Getting Started Guide

How To Setup A Cloud Streams Account

1. Visit the Single Sign-On link for CloudStreams in the External Links section of Matrix.

The sign-up process will ask you for the following information:

• Office Name and Address

• Website

• Mobile Number

• MLS Credentials

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How To Create A New StreamWe offer two options on how to create a Stream:

1. Self-Serve - the agent will send a client an invite to Cloud Streams to

setup their own listing stream criteria.

2. Valet - the agent creates a saved search for their client.

2.1 How To Create A New Stream Using the Self-Serve Method

To setup a Property Stream using the self-serve method, you’re going to click on

the “Create a new stream” button.

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Then, click on the “Self-Serve” button.

Then, the agent sets up who will be receiving a self-serve invite.

The agent will then enter in the client’s first name and email address. Please note,

agents can add up to 10 clients at a time.

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Then, the client receives an email inviting them to “Sign up for property alerts.”

2.2 Self-Serve Invitation Email

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Here’s an example of the invitation email that is sent on behalf of the agent to the

client:

This invitation email includes:

• A link to a special landing page

• There, the client can start to enter in basic search criteria

Here is an example of what a client stream landing page looks like:

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First, the client will need to enter in a city or zip code followed by a price.

Then, they’ll have the option to enter additional criteria like the number of beds,

baths, and square feet.

Once they enter and confirm their password all they have to do is click “Let’s Go!”

and their new stream is officially setup.

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2.3 How To Create A New Property Stream Using the Valet Method

The Valet option allows agents to setup the criteria for their clients.

To setup a Property Stream using the Valet method you’re going to click on the

“Create a new stream” button.

Then, click on the “Valet” button.

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The agent will then enter the following:

1. The name of the property stream

2. The client’s email address

3. Then, select the listing alert frequency: Realtime*, Daily, or Weekly

Then, on the next step, the agent will enter the search criteria. It’s the same as the

Self-Serve option PLUS up to 35 additional search fields that are available.

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2.4 How To Use the Map Search Feature In Cloud Streams

Ever since Cloud Streams was released back in April 2014, people have been asking

for the ability to search for homes in a predetermined area by drawing on a map,

and now you can.

Here are a few pointers to keep in mind:

• The Map Search is only available through the “Valet” option - meaning, only

the agent can use it.

• Areas can be drawn with the rectangular tool or the polygon tool then can

be edited easily with the “edit layers” button.

• We recommend naming the area that you just drew something recognizable

such as “Willow Creek Elementary School Zone” or “Waterfront Properties.”

• To start over, simply hit the trashcan icon and then click what you want to

erase.

Here’s an example of where you want to

click on the map icon to access the map

feature while setting up a new property

stream using the Valet method.

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Once you click on the map icon it will launch the map feature where you can jump

to a location and draw your desired search area on the map. .

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Double Opt-In Permissioning One of the keys to successful email marketing and deliverability is to get

permission from the subscribers who want to receive your emails.

We use double opt-in permissioning for the following reasons:

• It increases deliverability rate and results in better click-through rate

• It helps ensure emails are not blacklisted or end up in the recipients spam

folder

3.1 Anti-Spam Laws

The CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email and gives

recipients the right to opt-out and have you stop emailing them.

Spam negatively impacts deliverability rates so we use double opt-in

permissioning to ensure that your emails get delivered on-time and with a high

click-through rate.

3.2 Permission & Double-Opt In

It’s an email services providers (ESP) job to enforce spam laws and reduce spam.

They do this by requiring subscribers to sign up, or opt in, in order to begin

receiving emails.

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With Cloud Streams a double opt-in process is built-in in order to help verify that

you have permission to sent email to a subscriber.

So when you setup a new stream using the Self-Serve or Valet method your new

subscriber gets an email with a link to confirm their subscription.

This ensures that your subscribers truly want to hear from you and receive

messages from you which means a higher engagement level over time. That

includes more opens, clicks, fewer bounces and unsubscribe rates.

A couple more things you should know:

• Clients will also receive an invitation to receive further emails

• Email alerts will not be sent unless the client accepts the invitation

• The dashboard displays the status of an invitation and allows you to resent

the invitation

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Understanding the Agent Dashboard When an agent first logs into Cloud Streams they will be directed to the Streams

Dashboard Overview page.

The stats they will see are:

1. The total number of Clients on Cloud Streams

2. The number of Email Alerts Sent in the last 30 days

3. The Average Price of Liked Properties in the last 30 days

4. The Total number of Text Alerts sent

5. AND, it displays the Agent’s most engaged Clients.

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4.1 The Clients Tab

In the same way Facebook and Twitter use streams as a way of displaying data,

here you’ll see all of your client’s recent activity including listings they Liked or

comments/questions that they have asked on a specific listing.

In addition, the agent will be able to see clients recent activity and have the ability

to search for a client and view their client profile.

