Support dynamic Slack channel names
complete
Jordan Paris
I could be missing it, but we鈥檙e looking for something more dynamic where, depending on the value of the Slack channel name for the client, a message is sent to the appropriate channel accordingly. We achieve this by having a channel name field (in this case, Internal Channel Name) in the Clients table, then using a lookup field in a Deliverables table to look up each client鈥檚 channel name. Then, we deliver Slack notifications accordingly. This is one of a few examples of how we make fulfillment into an assembly line, where notifications/info are being delivered to the right places to the right people at the right times. We also dynamically send Slack direct messages to individuals by inserting their Slack email dynamically in the automation (i.e. whoever is assigned as the Owner of a deliverable might get a Slack DM on the start date).
I鈥檇 estimate almost 50% of our automations use this dynamic deliverability feature.
Peter Novosel
complete
The Slack automations action now supports dynamically selecting the target channel or user by referencing the value of a field in the record.
Now you can fully automate outbound messaging campaigns, distributing your Slack updates to the right audience without manual configuration or requiring multiple automations.
Learn more:
https://help.smartsuite.com/en/articles/7920865-automation-action-slack
Jon Darbyshire
Jordan Paris I have fast tracked this feature request and we have a dev that will start working on this tomorrow. We are going to release this as soon as possible in a Beta state for you.
Jon Darbyshire
Hiya Jordan Paris, thanks for sharing with us! Following up on this:
- Can you provide more details on how you envision the dynamic deliverability feature to work in different scenarios?
- What are the key factors that determine the appropriate Slack channel or individual for each message?
- Can you share more about the impact of this feature on your workflow efficiency and how critical it is for your operations?
Jordan Paris
Sure thing Jon Darbyshire!
- A few scenarios
1a. In a video agency, once the status of a video moves to "Ready for Thumbnail," the thumbnail designer assigned to that particular client (as specified in the Client's profile AKA record in the Clients table), gets a DM sent to him and/or a channel message sent to the client's internal channel* (internal channel name is specified on the aforementioned Client profile). For the message sent to the internal channel, the thumbnail designer should be @ mentioned. The reason we would send to both the internal channel as well as to the designer via DM is for team/managerial visibility of the production process moving along.
1b. In the same video agency, once a video is marked as "Ready for Scripting," a notification would go to the copywriter.
1c. In an ad agency, a Slack message would be sent to the client's external channel prompting them to review creative and provide feedback.
1d. In a lead generation agency, we might send a newly scheduled appointment to the client's external channel notifying the client of said new appointment.
- The correct Slack channel or individual is determined by the phase of the production process and who plays what role for each client (i.e. Jon is Team Lead, Tara is the Media Buyer, etc).
- Mission critical. This feature is essential for us to be able to scale businesses the way we believe in scaling businesses, which is to treat fulfillment like an assembly line. My team has ID'd this as the only roadblock to fully moving over to SmartSuite, as well as selling customers on the platform.
*An "internal channel" is a Slack channel dedicated to your team's communications for a particular client. The client is NOT in this channel. If SmartSuite were a client of Zeus, the channel name might be #zeus-smartsuite. The external channel with the client might be called #zeus-smartsuite-external.
Pictured is an e-book we plan to release later this year! In answering Q3, I thought it might be cool to attach this :-)
Jordan Paris
Hey Jon Darbyshire! What is the latest here?