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How to send an SMS campaign

SMS is one of the fastest ways to reach your guests — perfect for last-minute updates, time-sensitive offers, booking reminders, and event changes. This article walks you through how to build, schedule, and send an SMS campaign in Connect. Use it whenever you want to push a message that lands directly on a guest's phone.
 
 

Before you start

  • Your account must have SMS credits available, one credit covers 160 characters (see How to buy SMS credits)
  • Contacts must have valid mobile numbers saved against their profile, contacts without a mobile number are automatically excluded
  • If you want your SMS to arrive from your venue name (instead of a shared number), your Sender ID must be registered before you send. New government regulations require registered Sender IDs in some regions - see How to register your Sender ID

  • Unsubscribed contacts are automatically excluded from every send — no action required

    ⚠️ Warning ⚠️ if  you don't have a registered Sender ID, your SMS will be sent from a shared mobile number. Your venue name will not appear as the sender, which can reduce trust and brand recognition. 

Topics

Create a new SMS campaign

  1. In Connect go to Campaigns
  2. Click + Create new campaign
  3. Under Choose a campaign channel you would like to start with, select SMS
  4. Under Save it to your campaign folder, either select Create a new campaign folder and give it a name, or select Add to existing folder and choose one from the list
  5. Click Let's go

💡 Tip 💡 Campaign folders group related campaigns so you can compare performance across a theme (for example, "Weekend promos" or "Event reminders"). You can add more channels to the same folder later.

 

Set up your message

On the Set up your SMS campaign screen:

  1. Check the From panel at the top 

    • if you have a registered Sender ID, you can select it from the dropdown. 

    • If not, you'll see a warning that your SMS will be sent from a shared mobile number

  2. Read the Replies note : recipients can reply to your SMS, and replies land in your message inbox for you to action
  3. In the Your message field, type the content of your SMS
  4. To personalise the message with contact details such as first name, click Mailmerge, select the contact field to insert, add a default value if needed, and click Insert tag
  5. To shorten any URL in your message, click Shorten link at the bottom of the screen, paste in the long URL, then click Shorten link again to insert the shortened version into your message
  6. Check the character counter below the message field — it shows how many characters you've used and how many messages you'll be charged for (one message = 160 characters)
  7. Review the Opt-out URL: this is added automatically and must contain the opt-out link. You can customise the wording around it, but the link must stay. 
  8. Click Next to continue

💡 Tip — Keep messages under 160 characters where possible. Going over splits your message into multiple SMS and each one costs a credit. Special characters and emojis can reduce the limit further — always send a test to check.

💡 Tip — Shorten link uses our built-in URL shortener so your link looks clean and uses fewer characters. A full URL can eat 30 to 50 characters of your message budget — shortening it can save you a whole second SMS credit per recipient.

ℹ️ Note — The opt-out link is required by law in most regions. Removing it can cause compliance issues and may prevent your campaign from sending.

ℹ️ Note — At any point on this screen you can click Save and close at the bottom to save your campaign as a draft and come back to it later, or click Cancel to exit without saving
 

Send a test message before going live

Before you send your campaign to your full contact list, send a test SMS to yourself or a colleague. This is the best way to spot typos, broken links, or character-count surprises (especially when emojis or special characters are involved).

  1. On the Set up your SMS campaign screen, click Send a test at the bottom of the screen
  2. In the pop-up, select a recipient from the dropdown or type a mobile number to send the test to
  3. Click Send
  4. Check the test SMS on the receiving phone — confirm the sender, message content, mail merge tags, shortened links, and opt-out wording all look correct
  5. If anything needs fixing, edit your message and send another test before continuing
  6. When you're happy, click Next to continue

💡 Tip — Test on more than one device if you can. iOS and Android handle special characters and emojis slightly differently, and a message that fits in one SMS on iPhone might split into two on Android.


⚠️ Warning — Test sends use SMS credits. They're cheap insurance against an embarrassing live mistake, but be mindful if you're testing repeatedly to a long recipient list.

Choose who to send to

On the Who are you sending to?

