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Twilio beta automation: send SMS to linked records

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teshannon
4 - Data Explorer
4 - Data Explorer

Hello, is there a way to run an automation for every linked item within a record? I am either short a few brain cells or this may be a setup issue.

I have a business table and a member table. The business can have many members, and the member can have many businesses. However, I want to send a specific text message (via twilio beta) from each business to only their linked members. Is there a way to do this? Twilio throws an error (blank value) when I pick values from the linked member list. I almost think I need a third helper table with single member to single business links. For consideration, the member list would ideally be unique values. Additionally, I would be looking to build this out only to send a message on a member's birthday. Thank you!

3 Replies 3

Hmm, is it possible to send the member one SMS that includes all of the business birthday offers?  If so, if it's possible to rollup all the available offers for each Member in the `Members` table, you could use the `Members` table as the automation trigger instead?

If you need to send one SMS per business on the member's birthday, then I think you'll need a third helper table like you said

Well, it is more so solving for the possibility a member is signed to multiple business birthday clubs. However, that possibility is low. So I may be chasing too much here, but I want to account for it as there may be clients that own multiple brands.

Or, I may have this backward. It may be better to have a member (phone number) have a single business, and a business has multiple members. This keeps the messaging automation clean: if a number has a birthdate that equals today, send a message for the business they are signed up for.

I then build a helper table to aggregate the number of businesses with which a single phone number is associated.

The only issue I face now is how to limit a phone number from signing up to a business birthday club multiple times. They can only link with that business once.

Hm okay, I'm pretty confused about the SMS bit at this point, but it seems like you've got a solution in mind. 

Just for my own peace of mind: If you're alright with a scenario where phone number 123456 is signed up to 5 businesses, all of which have birthday offers, and once it's that phone number's birthday that number receives a single SMS with all 5 offers in it

Then I would just create a new field in the "Businesses" table called "SMS Text" or something, with the text that I'd want sent to the phone number for that business, e.g. `Donut World - 50% off box of 12!`

Each phone number would be linked to the relevant "Businesses" record, so I'd do a new rollup field in the "Members" table that would create a field with all the text to be sent, resulting in something like:

```
Donut World - 50% off box of 12!
Slushie Zone - 1 for 1 large slushie!
```

And then trigger off of the Members record when the birthday value = today like you said

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> The only issue I face now is how to limit a phone number from signing up to a business birthday club multiple times. They can only link with that business once.

Automation action would deal with this for you I think.  On signup, check whether it exists, if yes then mark this as "inactive" or something?