How to Schedule SMS Campaigns in WordPress

Do you schedule SMS campaigns in advance?

WordPress has a bunch of SMS plugins that let you schedule your text messages to optimize your SMS campaigns.

We recommend WP SMS as one of the best plugins specifically designed for WordPress websites. It offers a bunch of SMS features and add-ons, including scheduling and automation.

In this blog post, we’re going to explain how you can schedule SMS campaigns without being an expert.

If you need to try this feature, you can easily use the demo of WP SMS and test its power.

Benefits of Scheduling SMS Campaigns

First, let’s see why you need to schedule SMS campaigns. Here are some key advantages of SMS campaign scheduling:

1. Improving Timing: Scheduling lets you send your messages at the best time to reach recipients at the optimal time. This way, you can get higher engagement rates.

2. Lowering Workload: SMS scheduling lets you send your messages at times when you’re not at work. For example, you can set your messages to be sent on Sunday when you’re at home. 

3. Enhanced Efficiency: If you want to send your messages manually, the process can be time-consuming. Scheduling will automate this process and therefore, your time will be free for other important tasks.

4. Consistent Communication: You need consistency in your SMS marketing to gain the trust of your audience. Scheduling lets you plan your messages in advance. So you’ll have a steady flow of updates, promotions, or reminders.

5. Scalability: If you have large audiences, scheduling SMS campaigns is essential for you to save time and money.

The Right WordPress SMS Plugin for Scheduling: WP SMS

Without the right plugin, you can’t run scheduled SMS campaigns on WordPress. WP SMS is one of the best WordPress SMS plugins that lets you send SMS directly from your website’s dashboard.

WP SMS Pro has a great Scheduled and Repeating SMS feature that lets you schedule SMS campaigns without learning programming.

As a user-friendly WordPress plugin, even non-expert users can use it. The Scheduled and Repeating SMS feature offers the following capabilities:

Why WP SMS Is Best for Scheduling SMS Marketing Campaigns

WP SMS is a popular WordPress plugin that offers advanced features, including scheduling SMS campaigns.

Here’s why WP SMS is your best choice:

1. Ease of Use: Using WP SMS to schedule your campaigns is a straightforward process. You just need to have a WordPress website and install the WP SMS plugin.

2. Integration Capabilities: It integrates with various SMS gateways and popular platforms like WooCommerce. This gives you the chance to use all of the capabilities of these plugins without switching your dashboard.

3. Scheduling Features: The plugin offers advanced scheduling options, to send your messages later.

4. Audience Segmentation: WP SMS lets you segment your contacts into various groups and send targeted messages.

5. Customization: You can personalize messages and include customer names, orders, and details, using dynamic content.

As you see, WP SMS is a great option for SMS scheduling. So why wait? Follow these steps to add the plugin and get started on your scheduled SMS campaigns:

1. Install and Activate WP SMS

Here is a summary of the installation process of WP SMS:

• Go to your WordPress dashboard.
• Navigate to Plugins > Add New.

• Search for “WP SMS” and click “Install Now”.

• After installation, click “Activate” to enable the plugin.

2. Configure Plugin Settings

After activating the plugin on your website, you just need to perform some configurations like entering the API key or credentials.

Also, you need to add an “Admin Mobile Number” to receive notifications. Also, test the integration by sending a sample message.

3. Build Your Contact List

Now, you need to build your subscriber list to send them your scheduled text messages. You can import your contacts manually or via a CSV file.

Also, it’s good to group your contacts based on categories such as geography, purchase behavior, or engagement levels.

4. Create Your SMS Campaign

Now, you’re all set. You just need to run your campaigns by going to the WP SMS campaign section and writing your message.

WP SMS gives you lots of features like placeholders to write dynamic content, such as {name} or {order_number}. This is great for personalizing your SMS marketing campaigns, especially automated and scheduled SMS campaigns.

5. Schedule Your SMS Campaign

You can set the date and time for your message to be sent without logging into your dashboard.

Pricing of WP SMS Pro

Of course, the free plan of WP SMS doesn’t include scheduling. But don’t worry because WP SMS Pro is really affordable and it’s worth trying.

Here is a summary of the pricing model offered by WP SMS:

Tips for Scheduled and Automated SMS Campaigns

Now that you know how to set up WP SMS to schedule SMS campaigns, it’s good to pay attention to some tips in this regard:

Test Your Campaigns

You need to test your campaigns to ensure they are performing well; otherwise, you risk wasting both your money and time. A/B testing helps you understand the best version of your text message. 

Here is how:

1. Test on a Sample Audience: Schedule your SMS campaign and send text messages to a small group of contacts to check message formatting, timing, and delivery.

2. Check Personalization Tags: Make sure that dynamic placeholders like {name} are working correctly.

3. Review Timing: make sure that the scheduled time matches your expectations and also various time zones.

4. Gather Feedback: Try to collect feedback and directly ask your customers about your campaigns.

Know Your Audience

You have to understand your audience’s preferences and behavior to be able to craft relevant messages. 

Without a deep understanding and segmentation, you can’t expect a good result from your scheduled campaigns.

Focus on the Optimal Timing

If you want to schedule SMS campaigns, you have to determine the best time to send SMS. Try to detect peak engagement times, such as mid-morning or early evening.

Also, avoid sending messages too early or late to prevent disruptions and reduce opt-out rates. 

Keep Messages Concise

You have to use clear, actionable language and write short messages to impact more. Also, you have to include a strong call-to-action (CTA) such as “Click here” or “Reply YES.”

Include Links to Mobile-Friendly Pages

WP SMS offers shortened links to help you drive traffic to your web pages. Of course, you have to make your pages mobile-friendly because you’re sending the links to your customers’ mobile phones. 

Include links that lead to mobile-friendly landing pages. Ensure any media included in the message displays correctly on mobile devices.

Comply with Regulations

Make sure that your campaigns comply with communication laws, such as GDPR, TCPA, and CAN-SPAM Act.

For example, you have to get consent from your website’s users if you want to send scheduled messages. Also, it’s essential to include an opt-out option so that your audience can unsubscribe from your scheduled marketing campaign.

Sample Scheduled SMS Campaigns

Last but not least, you’d better take a look at some examples to see how effective scheduling can be. 

Here are some practical SMS campaign scheduling examples:

Promotional Messages

You can schedule the following sample message on Thursday evening. This way, you can boost your weekend sales and increase your in-store or website traffic:

Event Reminders

Reminders can benefit from scheduling because you have to send them at the best time to reduce no-shows. Here is an example of a reminder SMS that you have to send 1 day before the event:

Customer Feedback Requests

Feedback requests should also be sent timely. For example, you have to send something like the following sample message the day after a customer’s purchase:

This way, you can make the customer feel you value their opinion and they’re part of your story.

Final Thoughts

SMS marketing is not just sending text messages. You have to build a strong plan, use advanced tools and features, and analyze your campaigns to get the best result. 

A critical matter you need to consider in your SMS marketing campaigns is scheduling. You need to send your messages at the best time to get maximum exposure. 

Of course, you can’t do that manually. So you have to use a tool like WP SMS to easily schedule your messages to be sent later. 

The scheduling & repeating feature of WP SMS is really user-friendly and affordable. Try it using the demo of WP SMS to make sure it fits your business requirements.

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