Introduction
- Message automation provides the ability to send messages based on reservation events automatically
- Automated messages can include information gathered from the listing, reservation, and other details. For example, you can write: Hello [guest_name], which pulls the guest's name from the reservation
- We strongly suggest that you create one automation per topic and then use fields instead of creating one automation per listing, for each topic. This will make it easier for you to manage and update the automation
- All automations are created when we receive a reservation and then sent based on the selected events. You will be able to manage the automation before it is sent: Cancel, Edit, or Send Immediately
- Any new automation will be applied to newly created reservations
- Newly created automation will create automated messages for past/existing reservations depending on the event trigger and additional conditions set on the automation. Even if it is a newly created automation, the automated message will still be created for an existing or previous reservation as long as it is within the timeframe and condition of the automated message. For example: Reservation date is October 30 / Check-in date is November 11 / Check-out date is November 18. If the automation is created on November 11 and is set to trigger "at reservation" then the message will not be sent. If the automation is created on November 11 and is set to trigger 1 day before checkout, then the message will be sent.
- If a reservation is in pending status and the automation is modified or created before the reservation is set to new, the automation will not be sent because Hostaway does not know if the content is still correct. You should do it manually.
- When you deactivate the automation, you will be given the option to delete or leave the scheduled messages. Leaving them does not mean that they will be sent; they are scheduled messages and should be sent manually.
How to create an automated message?
In your Hostaway Dashboard > Messages > Automation
- Automation name > For Internal use
- Send it by SMS > Read about the SMS feature
- CC email > To send a copy of the automation
- Subject > Will be displayed if this message is sent as an email. You can use fields
- Message > Enter your message. Remember to use fields (Read more below)
- Languages > Read more here
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Event Trigger > Select when you want this automation to be sent
Automation can be created for all channels or multiple channels, all listings, multiple listings selection or based on one listing or it can be channel-specific.- Reservation. The message is sent when a new reservation comes in
- Guest Arrival (check-in). Message sent to the guest based on arrival day/time
- Guest Departure (check-out). Message sent to the guest during or after check-out
- Guest Inquiry
- Pending reservation
- Reservation Cancellation
- Payment Success. Only applicable for Hostaway managed charges through a payment processor, for channels that handle charges directly such as Airbnb, it's better to use the "Is Paid" status trigger)
- Payment Fail
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Day of the week. A specific day of the week/specific time. Allows you to choose a day of the week and a time when the messages will be sent while a reservation is ongoing. After selecting the days and the time you will visualize two boxes:
- Trigger on check-in day: if selected the automation will be triggered after the check-in time
- Trigger on check-out day: if selected the automation will be triggered after the check-out time
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Message received
- Sometimes it is interesting to trigger message automation depending on the time messages are received, for example, to create out-of-office messages or to just inform the guests that they will be answered soon.
To bring more possibilities, we added some extra options:
- Trigger only for the first guest message in the thread
- Trigger on specific days and hours for a timezone
- Sometimes it is interesting to trigger message automation depending on the time messages are received, for example, to create out-of-office messages or to just inform the guests that they will be answered soon.
- Door code created
- Online check-in form submitted
- Guest submitted review. You can trigger automation messages to guests when or after a review has been submitted. A possible use case could be to send them a message to thank them for the review. This automation is triggered by published reviews
- Pre-auth hold success. You can set up automation when the pre-auth is a success. There might be that a reservation has more than one pre-auth. If even one is “hold success” it is enough for the condition to apply
- Online check-in available. If this event is selected the message will be sent whenever the Online check-in form is available on the Guest Portal
- Additional Conditions > Read more below
- Channels > You can select one or multiple channels
- Listings > You can select one of multiple listings
- Add automatically new listings > If you are adding new listings, do you want them to be added to this automation or not
- Apply listing Timezone > If you want to apply listing timezone or not
- Always trigger > If this automation is outside of the event rule (ie. guest booked for tomorrow but the event is 4 days before check-in) do you want to send it or not?
Messages style
Using fields and custom fields in messages
You can use fields and custom fields for your automated messages. The field you select from the dropdown will automatically add the value that belongs to it when an email is sent out to a guest. For example, if you write "Hello "guest_name" it will then take the name of the guest from the reservation details and replace this text with "Hello John Do":
Likewise, you can select custom fields and add them to the automation messages that you create:
If you want to add photos to a message automation you can use custom fields following the next steps:
- Save a photo on Google Drive
- Go to your Hostaway Dashboard > Listings > Manage custom fields
- Add custom field > Custom field name > Add new field
- Go to Listings > Edit > Custom fields > Paste the Google Drive photo link > Save
- Go to Inbox > Automations > Select the Automation > Edit
- Select the listing custom field from the dropdown
- Save
You can find more information about custom fields in this article.
