Lesson: Creating a Keyword, Link, and QR Code

In this lesson, we’re going to walk through how to create a keyword and generate both a link and a QR code for that keyword.

Why Keywords Matter

Keywords are used to build up your carrier-approved opt-in list—or, as some of our clients like to call it, their subscriber list. Building this list can become a massive asset for your business, giving you the ability to reach thousands of customers through mass text campaigns.

My goal here is to show you how to create a keyword and the corresponding links and QR codes. I won’t be diving into best practices or specific strategies in this lesson—but don’t worry, we’re planning a whole series of industry-specific courses covering those topics soon!

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Step 1: Create a Keyword

• Start by going to the top of the page and clicking on Marketing.
• Then click on Keywords.
• In the top right corner, click on the Add Keyword button.

Now you’ll create your keyword. Keep in mind:

• Keywords are not case-sensitive.
• You can change them later if needed.

For this example, I’m going to use “Zoom with Ron.” You could do something similar, like “Meet with [Your Name]” or just your name—whatever works for you.

Once you’ve typed in your keyword, click Save.

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Step 2: Add a QR Code

After saving, you’ll be brought to a new screen.

• At the top, you can make edits to the keyword if needed.
• Scroll to the bottom right and click on Add Scan Plate (note: we may change the name of this button in the future to “Add QR Code” for clarity).

Here, you’ll label your QR code. I’m going to name mine “Zoom with Ron Networking” as an example.

If your account has:

• Multiple locations
• Multiple inboxes/phone numbers
• Or multiple businesses

…you’ll see a dropdown menu here. Use it to assign the QR code to the correct inbox.

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Step 3: Customize the Link

Next, you’ll have the option to create a vanity slug for the URL.

For instance, I might enter “ZoomWithRonFacebook” as the slug.

After you click Save, you’ll see:

• The full URL you just created
• A preview of the QR code to the right

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Step 4: Customize the QR Code

Click on the QR code preview to customize it further:

• Adjust the size of the QR code
• Change the color using the color picker
• If you have a hex code, you can paste it directly into the field
• Then click Download

You can download your QR code as a JPEG or PNG. (The PNG format is great if you need a transparent background.)

Note: This QR code designer is a bit limited. For more advanced customization, refer back to Lesson 4 where we cover designer-friendly QR code tools.

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And that’s it! You now know how to:

• Create a keyword
• Generate a short link
• Customize and download a QR code tied to that keyword

In the next lesson, we’ll cover tags—a great way to organize contacts as they opt in through your keywords.

See you in the next lesson!

In this lesson, we’re going to walk through creating a keyword and generating a link and QR code for that keyword. Keywords are used to build up your carrier-approved opt-in list, or as some of our clients like to refer to it, their subscriber list. Building up this list can become a huge asset to your business because it gives you the ability to reach thousands upon thousands of customers when you send mass text campaigns.

My goal in this lesson is more to show you how to create the keyword and the links and QR codes that go with it, not necessarily to share the best practices and all the different use cases/strategies. I’ll be sure to let you know when those courses come out, as we are in the planning phases of rolling out those courses, organized by industry.

With that said, let’s create a keyword so that you can follow along and see how it’s done. To do this, let’s go to the top of the page and click on Marketing. Then click on Keywords. At the top right, click on the Add Keyword button. Here we can come up with the keyword. For this example, keep in mind that this is not case-sensitive and that you can change it later as well. So for this example, I’m going to use “Zoom with Ron.” You can make something similar to mine, you can put “Meet with [insert your name],” or you can just use your name—whatever you want to do. I’ll show you how to change it later. Then click Save.

When you click Save, you’ll be brought to this screen here. And at the top, you can edit the keyword to your liking. Then we’re going to go towards the bottom right and click on the Add Scan Plate button. Now, in the future, we may be changing that name to “Add QR Code” just so that it’s more practical. Here, we’re going to label that QR code. I’m going to call it “Zoom with Ron Networking” as an example.

If you have an account that has multiple locations, multiple inboxes/phone numbers, or different businesses, you’ll be able to see this dropdown. When you click on it, you’ll be able to see those inboxes and click on the appropriate inbox that this QR code should be assigned to.

The next thing that we’re going to do, or the next option that we have, is we can create a vanity slug for this URL. So I can go here and do “Zoom with Ron Facebook,” for example. Then, when you click Save, you will see the URL that you created. I have a couple of examples here, and you’ll also see the QR code to the right of it.

If you click on the QR code, you will see that you can adjust the size of the QR code. You can also adjust the color of the QR code like so. And if you know the hex code to the QR code color that you would like, you simply put it in this field, then click Download.

Now, keep in mind that this QR code designer is a little limited, but if you refer back to Lesson 4, you will see how you can create a little bit more designer-friendly QR code.

And with that said, you now know how to create keywords and the links and QR codes that are attached to that keyword. In the next lesson, we’ll discuss tags, and that’ll help you organize the contacts as they are texting in those keywords. I’ll see you in the next lesson.