How do I send different notification messages using liquid markup?

Question

My Zendesk Support account is heavily automated with triggers and automations and there is no simple way to get rid of canned messages. How can I make my business rules send out varying communication using liquid markup?

Answer

You can use liquid markup to enable your triggers, automations, and macros to randomly select a pre-built message from a set of messages and send it to the customer. 

Liquid doesn't have the ability to generate random numbers, so this requires that you build some logic. The current logic of liquid markup is the following:

1. Liquid code takes the ticket ID number, which is almost random per user.
2. Liquid code divides it by three and based on the remainder, displays a different text.
3. The modulo: 3 (the remainder after division by three) can return three possible results: 0, 1, 2. Each result is associated with text that is displayed.

Liquid code

The code below represents the logic needed. Copy and paste it in your business rules.

{% assign randomizer = ticket.id | modulo:3 %}

{% case randomizer %} {% when 0 %}

Your request ({{ticket.id}}) has been solved. To reopen this request, reply to this email.<br /><br>

{% when 1 %}

We glad to inform that this matter is resolved. However, if you have any outstanding questions feel free to reply to this notification.

{% else %}

#{{ticket.id}} is now considered to be resolved. You are welcome to reply to this email to reopen it and continue the conversation.

{% endcase %}

{{ticket.comments_formatted}}

Using the Liquid code in business rules

• Trigger

Create a trigger that sends a notification when a ticket is marked as solved. Paste the liquid code in the email body of the notification. Then modify the possible messages as you like.
 
To test the trigger, solve three consecutive tickets and check the outcome of the notifications. Find below the images of the three notifications with different text.

• Automation

The same approach can be used for an automation. Let's assume you need an automation that will follow-up with a customer with different communication text after three days of no response.

• Macro

If your agents prefer sending follow-ups manually, they can create a macro that uses Liquid code and returns different messages based on the ticket ID.

Enhancement

The code in this article uses modulo: 3 to calculate the remainder after division. The argument can be easily increased to 5 or 10. Division by 5 means 5 possible remainders after division can exist. Each outcome can be associated with a message. This creates a straight forward logic for increasing the number of outcomes and, as a result, creating the impression of truly random responses.