Notes
- If a custom field is empty, it will be replaced with a space in the message. Always make sure you have entered the information for the fields you use
- Some channels use spam filters that can prevent certain information such as emails, contact details, and URLs from being included in messages
- Booking.com may block the Guest Portal link being sent if you don't make some adjustments in the Booking.com Extranet. Please visit their article about messaging security settings and make the necessary changes
- Booking.com does not support clickable links, such as URLs, email addresses, or phone numbers in messages sent via their Extranet. Any messages that contain clickable links or phone numbers will not be sent or displayed on the Booking.com Extranet. You can send these via SMS or to guests' private emails instead. For any issue with links you may contact Booking.com support since they're blocking it, this is not on Hostaway's side. Please visit their article about messaging security settings
- For Airbnb reservations that are not in a confirmed status, inquiries included, any contact information or external URLs sent in the message may cause the message to fail
Price for Extra Person fields
We have 2 fields for Extra Person:
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{{listing_price_for_extra_person}}: Will return the value and currency that is on the listing level (Listing > Edit > Price and Fees)
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{{reservation_price_for_extra_person}}: Will return the value and currency for that reservation
Send time
The time for sending out messages can be set freely depending on the event. In this way, you can send messages minutes, hours, or days before or after the event. Keep in mind that some channels generate temporary guest email addresses that might be deleted before your automation message has been sent out. You can get the personal email address from your guest as soon as possible to make sure you can reach out to them after check-out.
Example: If you have set an automated message based on 1 hour before or 1 hour after a check-in event, this is based on the check-in time listed in the reservation details. If the time was not provided by the channel, it takes the standard check-in time from the listing details.
Notes
- The amounts cannot be superior to 60 days or their equivalent in hours/minutes
- For Booking.com the property can send messages from the time of booking until seven days after check-out or seven days after cancellation
Using Additional Conditions for Automations
You can customize your automations based on specific conditions such as the number of guests, length of stay, guest review, and more. This helps ensure that the right message is sent to the right guest, depending on the details of their reservation.
For example, if a guest books a stay for more than two weeks, you might want to send them different messages than if their reservation is for just two days.
How Additional Conditions Work:
- These conditions are supported across all channels connected to Hostaway, including Booking.com and Airbnb.
- If you set up a condition based on, for instance, a guest review, it will apply to reservations from both Booking.com and Airbnb.
Important Notes:
- Once an automation with additional conditions is created, you cannot modify the conditions. This helps keep the system simple and avoids complexity in managing pre-generated messages.
- Automations will only be sent if the specified conditions are met when the initial trigger is active. If the conditions are not met within the trigger timeframe, the message will not be sent.
By using additional conditions, you can better tailor your communication and ensure that the right message is sent to your guests at the right time.
Send messages depending on "Listing Availability"
Using the "listing Availability" condition will automate messages to be sent only if the listing is available for a given number of days before/after the stay. You can choose the number of days, and whether the condition is for the exact number of days, equal or more to that number, or between a range.
For example, you can choose to send a special offer to extend their stay only if the listing is available at least 2 days before/after their reserved stay. This is useful to be able to upsell and make use of vacant days between reservations.
Send message automation based on the "Advance Time"
Send messages as per "Reservation Custom Fields"
This condition allows sending message automation according to the values of reservation custom fields. This allows the creation of custom messaging flows that depend on specific and fully customizable characteristics of each reservation. The options for the condition are is, is not, contains, is empty, and is not empty.
Every time a custom field is changed, we check if the automation rules still apply so that you can change those fields freely and the automation will cancel/resume accordingly. Combined with guests' ability to update custom fields through the guest portal this is a very powerful tool for customizing message automation.
Edit your automation
To edit automation go to Messages > Automations > Edit Automation
- Event triggers cannot be edited
- Once saving a modification, you will need to choose if you want to apply changes to existing scheduled messages or not
- When disabling an automation, an option will appear to allow you to delete pre-generated messages but do bear in mind that if you enable the automation afterward (and have deleted those messages) no messages will be generated for existing reservations
- If messages are not deleted, they will stay in the status "sending". Once the automation is activated again, the messages that are scheduled to be sent 6 hours or more before the automation is activated will not be sent and will be marked as failed, all the other messages will be sent as per the scheduled time.
How to Manage Automated Messages?
In Hostaway > Inbox > Manage messages, you can preview, edit, cancel, pause, and manually send automated messages.
There are two ways to manage scheduled messages/automation in Hostaway.
Manage automation from the message thread
You can manage automation from a thread using one of these buttons
Manage automation from the Manager Automation page
If you would like a more in-depth view, every automation you set up will generate a message that you will be able to visualize and control from the Hostaway dashboard
What do the Message Statuses mean?
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Scheduled. This is a message that is scheduled to be sent according to the trigger event of its parent automation. Scheduled messages can be sent manually, paused, or canceled. You will get 3 icons
- Sending: > icon. The message will be sent immediately
- Pausing: || icon. Clicking on the same icon will unpause the message and this will go back to being scheduled. If its parent trigger event has passed, you can still manually send this message as above
- Editing: Pencil icon. This action will take you to the message generated by the automation. You can edit any text or fields and also send, save, or pause the message
- Canceled. This message has been canceled manually after being scheduled. Canceled messages cannot be scheduled again and sent.
- Canceled by System. This is a message that has been canceled due to the reservation being canceled. Canceled messages cannot be scheduled again and sent.
- Paused. This is a message that has been manually paused. Paused Messages can be "Unpaused". The message will become scheduled again and you can either manually send it or wait for the automation trigger event to take effect. If the message is unpaused after the automation trigger event has passed, you can still send it manually.
- Sent. A message that has been successfully sent.
- Failed. A message that has failed due to a system issue. E.g. the email server of the guest is not available. A failed message cannot be scheduled and sent again manual
Note: Editing a specific automation does not change the automation. It will only change that specific message for that specific Guest.