User Guide | Parachute

Welcome to Parachute Text! Whether you’re a new customer or just interested in using our service, this is a step-by-step guide that explains how to use Parachute to create keywords, send mass texts, upload your email contact list and send mass emails.


WHAT IS A KEYWORD?


The Parachute system uses KEYWORDS to ensure the right messages get sent to the right subscribers. Keywords are essentially segmented distribution lists that tell our system which recipients and where we should be sending your messages.


Keywords group your contacts into separate unique contact lists (for example Group A and Group B) so that when you send out a mass text or mass email, you can decide which keywords and which subscribers will receive your messages. If you only want Group A to receive a mass message and NOT Group B - then you only select the keyword to include Group A.


For example, if Jack and Jill have subscribed to your MONDAY text message keyword… Jack and Jill will receive all mass texts that you send out when you select the MONDAY keyword.


HOW DO I CREATE KEYWORDS?


Try to create a keyword that is short and direct. Something that is related to your business or service or marketing campaign. When you need to send a mass message, you can select the keyword and any contacts that are subscribed to that specific keyword will receive your mass text and/or mass email. You can create an unlimited number of keywords with unlimited subscribers for each keyword.


After you login to your Parachute account, please follow the instructions below to add a new keyword.


STEP 1 – Click the KEYWORDS link on the left side of the page AND then click the blue NEW KEYWORD button at the top.



STEP 2 – Create a KEYWORD NAME, brief WELCOME MESSAGE and select the EMAIL KEYWORD if you’d like to send mass messages via email or SMS KEYWORD if you’d like to send mass messages via text. Then click the blue CREATE NEW KEYWORD button to finalize your keyword.



STEP 3 – That’s it! You’ve successfully created a new keyword. You will be automatically redirected to the KEYWORDS page. To view your keyword details, simply click the new keyword created from Step 2.



STEP 4 – On the KEYWORD DETAILS page, you will see the automated opt-in instructions that you need to provide to your list of contacts.



Tell your recipients to send a text with your KEYWORD to your dedicated Parachute phone number listed on this page in your account.


After your recipient sends the text with the KEYWORD phrase, the opt-in process will be complete and you can then send mass texts to each person that sent the opt-in text message.


HOW DO I UPLOAD MY CONTACTS FOR MASS TEXTS?


It is not possible to upload or import a list of contacts for mass text messages. Unsolicited marketing in violation of laws and regulations pertaining to telemarketing through the service is prohibited and a material violation of our terms of service. To protect the integrity of our systems and message delivery rates for all customers, all subscribers that receive mass texts sent from Parachute must first opt-in to give their permission. Your subscribers only need to opt-in once and the process is as simple as sending a single text message.


For example, if your mass text keyword is MONDAY, your subscriber would need to send a text message from their mobile phone to your dedicated Parachute phone number with the phrase MONDAY to opt-in to receive mass texts from your Parachute account. After a recipient sends the opt-in text message to your dedicated Parachute phone number, they will instantly be eligible to receive mass texts from your account.


Your Parachute phone number can be found on the keywords detail page and in your settings when you’re logged into your account. You can easily tell your family, friends, clients or customers to text your special keyword phrase to your dedicated Parachute number to sign up for mass texts!


Get subscribers by displaying your Parachute number and special keyword where everyone can see it! If you already have a list of contacts, you can also simply give them your dedicated number and keyword to sign up. If you have customers, simply tell them to sign up for your new text message notifications or discounts. If you have a social media following like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook / Meta, or any other social connections, it’s easy to send a quick message to let everyone know about your new dedicated number and keyword so they can sign up!


HOW DO I SEND A MASS TEXT?


You must first create a new SMS KEYWORD following the HOW DO I CREATE KEYWORDS? instructions listed above before you can send a mass text message. After you have created a new SMS KEYWORD, please follow the instructions below to send a new mass text message.


STEP 1 – Click the blue SEND BULK MESSAGES button in the top right corner of your Parachute account dashboard. This will automatically redirect you to the send new messages page.



STEP 2 – First type your keyword in the KEYWORDS field box. When your previously created keyword appears, simply click that keyword with your mouse to select it.



STEP 3 – Click the blue ADD KEYWORD button directly to the right of the KEYWORDS field box to confirm your selection. This will add your keyword below the search field and it should look like this.



STEP 4 – Create a brief message that you want your subscribers to receive in the MESSAGE field box. You can also include photos and images with your mass text message by clicking the blue ATTACH FILE link. If you upload a file correctly, the file name should appear right next to the ATTACH FILE link.



STEP 5 – You can use the SCHEDULE SENDING feature to send your mass text message later or if you’re ready to send the mass text now, simply click the blue SEND MESSAGE button at the bottom of the page.



After you click the blue SEND MESSAGE button, your mass text will be automatically sent to all recipients that have subscribed to your selected keyword.


