Placeholders in messages

You can use the following placeholders in a message:

• Sample/Panel placeholders
• Survey placeholders

Sample/Panel variables as a placeholder

Both the e-mail messages and the sms messages to be sent to the various sample or panel members can be personalised. For example, in a message you can use placeholders – {{member.FirstName}} and {{member.LastName}} – at the position of the first and last name of a sample or panel member, so that upon sending an email or text message, each sample or panel member will receive a personalised survey invitation to fill out a survey. The positions of both placeholders will then contain the first and last name of the invited members.

The variables which can be used, are:

• All system variables defined by default for the samples or panels in a workspace, for example:
  – E-mail {{member.Email}}
  – First name {{member.FirstName}}
  – Last name {{member.LastName}}
  – Language {{member.Language}}
  – Access code {{member.Code}}

• All custom member variables added by users to the samples or panels in a workspace, for example:
  – Date of Birth {{member.Date_of_Birth}}
  – City {{member.City}}
  – Function {{member.Function}}

Note: Certain special characters, as well as spaces, are changed to an underscore (_) in the placeholder. Example: A variable named ‘Date of Birth’ is converted to {{member.Date_of_Birth}}.

Opt-out link

The {{member.opt_out_link}} placeholder is not really a sample or panel variable. Using this placeholder, a URL appears in the message that allows a sample or panel member to unsubscribe from participating in surveys. Once this respondent has been added to the opt-out list, he/she will no longer receive e-mail messages from your account. In order to comply with the GDPR (Privacy Act), this placeholder must be added to your e-mail message.

This placeholder has already been included by default in the message layouts of Survalyzer.

Survey variables as a placeholder

The only survey placeholder that can be included in a message, is:

• {{survey.personal_link}}

This is also the most frequently used variable, as it is replaced by a personal link. A personal link contains a reference to the survey, the sender of the message and identifies a respondent. By using this variable, you can see how many and which sample/panel members have completed a survey. Moreover, this variable allows you to prevent multiple participations in a survey by the same respondent, provided you have indicated this in your survey settings.

Note: To ensure guaranteed use of Survalyzer’s functionality, you are advised to use this placeholder in all messages you create and send with Survalyzer. If you do not use this placeholder, the distributor response statistics, for example, will not work.

The {{survey.personal_link}} placeholder has already been included by default in the message layouts of Survalyzer, under the start button of a survey. This placeholder is indicated in the Selected element field of the corresponding message layout.

Include placeholder in message

When inviting respondents via e-mail or SMS to fill out a survey, you can include placeholders in the message to be sent in the fourth stage of the associated procedure, i.e. Text (see Invite sample members by e-mail for survey or Invite sample members by sms for survey).

As soon as you click an invitation text box in a message and immediately afterwards select the Rich Text Editor… pop-up link, the RTE window will be activated. The Rich Text Editor (RTE) is a tool for formatting your message.

To insert a placeholder (e.g. First name) in the RTE window, proceed as follows:

• Click the Placeholder icon (1) to extend the RTE window with the available placeholders.
• Click on the triangle in front of Member (2) at the bottom of the RTE window, in order to display all sample/panel variables defined for the workspace, see the Placeholder column on the right.
• Specify the position in the text box where the placeholder should be inserted.
• Click the {{member.FirstName}} link (4) to insert this placeholder at the indicated position in the textbox.

• Click the Save changes button (5) in the Rich text editor. The selected placeholder will be included in the message.

When the corresponding respondent receives an invitation, his/her first name will be indicated at the position of the placeholder.