Map-Only Advocates
Some advocates carry or promote your product but aren’t active in digital messaging — for example, a retail location that stocks your product but won’t respond to in-app conversations. Map-only advocates still appear on the map so prospects can find them, but instead of a messaging form, their profile shows a customizable alternate contact section.
When to Use This
- Unresponsive advocates — they carry or promote your product but don’t respond to in-app messages
- Brick-and-mortar locations — a physical store, restaurant, or shop where walk-ins make more sense than messaging
- Seasonal advocates — only active part of the year (e.g., a summer rental shop) but you still want them discoverable on the map year-round
- New or onboarding advocates — not ready for conversations yet, but you want their pin live while they get set up
- Event-based presence — a pop-up, booth, or temporary location where “visit us here” is more useful than “message us”
- Institutional partners — organizations (hospitals, schools, dealerships) where there’s no single person to chat with, but you want them on the map with a “call our front desk” alternate contact
- Privacy-conscious advocates — willing to be listed but don’t want to manage a conversation inbox
- High-volume advocates — getting too many messages, so you temporarily disable messaging and redirect to a booking link or phone line instead
- Advocates on leave — temporarily unavailable but you don’t want to remove their pin entirely
How to Set It Up
- Go to Advocates and select the advocate you want to make map-only
- Click Edit Profile
- Scroll down to the Messaging section
- Uncheck Accepts Messages?
- Fill in the Alternate Contact Heading and Alternate Contact fields
- Click Update
Alternate Contact Fields
Alternate Contact Heading
A short heading displayed above the alternate contact card on the advocate’s public profile. If left blank, it defaults to “Contact (advocate’s display name)”.
Alternate Contact
A rich text message shown in place of the messaging form. This is where you tell prospects how to reach the advocate — by phone, email, in person, etc.
Using Merge Variables
Both the heading and the alternate contact body support merge variables — dynamic placeholders that automatically fill in with the advocate’s information. Type { in either field to open the variable picker.
Common merge variables include:
| Variable | Description |
|---|---|
{{display_name}} |
The advocate’s public display name |
{{first_name}} |
The advocate’s first name |
{{last_name}} |
The advocate’s last name |
{{email}} |
The advocate’s email address |
{{phone}} |
The advocate’s phone number |
This lets you write a single alternate contact template that works across multiple advocates. For example:
Alternate Contact Heading: Contact {{display_name}}
Alternate Contact: {{display_name}} is not active in our messaging app yet, but you can reach them by phone at {{phone}} or email at {{email}}.
What Prospects See
- The advocate still appears on the community map with their pin, photo, and profile details
- When a prospect visits the advocate’s profile, they see the alternate contact card instead of the messaging form
- Prospects cannot send messages to a map-only advocate
Re-enabling Messaging
To turn messaging back on, simply check the Accepts Messages? box on the advocate’s profile and save. The messaging form will reappear on their public profile immediately. The alternate contact fields are preserved so you can toggle back and forth without losing your content.