It’s never been easier to start using text to market your business. Here’s how.

What's New in Podium: March 2021

The best way to do business like a local? Stay in touch with your customers and their needs. At Podium, we help local businesses like yours do just that.
That’s why we’re excited to introduce a new version of “What’s New in Podium.” Bookmark this resource, we’re excited to regularly show you everything we’re working on for your team. 

What’s new as of March 2021? Read on or watch the video above.
<h3>Text marketing tools for local business.</h3>
Introducing Podium Campaigns. Reach your customers where they are: text. Podium Campaigns enables your business to easily build and manage consent (opt-in) lists, send out SMS promotional messages to customers who want to hear from you, and explore the success of your activity with simple campaign performance dashboards.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-20763" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1.png" alt="" width="512" height="344" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1.png 512w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1-300x202.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1-360x242.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1-160x108.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1-350x235.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1-100x67.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-1-272x182.png 272w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />
Watch a quick tour of this exciting new capability below, or <a href="https://www.podium.com/campaigns">learn more here</a>.
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Ready to get started with your first Campaign? <a href="https://help.podium.com/hc/en-us/sections/1500000301441-Campaigns">Click here to learn more.</a>
<h3>Track missed calls &amp; prompt-to-text with Podium Voice.</h3>
Stop missing calls. Podium’s Voice enhancements are a complement to any existing phone system, designed to capture all call events right in your Podium instance.
Prompt-to-text. Delight customers and lessen your call volume. Prompt-to-text gives anyone calling your business an easy way to take their conversation to text. Record audible prompts to ask your customer if they’d like to receive a text from the business. When customers confirm they want to text, a text thread automatically begins in your <a href="https://www.podium.com/inbox/">Podium Inbox</a>.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-20764" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-1024x728.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="455" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-1024x728.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-300x213.jpeg 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-768x546.jpeg 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-600x427.jpeg 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-360x256.jpeg 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-160x114.jpeg 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-350x249.jpeg 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-100x71.jpeg 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2-482x343.jpeg 482w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-2.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />
Missed call notifications. Automatically capture missed calls with full context. A convenient log within your Podium Inbox helps you see missed calls, respond quickly, and operate with customer contact history. It’s never been easier to turn a missed call into a new customer or great customer experience.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-20765" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-1024x728.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="455" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-1024x728.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-300x213.jpeg 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-768x546.jpeg 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-600x427.jpeg 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-360x256.jpeg 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-160x114.jpeg 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-350x249.jpeg 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-100x71.jpeg 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3-482x343.jpeg 482w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-3.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />
Voicemail recordings. Store voicemail directly in Podium and provide your business with the context needed to continue every conversation both over the phone or through text all in one place.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-20766" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-1024x728.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="455" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-1024x728.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-300x213.jpeg 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-768x546.jpeg 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-600x427.jpeg 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-360x256.jpeg 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-160x114.jpeg 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-350x249.jpeg 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-100x71.jpeg 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4-482x343.jpeg 482w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-4.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />
See<a href="https://view.highspot.com/viewer/612d108dd2b3bf0749e3fd3a"> an overview</a> of Podium Voice capabilities. 
These enhancements are available for all Podium users. <a href="https://help.podium.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500003046321-Voice-Overview">Learn more to get started today</a>.
<h3>Respond faster with inbox escalations &amp; assignments.</h3>
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-20767" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5.png" alt="" width="512" height="481" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5.png 512w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5-300x282.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5-360x338.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5-160x150.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5-350x329.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5-100x94.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-5-365x343.png 365w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />
Inbox escalations. You can reduce your customers’ wait times by setting up time-based rules to automatically route messages to your team. If a message hasn’t been answered by your team after a set amount of time, you can escalate the message to a specific person, move it to a different inbox, or notify a team member using Teamchat or email.
Learn more about <a href="https://help.podium.com/hc/en-us/restricted?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fhelp.podium.com%2Fhc%2Fen-us%2Farticles%2F360061174254-Setting-Auto-assign-and-Escalation-Rules">Inbox escalations</a>.
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-20768" src="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-1024x662.png" alt="" width="640" height="414" srcset="https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-1024x662.png 1024w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-300x194.png 300w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-768x497.png 768w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-600x388.png 600w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-360x233.png 360w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-160x103.png 160w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-350x226.png 350w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-100x65.png 100w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6-531x343.png 531w, https://cms.podium.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/March-6.png 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" />
Auto assign. Automatically forward incoming messages to pre-built team inboxes by looking for specific keywords. For example, messages that ask for pricing or payment options can be forwarded to a Sales team inbox. 
Find more information <a href="https://help.podium.com/hc/en-us/restricted?return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fhelp.podium.com%2Fhc%2Fen-us%2Farticles%2F360061174254-Setting-Auto-assign-and-Escalation-Rules">about auto assign here</a>.
Learn more about <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/lead-response-time-matters/">why response time matters</a> for your business
<h3>Upgraded Google Business Messages</h3>
Google’s Business Messages. Drive more leads on Android and iOS through additional entry points (i.e. search results) with Google’s new, enhanced messaging platform. GBM replaced the previous Google My Business (GMB) messaging feature. If you used the previous version of Google Business Messenger, Podium has worked behind the scenes with the Google team to migrate all GMB (old messaging) customers over to the new GBM platform for your team automatically.
Learn more about setting up and using <a href="https://help.podium.com/hc/en-us/articles/360055772814">Google’s Business Messages with Podium</a>.