Enhanced Messaging Features
We're excited about our new Enhanced Messaging features, but it may be a lot to take in for longtime APClips Creators. To that end, we've provided the docs below to help you acclimate to all the new goodies and tools at your disposal. Enjoy!
Table of Contents
Group Messaging
You can send a Standard or Premium Message to specific members, or groups of members. The three groups you can send to are :
- My Buyers : These are Members who have purchased content from you, or tipped you
- My Followers : These are Members who have Favorited you
- My Contacts : These are Members with whom you've exchanged at least one message reply with. So, if they messaged you and you replied - they're a contact. If you messaged them and they replied, also they're a contact. If one side or the other did not reply to an initial message (or messages), they will not be considered a contact
If you're sending to specific users, you must use their username - not their Display Name. Their username is at the end of their URL. For example, our Lead Support Tech is named Mitcz, but his URL is https://apclips.com/member/revmitcz - therefore his username is "revmitcz". If you click through to a Member's profile, their username will also be listed under their Display Name
You can see who you've recently sent either Standard, or Premium Messages to from your Sent tab. Members who reply to your message will show, as usual, in your inbox.
Currently, there is no limit to how many times you can send out Standard or Premium Messages, but that will definitely change in the future if we see abuse or egregious uses of the system. Please try to be respectful of our Members and your Fans by not bombarding them with this new system.
Premium Messaging
Premium Messages are messages that can be "unlocked" by Members for a fee (that you choose). You can attach content from anywhere in your Library (even Private content), upload photos directly, or choose from your Attachments page. If you choose not to attach content and are just charging for the message text itself, you must provide both Teaser and Unlocked text.
Members can unlock a Premium Message with Tokens, or using our new Cart system. Below is an example of what a Member sees when they receive a Premium Message (prior to unlocking it) - thumbnails for all content attached are blurred, the contents are listed, and they are given two purchasing options.
In the above example, the Creator is sending : 3 Videos, a Photoset with 30 photos, a Bundle with 4 videos and 33 photos, and 2 individual photos sent from Attachments (or Uploaded via the Messaging Interface)
You can see the status of any Premium Message sent by checking your Sent tab, and clicking any individual thread to see if it's been read, purchased, or not yet seen.
Attachments
Your new Attachments page contains Videos and Photos that can only be used within the Messaging interface. All content listed here is Private unless you attach it (or Gift it) in a Message. Any photos uploaded via the Messaging interface will also be included here.
Because we have to convert and process all videos uploaded, we only allow Photos to be uploaded via the Messaging interface. However, any videos uploaded from your Attachments page are immediately available to attach to a Premium Message or as a Gift. So, you could shoot a quick 30-second "thanks for your contest vote" video, throw it onto the Attachments uploader and your work is done -- you don't need to add titles, descriptions, prices, or anything else.
There is no minimum video duration for Attachments, unlike standard videos, so videos under 2 minutes long may not generate a thumbnail. For that reason, you can upload any photo you'd like to use as a custom thumbnail by clicking "Change Thumbnail", and the photo will be cropped and resized appropriately to match our video thumbnail standards without any further work from you.
Gift Messages
Our Send a Gift feature works almost identically to Premium Messaging, with three crucial differences :
- You can only select (or upload) 3 items to attach to a Gift Message
- You cannot charge for a Gift Message
- You cannot Mass Message Gift Messages - they only apply to the current message thread you're viewing
Other than that, Send A Gift works just like a Premium Message : you select some content, click "Send" and the Member receives everything you Gifted to them instantly along with an automated message that they received a Gift from you, and the content that was gifted is listed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a limit to how many Standard or Premium Messages I can send?
There is not currently a limit, but that will likely change as we see how the features are used. Please try to be respectful of our Members and your Fans by not bombarding them with this new system.
Can I use this as a way to give discounts to certain Members?
Absolutely! Since all content in a Premium Message is unlocked at a single price that you determine, you could under or over charge however much you want.
What if I send a Member content they've already purchased?
Since Premium Messages are text & attachments bundled - in a sense - together as one, we have no way of preventing a Member from re-purchasing content they may already own. We recommend not sending Premium Messages with publicly-available content for that very reason, but it's up to you.
Why can't I send a block of messages to, say, all users who joined in the last month? Or all users who are into fetishes like what my content features?
We may, in the future, provide further granular control for you to be able to do things like that. For the timebeing, we feel it's only fair to allow Creators to reach out to Members with whom they've had some level of interaction, or interest (sales, favorites, etc). You can, of course, still manually type up to 5 usernames at a time, but we recommend not abusing that as it may anger Members.
Can I only attach content that's public? Can I only attach content that's already been uploaded?
Any content you've ever uploaded (so long as you didn't delete it from our site) can be attached to a Premium or Gift message. Even Unlisted and Private content.
You can also attach any photos on your device from within the Messaging interface itself, and you can upload videos directly to the Attachments page for later usage. We don't currently allow uploading videos directly from the Messaging interface because it takes us a few minutes to convert and process your video and we didn't want you to sit and wait for that from within the Messaging interface.
What are the filesize constraints on Attachments?
Photos are limited to 10MB each, Videos are limited to our usual 5GB each.
How will I know if a Member has purchased my Premium Message?
You'll receive an email, and you can always check your Sales Data. In addition, you can check your Sent tab to investigate individual messages sent to see if a Member viewed your message and/or has purchased the content.
What if someone who Favorited me is blocked me, or their location is Geo-Blocked?
Members who are Geo-Blocked by you cannot Favorite you, but no Members who are Blocked or Geo-Blocked will see your Premium or Standard Messages even if they Favorited you prior to your Blocking / Geo-Blocking.
Need Further Help?
If your question wasn't answered and you need any further help with our Enhanced Messaging platform, or anything else, you can always reach out to us via email : [email protected] and we'll be happy to answer any further questions you may have.