Channels
The Channels module defines how campaigns are communicated to customers. Loyal Guru supports campaign delivery across multiple channels, enabling omnichannel coordination of promotional communications.
Channel comparison
| Channel | Requires app | Requires opt-in | Credits | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Yes | Yes (SendGrid) | Rich content, coupons with barcodes, high volume | |
| Push notification | Yes | Yes | No | Time-sensitive offers, re-engagement |
| SMS | No | Yes | Yes | High-reach, customers without the app |
| Printed message | No | No | No | POS receipt delivery, no contact data required |
| CMS (in-app) | Yes | No | No | Persistent banners, loyalty status updates |
Use Cases
| Use Case |
|---|
| → Push notification: send a personalized discount code to all customers who have the app installed and have not purchased in 30 days. |
| → Email campaign: deliver a monthly points summary with a personalized challenge suggestion based on purchase history. |
| → Circular Coupon: send a recurring email that shows each Customer their personalized list of pending coupons. |
| → In-app message: show a Scratch & Win banner in the home screen when a customer's points balance crosses 500. |
| → SMS: send a birthday coupon code via SMS to customers without the app installed. |
| → Omnichannel: combine push notification + email for high-value campaigns to maximize reach and open rates. |
Channel configuration connects to your existing communication stack: push notifications, email, SMS, or in-app messaging. Speak to your CSM to configure the available channels in your instance.
How It Works
Loyal Guru delivers campaign communications through your existing messaging stack. When a Targeted Delivery or Intelligent Delivery campaign sends, the platform:
- Generates a unique voucher or offer per customer.
- Dispatches the communication through the configured channel (push, email, SMS, or in-app).
- Tracks delivery and open rates where the channel supports it.
Selecting a channel when creating a campaign
When creating a Targeted Delivery or Intelligent Delivery campaign, the Channel step lets you select one or more channels for the send. Each selected channel requires a template to be configured before the campaign can be sent.
Recommended flow:
- Create the template in Content Designer (see below).
- Select the channel in the campaign creation form.
- Link the template to the campaign send.
- Review the audience's consent filter to ensure the send reaches only eligible customers.
Contact Policy
Contact Policy protects Customers from communication saturation. It lets the Company define how many times a Customer can be contacted by channel, such as email, SMS, or push, during a period such as a week or a month.
When a campaign is sent, Contact Policy is evaluated after the Audience and consent filters and before the final channel delivery. Customers who exceed the configured contact limit are excluded from that send for the affected channel.
Use Contact Policy when:
- Several teams can send campaigns to overlapping Audiences.
- The Company sends recurring reminders, Intelligent Delivery plans, or Circular Coupon emails.
- A brand wants to avoid over-exposing Customers while still allowing high-priority campaigns to run.
- Contact limits must apply only to specific labeled segments or customer groups.
Only one Contact Policy should affect the same channel in the same timeframe. This keeps campaign eligibility predictable and avoids conflicting limits.
Available Channels
Email
Loyal Guru delivers email campaigns via SendGrid. Email is suited for rich HTML content, coupons with embedded barcodes, and high-volume campaigns.
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Provider | SendGrid |
| Credits | Purchased separately; configured in Owner App → Configuration → Company → Credits |
| Templates | Created in Content Designer; required before sending any email campaign |
| High-volume recommendation | Companies sending >1M emails/month should use a dedicated IP address; request via Customer Success |
| IP warm-up | New IP addresses require a warm-up period to build sender reputation |
You can add coupon codes and barcodes directly inside email templates to allow customers to redeem in-store or online.
Push Notifications
Push notifications are alerts sent to a customer's mobile device without requiring the app to be open. They are ideal for time-sensitive offers, redemption reminders, and re-engagement.
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Reach | Customers who have downloaded the app and granted push permissions |
| Configuration | Configured in Owner App → Configuration; integration via OneSignal or compatible provider |
| Templates | Created in Content Designer before sending |
| Consent | Customers must opt in; audience consent filter "Will be used for PUSH" available in segment builder |
Best uses: Limited-time promotions, voucher reminders, loyalty balance updates, announcing a Targeted Instant Win to its audience.
SMS
SMS reaches customers directly on their mobile number — no app required. Useful for high-reach campaigns targeting customers without the app.
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Credits | Purchased separately; configured in Owner App → Configuration → Company → Credits |
| Templates | Created in Content Designer before sending |
| Consent | Customers must opt in; audience filter "Will be used for SMS" and "Allow duplicated phones" available in segment builder |
For campaigns with a coupon or discount promotion, SMS templates support a {couponLink} variable that generates a personalized barcode link per recipient. See Coupon Link in SMS.
Printed Messages (Ticket Messages)
Printed messages appear directly on the customer's receipt at the POS. They are channel-agnostic — no app, email, or phone number required.
