the list. 
   

Mobile User's View of SMS and RCS

The following image illustrates how a user view SMS / RCS message on their mobile device:

SMS RCS