What Are Action Variants?
Action variants allow you to split the scheduled action into different actions based on the guest/reservation details (e.g., language, reservation details, or delivery platforms). Think of action variants as a way to create sub-scheduled actions based on different conditions that will all go out at a set time. You can send different versions of a message to guests at the same time.
How Do I Create Variants?
- Click on your profile picture and go to Automation > Journey
- Click on the Scheduled Action you want to add a variant to, and in the sidebar you will see Action Variants
![Clicking on a scheduled action will bring up the side panel where you can begin creating your action variants.](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F9571fc5d-c91f-4819-90a4-cddd0cc165ff%2FScreen_Shot_2022-07-18_at_11.56.46_AM.png?table=block&id=e157e1b0-08ec-4241-b3f3-b3f468addb33&cache=v2)
- Click Add Variant to split the pre-scheduled message
![Notion image](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F4e872faf-3a52-4dd3-9178-12d03751d171%2FScreen_Shot_2022-08-12_at_4.14.36_PM.png?table=block&id=0b3df12d-fe1e-4106-a774-aac76afbd477&cache=v2)
- You can now modify the pre-scheduled message to send to only those guests who meet certain conditions and specify the exact action to happen to these guests - “Send message to customer” is the default, but can be changed.
- Refer to the Conditions article for more information on how to send to specific guests
- Click Ok to save the variant and you’ll see it under the Action Variants section
![You can see the priority list of variants under the section.](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F817211b5-af9a-4c8a-9570-d3e681236aea%2FScreen_Shot_2022-08-03_at_3.05.16_PM.png?table=block&id=39819cc2-f187-4f9b-9bad-b36552042ae8&cache=v2)
Akia Tip: Variants are ordered by priority in the Action Variants section, so guests will get the message/action from the first variant they qualify for. You can edit the order of the variants by clicking the “up” and “down” arrows to the right:
Message Platforms
By default, Akia will send message variants by text. However, if the text message fails to send successfully, Akia can send the scheduled message by WhatsApp or Email, if enabled by your property’s account.
![If there is a checkmark next to the platform name it will be added as a fallback platform for the message.](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F9eaaa12b-cc3a-4ef8-9395-43019aa8a91f%2FScreen_Shot_2022-04-25_at_1.31.10_PM.png?table=block&id=25a5b39e-de31-4d7e-a35c-21a97f0a34cb&cache=v2)
Video Guide
![We are adding a variant for our 10 am arrival message to send VIPs a special message and adding an email fallback in case their phone number isn’t valid. We click](https://www.notion.so/image/https%3A%2F%2Fs3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fsecure.notion-static.com%2F13bbffde-41d4-4ec8-87b3-fd818036319b%2FScreen-Recording-2022-09-15-at-2.gif?table=block&id=927bf732-f07e-4503-8e37-31b4db0903f7&cache=v2)
Use Cases
- 🗓 Advertise Restaurant Hours: Encourage guests to go to your restaurant if they stay during its open days.
- Specify the Day of Week to send the message on those days.
- 📝 Agreement Reminder: Send a reminder to guests who haven’t signed their required Agreements.
- Specify the Agreement and select Unsigned so that you send a reminder message to guests who have not signed their Agreement, and create another variant with the condition being the Agreement is Signed, and give the guest their check-in information.
- 🌐 Different Booking Source: Send a specific message based on the guest’s booking source.
- Want to only send a registration card to guests who booked via Airbnb/VRBO? Specify your condition to Booking Source “contains” Airbnb and VRBO and send the message with the registration card to these guests. Add another variant after this one without any Booking Source conditions for Direct booking/Walk-in guests and forgo the registration card for a welcome message.