On the Clients tab you’ll be able to:

1. View client activity and see who has Liked a listing or commented on a

listing

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Click to Client name to see specific client activity

2. You can reply to a comment on a listing

3. Over on the right you can click on a client’s name to see their specific

client activity

4.2 The Client Profile Page

The individual client profile page will display:

1. The client’s photo and email address

2. The average number of beds of liked properties

3. The average number of baths of liked properties

4. The average square footage of liked properties

5. The average price of liked properties

6. And it’ll display the client recent activity graph

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The client’s recent activity graph will show you how many listings they have viewed

and whether they Liked, Commented, Viewed, or Click Through on an email.

If you scroll down a little you’ll see the Client’s Activity.

There, the agent can review the client’s recent activity and respond directly to

comments on a listing.

Over on the right the agent can:

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• Edit an existing Cloud Stream (that has previously been setup for the

client)

• An agent can delete a stream

• An agent can view a stream

• An agent can create a new stream by clicking on the blue “New Stream”

button

4.3 Deleting A Client

You can delete a client from the client’s profile page. Simply click on the trashcan

icon on the upper right-hand side of the client’s profile box.

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This action “archives” the client and removes them from your active client’s list.

Archiving a client hides them from view and stops all of their alerts.

You can view all of your archived clients from your dashboard and easily restore

them at any time.

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View & restore previously archived clients by clicking here

4.4 The Invitations Tab

Here you’ll be able to see all of your pending Cloud Stream invites and your client’s

invite status.

1. The first column shows the invitee email address

2. The second column shows you the Stream name

3. The third column shows the Stream invite stamp, in other words when

was it sent and at what time

4. The fourth column shows the client’s invite status (have they opened it,

have they clicked-through on the invite)

There are a couple of different Invite Status options:

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• Sending: this means the invitation is currently being sent out by our

system

• Delivered: this invitation was successfully delivered to the recipient’s

inbox

• Opened: the recipient opened the email invitation that was sent to them

• Click Through: the recipient opened the email invitation and clicked the

link but has yet to sign up

You can resent and delete invites - just click on the re-send and delete buttons.

Once the client accepts the invite they will be removed from the invitation section.

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Understanding Property Streams Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest all use streams as a way of viewing data. Cloud

Streams put photos front and center, to give your buyers a window shopping

experience they will love.

Here’s a client’s view of a listings stream:

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Here a client can:

1. Click on Alerts on the upper right hand side to set their notification

settings

2. They can Like a property

3. They can swipe through on the listing photos

4. And the property stream will always be branded with the agent’s photo

on the upper left-hand side

5.1 Alerts

Listing alerts sent from the MLS are boring. Cloud Streams’ MLS listing alerts

include property photos, agent branding and descriptive subject lines. At a glance

your buyer can make decisions without having to click anywhere else.

Setting up the alert notifications is easy. A client just clicks on the “Alert” button on

the upper right-hand side of their streams page. That will take them to the

Notification Settings page where they can configure their email settings and

setup SMS notifications.

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Configuring your alert notification settings includes:

1. Email frequency and type (New, Updates Only, New & Updates, or None)

2. SMS notifications (Note: The client will have to verify their phone number

first by clicking on the green “Verify your Phone Number” button)

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Let’s take a look at the email frequency options:

• Never: means a client will never receive listing alerts

• Realtime: means a client will receive an alert if any listing updates are

made

• Daily: means a client will receive a listing alert once per day (at 2:00pm)

• Weekly: means a client will receive listing alerts once per week (every

Friday at 8:00pm)

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Now let’s take a look at the Listing Type options:

• New Only: means a client will get alerts when ANY home matching their

search criteria is added to their stream

• Updates Only: means a client will get alerts when the price changes, new

photos are added, or the status changes

Lastly, text alerts only notify the client on new listings, not updates.

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5.2 Like Notifications

When a client likes a property the agent is going to get an email notification letting

them know that a client recently liked a listing. It’ll look something like this:

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5.3 Comment Notifications

When a client comments on a property the agent is going to get an email

notification letting them know that a client recently commented on a listing. It’ll

look something like this:

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An agent can then quickly respond to the client via email and the reply will get

added to the listings details page. You’ll also see the discussion on the Client

Activity wall.

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Client Account Settings Under the Account Settings section agents will be able to:

1. Update their Personal Info

2. Change their account password

3. Update their MLS credentials

4. View their account info and cancel their account

6.1 Personal Info

Under the personal info tab an agent can update their:

• Email

• Phone Number

• Company name

• City and State

• Website URL

• License Number

• And, they can add a

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6.2 Change Password

Under the change password tab an agent can change their password. This function

will not work for those users logging into Cloud Streams using single sign-on (SSO)

through their MLS.

6.3 MLS Credentials

Under the MLS Credentials tab an agent can update/verify their MLS credentials.

6.4 Account Info

Under the Account Info tab an agent can view the status of their subscription.

There, they will see their renewal date, the credit card number that they have on

file, and they have the ability to update their billing info.

In addition, if an agent wishes to cancel their account all they have to do is click on

the “Cancel My Account” button at the bottom of the page.

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And that’s it! If you have questions, go here: http://support.cloudstreams.net

We’re always happy to help!

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