The campaign step is the unit of automation inside BNTouch. Every nurture, every drip, every transactional flow is a sequence of steps. The thing that separates BNTouch from the average mortgage CRM is what those steps can be. Not just email. Not just SMS. Email, SMS, postcard, pre-recorded voicemail, video message, task, update-field, and push notification, mixable inside a single campaign.
This post is the operator’s reference for the seven step types, what they cost where applicable, the trigger logic that activates them, and the co-branding mechanic that flows across all of them.
A campaign in BNTouch is a stack of steps. Each step has a method (email, SMS, postcard, etc.) and a timing (relative interval or absolute date). When a record joins a campaign, the system walks the record through the stack, firing each step on its schedule.
From the demo: “Add a new step.” That is the verb. You drop a new step onto the campaign, pick the method, configure the content, set the timing. Repeat for every touch.
One mechanical detail to know up front: “Those are all whole numbers in our system.” Step intervals are integers, not fractions. You configure day-three and day-seven, not day-three-and-a-half.
The seven step types, one by one
1. Email step
The foundational step. From the demo: “Out of the gate you have the ability to add emails.” Email steps pull from your template library or draft inline. MAIA’s ChatGPT integration helps you write the body without leaving the editor.
Each email step holds a single email. For a six-touch nurture, you stack six email steps with their respective day intervals. Variables (first name, loan amount, rate, property address) pull from the record fields.
2. SMS step
The single most under-used step type in most BNTouch shops we audit. From the demo: “Campaign steps can now use SMS message as a method just like an SMS.” Configure the body, set the day, the SMS fires from the LO’s BNTouch Voice number to the borrower’s phone.
Cost detail you should know. SMS is 3 cents per segment up to 155 characters. Over 155 characters, the message splits into two segments and the cost doubles to 6 cents. From the demo: “155 characters for your SMS before it turns into a double charge. So, instead of three cents, it’s now six cents.”
Writing short SMS is not just a stylistic call. At scale, the difference between a 150-character SMS and a 160-character SMS doubles the line item.
3. Postcard step
The physical mail step. From the demo: “Loan anniversary cards and you can see there’s two of every type because we can send either a regular size card for you which we charge you 65 cents or we can send a jumbo size card which costs 99 cents.”
The system handles design, address, printing, and mailing. The LO writes the campaign step once, the postcard goes out per record on the date the campaign step triggers. Use cases that work: loan anniversary, holiday touch, just-sold or just-listed neighborhood mailer (when integrated with Property Sites), thank-you note after closing.
The voicemail drop. From the demo: “Allows you to leave a pre-recorded message from that same number.” The LO records the voicemail once, the system drops it as part of any campaign step tagged with the voicemail method.
The same step type supports video messages. From the demo: “This is a video email. This is a video SMS. If I want to send them a video message I can.” The LO records once, the video attaches to the step, and the record receives a personalized video touch as part of the campaign.
Built-in webcam capture means you record from inside the platform: “Record stuff on the fly with a webcam. You could also import videos. Maybe you grabbed them from YouTube or wherever else.”
5. Task step
A campaign step that creates a task in the LO’s queue. From the demo: “Where I’m going to add in that task. The task is going to be for [user].” Use cases: when the borrower hits day-seven without completing the 1003, create a task for the LO to make a follow-up call. When the record reaches the appraisal-ordered stage, create a task to call the borrower for a status update.
Recurring tasks are supported. From the demo: “Every 30 days you’re going to get a reminder. If you want that to happen until forever, leave this as zero. If you want to try every 30 days for a year, you can set count.”
6. Update Field step
The administrative step that automates record management. From the demo: “All I’m doing is I’m going to come over here and update this field.” The step modifies a field on the record, typically a group membership.
Use case examples: “All I’m doing is adding that group to be added at pre-approval.” When the record advances to preapproval, the campaign step adds it to the preapproval group, which then triggers the preapproval-stage campaign. Auto-removal works the same way: “Update my field, remove rate watch.” When the borrower closes the loan, the campaign step removes the rate watch group.
This is the step type that turns campaigns into a pipeline orchestration layer instead of just a drip-email tool.
7. Push notification step
The mobile-app step. From the demo: “If you’ve updated in the status, that’s really where this push notification can come into play.”
The push fires to the borrower’s Mortgage Circles app. From a separate demo: “Via email or via a push notification through the Mortgage Circles mobile app.” Combined with email and SMS in the same step, the system can broadcast a milestone update across three channels simultaneously.
Trigger types that activate campaign steps
Four trigger types matter most:
On record join. “As soon as a record is added to the campaign.” The default. Step fires when the record enters the campaign.
On exact date. “Steps based on exact date will activate based on the specified date.” Use for loan anniversary touches, holiday campaigns, expected-closing-date communications.
On field change. “Triggers here can trigger marketing campaigns if a campaign has an automated trigger that is set to a specific field/status change.” Use for milestone updates.
On status mismatch (auto-remove). “Status does not equal X, triggers to remove them.” Use to clean records out of campaigns they no longer belong in.
Step naming, the small detail that scales
One mechanical thing the demo flags: “The title that you’ll see in your sort of campaign step list so you’ll know what this text is about. So you’ll know what this text message is about they will not see this part of it.” The step title is internal-facing. Use it to label the step clearly so future you (or a teammate) can audit the campaign without opening every step. The borrower never sees this title.
Co-branding across step types
The mechanic that makes BNTouch valuable for shops with realtor partners. From the demo: “We do also for co-branding and you can co-brand any campaign so all it takes is having that partner tagged.”
If a partner is tagged on a borrower record, every step in the campaign carries the partner’s co-branding. Emails show both LO and partner. Postcards include both logos. Video messages include both signatures. The mechanic is invisible until the partner sees the result and starts sending more referrals.
Multi-language at the step level
Each step has its own multi-language indicator. From the demo: “[Tracks] whether the step has multi-language support and will automatically send the appropriate version of the step.” A campaign with English and Spanish versions of every step routes the right language to each record based on the borrower’s language preference.
One real example: the four-channel anniversary campaign
A campaign built for the year-after-closing loan anniversary touch.
Day -7 (relative to anniversary): Update field step adds the record to the “anniversary outreach” group.
Day -3: Email step sends a personalized refinance analysis if equity conditions meet the rule.
Day 0: Postcard step (jumbo) drops to the borrower’s physical address.
Day 0: Pre-recorded voicemail step drops a thirty-second message from the LO.
Day 0: Push notification to the Mortgage Circles app.
Day 1: Task step creates a follow-up call task in the LO’s queue.
Day 7: Email step sends a “did you get our note” follow-up if no engagement.
Five different step types in one campaign. All running on autopilot. The LO’s only manual touch is the day-1 call.
See the campaign step editor
The campaign editor is best understood by building one. Request a demo and ask the team to walk you through assembling a real campaign step by step.
