Creating an SMS Campaign

Goals and Outcomes

SMS campaigns allow you to create, personalize, and optimize messages that engage your audience effectively. In this article, you'll learn how to build a campaign from start to finish.

SMS Campaigns Overview

A well-planned and executed SMS campaign is an extremely powerful marketing tool. That’s why we’ve made crafting a successful one intuitive and easy. By following these steps, you can increase engagement, maximize reach, and drive revenue growth.

Setting Up an SMS Campaign

1. In your Yotpo SMS & Email main menu, go to Campaigns > My Campaigns.

2. Click Create campaign.

3. A popup will appear offering three types of campaigns:

   • SMS

   • Email

   • Multi-message

4. Select the SMS campaign type and click Create campaign.

Choosing a Campaign Name

Give your campaign a short, descriptive name. This name is internal and won't be visible to customers.

Note

If you leave the campaign name field empty, a name will be auto-assigned.

Selecting Your Target Audience

You can target 4 different groups of people:

• All text subscribers - Everyone who has subscribed to your store.

• Specific customers - Select individual customers by typing their names.

• Segments - Target customers based on filters like spending behavior, order history, account creation date, and account status.

• Lists - Choose from a static list of SMS subscribers that you’ve manually created. Unlike segments, these lists don’t update automatically and will only change when you edit them yourself.

To learn more about segments and lists, see Creating SMS Marketing Segments and Lists and Segments in Yotpo SMS & Email.

You can also exclude audiences by selecting individual customers, segments, and lists from the Exclude audiences drop-down menu.

By default, unengaged subscribers are excluded. We strongly recommend not changing this setting, as it prevents over-messaging and effectively translates into lower campaign costs and reduced unsubscribe rates.

Tip

Segmented campaigns result in better ROI. So if you have a history of selecting only All text subscribers as your target audience, we’ll show you a reminder to start using more personalized campaigns instead.

Enabling A/B Testing (Optional)

The A/B testing feature lets you test different versions of your message and find out which performs best. To run an A/B test, turn on the toggle. For more details about how the feature works, see Running an A/B Test on Your SMS Campaigns.

Crafting Your Message

Let’s walk through the key elements of a successful text marketing campaign.

Writing Your Copy

Crafting a compelling message is a key part of a successful SMS campaign. Follow the steps below to write and optimize your text.

1. Use the Text message box to write your copy. A default message is provided, but you can edit it to match your brand’s tone and objectives.

2. If you need some help crafting your message:

   • You can use one of the available templates. Click Browse templates in the top-right corner to choose from high-performing message examples.

     

   • You can also try the AI Copy Assistant. Click the AI Copy Assistant  button at the top left corner of the message box to generate content suggestions based on your campaign type and goals.

     

Important

To ensure compliance, all SMS messages automatically include the required opt-out text - STOP to opt out.

Adding Visual Elements to Your Message

To make your message more engaging, you can add an image or emoji.

• Add an image from image icon in the bottom-right corner of the editor to attach a photo or GIF. This turns your message into an MMS.

  Note

  MMS is only supported for recipients in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Australia. Others will receive a standard SMS. To send MMS in Australia, you need to have an LVN. Learn more here.

  File requirements

  JPEG, PNG, or GIF formats; max size 1 MB; max resolution 1000px.

• Add an emoji from the smiley icon next to the image box to insert emojis.

  Important

  Emojis affect your character limit, so keep an eye on the counter.

Understanding Message Length

SMS messages have a base limit of 160 characters, but several factors can affect this. To avoid unexpected costs, always check the character counter at the bottom of the text box before sending.

• SMS: Up to 160 characters

• MMS: Up to 1600 characters

• Messages over 160 characters are split into parts (153 characters each)

• Emojis, non-Latin characters, and special symbols (e.g. →) reduce the limit to 70 characters

Note

Clicking the flag button allows you to preview how your text message will appear to subscribers in different countries. For example, the "Stop to opt out" verbiage may vary in visualization.

Using Personalization Tags

Personalization tags allow you to automatically insert dynamic customer details into your messages, making them more relevant and engaging.

You’ll find the available tags at the bottom of the message field. Click on the tag you want to use to add it to your message.

Including Discounts and Connecting to Loyalty

Including a small incentive in your message will do wonders for your campaign. To set that up, just click on one of the Discount URL, Discount code, or Discount value personalization tags. For more details, see How to Add Discounts to Yotpo SMS Campaigns.

You can also add Loyalty personalization tags to your message to make the most of your Loyalty program if you have one. To learn more, see How to Create Engaging SMS Experiences with Yotpo Loyalty Segmentation.

Available for stores using Yotpo Loyalty and SMS & Email.

Including Your Virtual Contact Card

If you want to attach a virtual contact card to your message, mark the checkbox. This allows customers to save your contact details on their phone, helping them recognize future text messages from your brand.

Maximizing Message Strength

Still not sure if your message is good to go?

The strength meter gives you real-time feedback on your message quality. Hover over the emoji icon at the bottom of the text message box to view suggestions for improving your message’s impact. For additional information, see Crafting Effective Text Messages with the Strength Meter.

Previewing and Testing Your Message

The message preview shows how your text will appear on recipients’ phones.

To test your message, click Send test message. Your number will appear in the drop-down menu, and you can add additional test numbers if needed.

Before sending, make sure everything works as expected — especially links and personalization tags.

Scheduling

You can choose to schedule your campaign for a specific date and time or send it immediately.

When selecting a time, you’ll see suggested optimal hours based on industry benchmarks and your store’s historical data.

Important

If your store doesn’t have any historical data, the system will suggest sending times based on global statistics and trends.

Campaign scheduling is synced with your store’s time zone, which can be adjusted in Settings.

Tip

If you're on a paid plan, you can schedule messages based on each subscriber's local time zone.

Send in Subscriber’s Local Time Zone

If scheduling based on subscriber’s local time zone, and the time has already passed, you’ll see 3 options:

• Send the next day (subscriber’s time zone)

• Send the same day (store’s time zone)

• Send immediately upon launch

Enabling Smart Sending

Smart Sending helps you avoid spamming subscribers by setting a delay between messages. For further details, please refer to Compliance Settings.

Go to Settings > Compliance to adjust the default 8-hour interval or turn it off for special cases like holiday campaigns.

Tip

If you’d like to receive a follow-up message a few days after your campaign launches, we’ll send you a summary of the revenue it generated for your store. To opt out, simply remove your phone number.

Saving Campaign Drafts

Click Save draft to return to your campaign later. You can find it under Campaigns > My Campaigns in the left-hand menu.

Reviewing Your Campaign

Before sending your SMS campaign, click Review campaign to check its settings. You'll see a summary of the setup, a breakdown of the messages, and the total campaign cost.

Successful Outcome

To track your campaign’s performance, go to Campaigns > My Campaigns, hover over your campaign, and click See analytics.

You'll be able to review key metrics like:

• Campaign revenue

• Campaign cost

• Conversion rate