How do I send a text message campaign in TactStack?
Short answer
Build the list from a filter rather than a spreadsheet, confirm everyone on it has opted in, write one short message with a single ask, send a test to yourself, schedule it inside business hours, and route the replies to a real inbox so somebody answers the people who respond.
Before you start
- A registered sending number and completed messaging registration.
- A segment you can describe in one sentence, such as customers served in the last 18 months with no open job.
- Documented consent for everyone in that segment.
- Someone available to answer replies within the hour you send.
Step by step
- 1
Build the list as a filter, not a copy
Define the audience by conditions: last service date, tag, job type, city, lifecycle stage. A saved filter stays accurate. An exported spreadsheet is wrong the next day.
Bad lists are how businesses text customers who already complained.
- 2
Check consent and exclusions
Only send to contacts who opted in, and exclude anyone who opted out, is mid-dispute, or is already in an active conversation about something else.
One promotional text to the wrong person can cost you a number and a reputation.
- 3
Write one message with one ask
Name your business in the first line, say the one thing you want them to do, and stop. Two sentences beats a paragraph. Include the opt-out language.
Texts are read in three seconds. Anything longer is deleted.
- 4
Personalize only what you can guarantee
First name and city are safe. Anything pulled from a field that is often blank needs a fallback, or leave it out.
A broken merge field tells every customer they are on a list.
- 5
Send yourself a test
Read it on a real phone. Check the link, the line breaks, the sender name, and how it looks in a lock-screen notification.
The preview screen lies. The lock screen does not.
- 6
Schedule inside business hours, and stagger
Mid-morning or early afternoon on a weekday. Spread the send over an hour or two rather than firing thousands at once.
Staggering protects deliverability and keeps replies answerable.
- 7
Staff the replies
Replies land in the shared inbox against the customer record. Have a person watching, with an assistant covering overflow and after-hours stragglers.
The money is in the reply thread, not the broadcast.
- 8
Read the results and keep the winner
Look at replies, bookings, and opt-outs, not just delivery. Save the version that produced booked work as next time's template.
Two or three campaigns in, you will know exactly what your list responds to.
What good looks like
- Quiet weeks get filled from customers you already earned.
- Replies land in one thread per customer with full history attached.
- Opt-outs are honored automatically across every future send.
- You can point at revenue from a specific message.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in communication, and what to do instead.
Texting a purchased or scraped list›
The fastest way to get your number blocked and your brand distrusted.
Do this instead: Only text people who gave you their number and consented, and keep the record of it.
Sending with nobody watching›
A campaign that generates fifty replies into an empty inbox is worse than no campaign.
Do this instead: Schedule sends for hours when a human can work the replies within minutes.
Two asks in one message›
Book an appointment and follow us and leave a review means nobody does anything.
Do this instead: One message, one action, one link. Save the second ask for the follow-up.
Sending at night›
Late texts earn opt-outs and complaints regardless of the offer. Respect sending windows.
Do this instead: Hold sends to local business hours and let the scheduler enforce it for you.
Frequently asked
6 questions about send a text campaignRelated guides
Pick the next thing to set up, or back up a step if something here assumed work you have not done yet.
Do this next
The natural follow-on tasks once this one is working.
People usually get here from
Guides that lead into this one, in case you skipped a step.
More in Communication
Nearby tasks that share the same setup and vocabulary.
Was this guide helpful?
Tell us what worked and what didn't. It shapes what we rewrite next.
You didn't get into business to be in the tech business.
Managed Tech clients hand this to us. We build it, test it, maintain it, and add to it as the business changes, so nobody on your team has to become the person who knows how the system works.