  1. Use the Select a segment dropdown to choose who should receive the SMS — the default is All contacts
  2. To target a specific group, pick an existing segment from the dropdown (see How to create a segment)
  3. Click Search your contacts to preview the list of recipients with their mobile numbers
  4. Review the contact count at the bottom of the table — contacts without a valid mobile number and contacts who have unsubscribed are excluded automatically
  5. Click Next to continue
 
ℹ️ Note — The recipient count at the bottom shows "X of Y contacts" — the first number is your actual send list after automatic exclusions, and the second is your total contacts.
 

Schedule your campaign

On the Schedule your SMS campaign screen:

  1. To send straight away, select Now
  2. To send later, select In the future and pick a date and time using the calendar icon
  3. Click Next to continue

💡 Tip — Timing matters. For hospitality venues, SMS opens peak around 30 to 60 minutes before service. Scheduling your pre-service reminder for late afternoon tends to drive the best response.

 

Review and confirm

On the Confirm your new SMS campaign screen:

  1. Check the Send time, From, and Recipients summary on the left — click Edit send time if you need to adjust the schedule
  2. Review the SMS content preview on the right — this shows exactly how your message will appear on a recipient's phone
  3. If anything needs changing, click Back to return to the relevant step

  4. When you're happy, click Send (or Schedule if you picked a future time)

    ⚠️ Warning ⚠️  Once a campaign is sent or scheduled, you cannot recall it. Always send a test to yourself before scheduling a large send.

Troubleshooting

My SMS was sent from a shared mobile number instead of my venue name

  • Cause: Your venue doesn't have a registered Sender ID, or the registration is still pending approval.
  • Fix: Register a Sender ID via the link in the warning banner on the Set up your SMS campaign screen, or follow How to register your Sender ID. Approval can take a few weeks.

Some contacts aren't receiving my campaign

  • Cause: Those contacts either don't have a valid mobile number on file, or they've previously unsubscribed.
  • Fix: In Connect, go to Contacts and check the contact's profile. Unsubscribed contacts cannot be re-added manually — they must opt back in themselves.

My message is being counted as two or more messages

  • Cause: The message exceeds 160 characters, or it contains special characters or emojis that reduce the limit.
  • Fix: Shorten the copy, remove emojis or special characters, or use the Mailmerge feature to replace long repeated text with short tags.

I'm running out of characters because of a long URL

  • Cause: Full URLs can eat 30 to 50 characters of your limit. 
  • Fix: Use the Shorten link button at the bottom of the Set up your SMS campaign screen to convert long URLs into our built-in short links. This protects your character count and keeps your message under one credit per recipient.

My scheduled campaign didn't send at the chosen time

  • Cause: The scheduled time may have been set in the past, or your SMS credit balance was too low when the send was triggered.
  • Fix: In Connect, check your credit balance via Credits in the top-right corner. Top up credits if needed and reschedule the campaign.

FAQ

What is a Sender ID and do I need one? A Sender ID is the name or number that appears in the "From" field on a recipient's phone. If it's registered, your venue name shows up. If not, your SMS is sent from a shared number. Registered Sender IDs are strongly recommended and required by regulation in some regions.

What happens when someone replies to my SMS? Replies are captured in your message inbox inside Connect. Hover over your avatar in the top-right corner and select Inbox to view and respond to replies, or to unsubscribe someone who asks.

Are unsubscribes handled automatically? Yes. The opt-out link in every SMS lets guests unsubscribe themselves. Unsubscribed contacts are automatically excluded from all future sends — you don't need to manage this manually.

How many SMS credits will my campaign use? One credit = one message = 160 characters per recipient. If your message is 170 characters, each recipient uses two credits. The character counter on the compose screen shows the total per recipient before you send.

Can I save a draft and come back later? Yes. You can exit the flow at any step and your campaign will save as a draft in the Campaigns list. Pick it up again by clicking Edit next to the draft.

Related articles

Your SMS campaign is now ready to go. Use the related articles above to fine-tune your audience, manage credits, and personalise your messages.

Any questions? Reach out to us via email at support@meandu.com