Applies to: Admins
Note: AI Opportunity Engine is currently in beta. If you'd like to join, reach out over live chat!
Overview
Your brand voice is what makes a "thanks for your order" message feel like your store, and not a generic template. In AI Opportunity Engine, you set your brand voice by selecting a handful of existing message templates per journey. The AI uses those templates as examples — picking up on your tone, phrasing, sign-offs, and the way you talk to customers — and applies that voice every time it drafts a new opportunity for your team.
This guide walks through how to configure brand voice for each of your active journeys.
Brand voice is configured per journey (e.g., you select templates specifically to inform Post-Purchase Follow-Up journey)
We recommend selecting 5 templates per journey — the more examples you give the AI, the better the drafts get
Both SMS and email templates are supported; the AI automatically uses the right format based on how your associate is reaching out
Once a template is linked to an active journey, only admins can edit it (to protect against accidental changes that affect AI output)
Before you start
You'll need:
Admin access to your Endear brand
AI Opportunity Engine enabled for your brand (see the admin configuration guide)
At least a few existing templates in your message template library. If you don't have any yet, you'll be able to create them inline during setup.
Step-by-step guide
1. From the main navigation, go to Settings → Endear AI → Configure journeys.
You'll see each journey available to your brand, along with a summary of the templates currently selected for each.
2. Click into the journey you want to configure. This opens the journey editor, where you'll add the templates that teach the AI your brand voice for that specific use case.
We recommend setting up brand voice for each active journey individually, since the tone of a post-purchase thank-you is usually different from a cart-recovery nudge.
3. In the Templates section of the journey editor, click the template selector to browse your existing template library. Select the templates you want the AI to learn from.
Tips for picking strong examples:
Choose templates that sound like you at your best — the AI will mirror the tone, phrasing, and sign-offs from these
Mix in a few variations so the AI doesn't repeat the same opener every time
Include both SMS and email templates if you use both channels — there's no need to separate them, the AI preserves the contact method on each template and uses the right format automatically
Aim for 5 templates to start. You can always add more — the AI will get better with more examples.
4. If you don't have a template that fits, click Write new template from inside the journey editor. This opens the template editor in a new view.
When you save the new template, you'll be redirected back to the journey editor, where a pop-up will confirm whether you'd like to add it to the journey.
5. Once a template is added to an active journey, only admins can edit it. Managers and associates will see it as read-only. When an admin edits a linked template, a callout appears explaining which journeys reference it — because any changes will affect the AI drafts those journeys generate.
If you want to make changes without affecting an active journey, unlink the template from the journey first (or duplicate it and edit the copy).
6. Once your templates are selected, the AI will use them as your brand voice for any new opportunities generated by that journey. There's no separate "publish" step — your changes take effect on the next generation cycle.
What to expect after setup
Drafts will start sounding more like your brand within the next batch of generated opportunities
Associates can still personalize every draft before sending — brand voice gives them a strong starting point, not a finished message
You can update your templates at any time as your voice evolves; the AI will pick up the new examples on the next generation cycle
Troubleshooting
The drafts still sound generic. You likely need more templates, or stronger examples. Try adding 2–3 more templates that capture your voice clearly. Avoid templates that are mostly merge tags or boilerplate — the AI learns best from templates with distinctive phrasing.
I edited a template and the drafts changed. This is expected. Templates are referenced live by the AI, so edits propagate immediately. If you want to test a change, duplicate the template and link the copy first.
A template I want to edit is read-only. You're likely not an admin, and/or the template is linked to an active journey. Admins: check the callout in the template editor to see which journey is referencing it.
My brand only does SMS (or only email). That's fine — just select templates in the channel you use. The system handles channel routing automatically.
Still need help? We're happy to assist you 1:1 — reach out via live chat.