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Printed at POS checkout on the customer's receipt |
| Templates | Message templates must be created and configured in advance |
| Use case | Announcing a coupon, reminding about a reward, delivering a personalized offer at the moment of purchase |
CMS (In-App)
The CMS channel delivers messages and content directly inside the customer app (in-app banners, home screen content, pop-ups). No notification is sent — the customer sees the content when they open the app.
| Detail | Notes |
|---|---|
| Delivery | In-app content; customer must open the app to see it |
| Configuration | Requires Loyal Guru app integration via Streaming API |
| Use case | Persistent promotional banners, loyalty status updates, personalized recommendations |
Templates and Content Designer
Every channel requires a template before a campaign can be sent. Templates define the message layout, copy, and dynamic variables (e.g. customer name, voucher code, points balance).
Templates are created and managed in Content Designer, accessible from the campaign creation flow or directly from the Channels menu.
| Template element | Description |
|---|---|
| Subject line (email) | The email subject shown in the inbox |
| Body | Main message content — supports HTML for email, plain text for SMS |
| Dynamic variables | Placeholders auto-filled per customer: {{customer_name}}, {{voucher_code}}, {{points_balance}}, etc. |
| CTA / button | Call-to-action link or button (email and in-app) |
| Barcode / QR | Embed the voucher code as a barcode or QR code for in-store redemption (email and printed) |
For a dedicated operational guide, see Content Designer and Templates. For external apps that need push notifications, see Push Notifications for External Apps.
Circular Coupon dynamic content
Circular Coupon is an email template pattern for reminding Customers about coupons they already have available or pending. Instead of sending one email per coupon, the Company sends one informative campaign and the email renders each Customer's personalized pending coupon list.
The operator builds it with:
- An email template in Content Designer.
- A Dynamic Content block configured as Pending Coupons.
- A Targeted Delivery campaign with No promo selected, because the campaign does not create a new benefit; it reminds Customers about existing Vouchers.
- The email channel using the template that contains the pending-coupons block.
The pending coupon list is Customer-specific. It can include Vouchers already assigned to that Customer, including pending Vouchers that are available now, pending Vouchers with future availability, and printed Vouchers that still have redemptions left.
Coupons are ordered by:
- Expiration date — coupons expiring soonest appear first.
- Priority — when several coupons share the same expiration date, the highest-priority coupon appears first.
Circular Coupon is not enabled by default for every Company. Ask Support or Customer Success to enable it before documenting it as available in a customer instance.
A campaign cannot be sent without a template assigned to each selected channel. Create templates before scheduling the send.
Credits
Email and SMS sends consume credits. Credits are purchased in advance and consumed per send.
| Channel | Credit unit | Where to manage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 credit = 1 email sent | Owner App → Configuration → Company → Credits | |
| SMS | 1 credit = 1 SMS segment (typically 160 characters) | Owner App → Configuration → Company → Credits |
Monitor remaining credits from the Credits section before launching large campaigns. When credits run low, sends are paused automatically and an alert is shown in the Owner App.
Consent and audience filters
Before sending to any opt-in channel, ensure the audience is filtered to only include customers who have given consent. Using the segment builder, apply the following filters per channel:
| Channel | Audience filter to apply |
|---|---|
| "Has email" + "Accepts email marketing" | |
| Push | "Will be used for PUSH" (app installed + push permissions granted) |
| SMS | "Will be used for SMS" (has phone number + SMS consent); optionally "Allow duplicated phones" if multiple customers share a number |
| Printed | No consent filter required — delivery at POS is universal |
| CMS | No consent filter required — customer must open the app |
:::caution GDPR compliance Sending to customers who have not given consent violates GDPR. Always apply the appropriate consent filter to your audience before sending via email, push, or SMS. :::
Consent and Contact Policy solve different problems:
| Control | What it prevents | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Consent filters | Sending to Customers who are not legally or operationally eligible for a channel | Before the send, based on Customer consent and contact data |
| Contact Policy | Sending too many messages to the same Customer in a period | During campaign execution, based on recent channel impacts |
Apply both for outbound channels. Consent decides whether the Customer can be contacted at all; Contact Policy decides whether the Customer has already been contacted too often.
Configuration
Channel setup is done once per company instance, typically during onboarding. Contact your Customer Success Manager to configure available channels.
| Channel | Requirements |
|---|---|
| In-app / CMS | Customer app integrated with Loyal Guru Streaming API |
| Push notification | App with push permissions; integration configured in Owner App → Configuration |
| Email credits + template setup; configured in Owner App → Configuration → Company → Credits | |
| SMS | SMS credits; configured in Owner App → Configuration → Company → Credits |
| Printed messages | Message templates configured in advance; requires POS integration |