SMS Broadcasts
Reaching an audience by text, and the two ways to write what they get.
An SMS broadcast sends a text to a chosen audience, once. It lives at Communications > SMS > Broadcasts, and the New SMS Broadcast menu offers the two kinds.
A text is a different proposition from an email. It arrives on a lock screen, it is read within minutes, and there is no subject line to set expectations with. That makes it the right channel for something time-bound — an appointment reminder, a closing window, an event starting — and the wrong one for anything that would be better read at leisure.
Capabilities
Simple SMS Broadcast
One SMS template, sent to everyone in the audience. Smart tags fill in each contact's own details, but the message is the same message. Nothing is charged for writing it.
Intelligent SMS Outreach
A different text written for every contact, from that contact's own history and the objective you set. Each one is reviewed before it can send. Charged per contact.
An audience from a list or a filter
Pick a static list, or build conditions against your contact data. Either way, only contacts with a mobile number who have not opted out of texts are included.
Reporting per contact
See what each contact was sent, whether it was delivered, and anything they texted back — on the campaign's own page.
How It All Fits Together
An SMS broadcast is a broadcast first and a text second. The audience rules, the schedule, the cost check, the statuses and the reporting are the same as for email, and are documented once under Communication > Broadcasts.
What is specific to texts:
- There is no sender to choose. Texts go out from your organization's messaging service. Email broadcasts let you pick a From Sender; the SMS wizards do not offer one, because there is no choice to make.
- Delivery is charged per message, at the carrier's rate, when the message is delivered. Email delivery is not. Messages that are not delivered are not charged.
- Length matters. A text is billed and delivered in segments, so a longer message can cost more than a short one. Intelligent outreach writes short by design.
- There is nothing to open. Opens and clicks do not apply to a text. Replies do, and are the main signal a text campaign produces.
Before your first SMS broadcast
- Your messaging service is set up and your number is registered to send to your audience's country
- At least one SMS template exists, if you are sending a simple broadcast
- Your contacts have mobile numbers on file — a contact with no mobile number cannot be texted and is excluded from the audience
- Enough balance to cover the campaign, which the wizard checks before letting you schedule
Important: Opting out of texts and opting out of emails are separate. A contact who has opted out of one can still be reached on the other, and the audience preview tells you which applies.