HOW DO I SEND A SINGLE TEXT?


You can send single texts to individual phone numbers, but the recipient must start the conversation first by sending a text to your dedicated Parachute phone number. After the recipient sends a text from their mobile phone to your dedicated Parachute phone number, you can then reply with single text messages for private 2-way conversations.


Additionally, if a recipient has already subscribed to one of your mass text keywords, you can send single texts to that mass text subscriber, but you must first send a mass text to create the private text message conversation thread.


HOW DO I UPLOAD MY CONTACTS FOR MASS EMAILS?


You can easily import your email contacts with just a few clicks. After you create a new EMAIL KEYWORD by following the HOW DO I CREATE A KEYWORD? instructions above, simply click any keyword to upload your contacts list. You will need to upload a CSV file with your email contacts for EACH email keyword that you create.


After you login to your Parachute account, please follow the instructions below to upload new contacts for sending mass email messages.


STEP 1 – First click the KEYWORDS link of the left side and then select your previously created EMAIL KEYWORD to view more details.



STEP 2 – On the keyword details page, you will see the IMPORT CONTACTS LIST INSTRUCTIONS. Start by clicking the blue HERE link to download and view the sample CSV file format required for uploading your contacts correctly.



STEP 3 – Create your own CSV file with the correct formatting using our sample file as a guide. Cell A1 should have the word EMAIL and nothing else. All cells below cell A1 should include your list of email addresses in Column A.



STEP 4 – Once you’ve created your CSV file in the correct format, click the blue ATTACH FILE link to select your CSV file.



STEP 5 – After you select the CSV file with your contacts email addresses using the ATTACH FILE link, type your name or business name where it says SENDER NAME. The SENDER NAME text you input will be included with the opt-in verification link email that gets sent to all your email contacts. For example, if you type SMITH PIZZA SHOP, the automatic opt-in verification link email that gets sent to your email contacts will include SMITH PIZZA SHOP as the sender’s name.



STEP 6 – After you ATTACH a CSV file with your contact’s email addresses and typed your SENDER NAME, click the blue UPLOAD button to import your email contacts. Immediately after you click the UPLOAD button, our system will send an opt-in verification link email to all email addresses listed in your uploaded CSV file.



Your email recipients will need to click this verification link to verify their email address BEFORE you can start sending mass emails to each contact. When you send mass emails, your emails will ONLY be delivered to the contacts that have already clicked the verification link email. Your recipients only need to click this verification link email one time. After a recipient clicks the verification link, they will be eligible to receive your mass emails regardless of which email keywords you use to send mass emails.


To protect the integrity of our systems and our overall email delivery rates for all customers, all subscribers that receive mass email messages sent from Parachute must first opt-in to give their permission.


Uploading a new CSV file is the ONLY way to add new contacts for each email keyword. Please note, the opt-in verification links are only sent once, even if you upload multiple CSV files with the same email contacts. For example, if you upload a CSV file that includes johnsmith@example.com, our system will only send the opt-in verification link email the FIRST time you upload the CSV file. If you upload a second CSV file that also includes johnsmith@example.com, the system will NOT send the opt-in verification link email again.


HOW DO I SEND A MASS EMAIL?


You must first create a new EMAIL KEYWORD following the HOW DO I CREATE KEYWORDS? instructions above and then UPLOAD YOUR CONTACTS file following the HOW DO I UPLOAD MY CONTACTS FOR MASS EMAILS? instructions above before you can send a mass email message. After you have created a new EMAIL KEYWORD and UPLOADED your contact’s email addresses, please follow the instructions below to send a new mass email message.


STEP 1 – Click the blue SEND BULK MESSAGES button in the top right corner of your Parachute account dashboard. This will automatically redirect you to the send new messages page.



STEP 2 – First type your keyword in the KEYWORDS field box. When your previously created keyword appears, simply click that keyword with your mouse to select it.



STEP 3 – Click the blue ADD KEYWORD button directly to the right of the KEYWORDS field box to confirm your selection. This will add your keyword below the search field and it should look like this.



STEP 4 – Create a brief message that you want your subscribers to receive in the MESSAGE field box. You can also include photos and images with your mass email message by clicking the blue ATTACH FILE link. If you upload a file correctly, the file name should appear right next to the ATTACH FILE link.



STEP 5 – You can use the SCHEDULE SENDING feature to send your mass email message later or if you’re ready to send the mass email message now, simply click the blue SEND MESSAGE button at the bottom of the page.



After you click the blue SEND MESSAGE button, your mass email message will be automatically sent to all recipients that have subscribed to your selected keyword.


When you send mass emails, your email messages will ONLY be delivered to the contacts that have already clicked the opt-in verification link email. Your recipients only need to click this email verification link one time. To protect the integrity of our systems and our overall email delivery rates for all customers, all subscribers that receive mass email messages sent from Parachute must first opt-in to give their permission.