Introduction

SMS marketing is a text-based service used to send promotional messages such as discount offers and product updates. However, you need a person’s consent to send them these messages. The latest reports state that SMS messages have an open rate of over 90%, which is much higher than the open rate of emails.

So, what better than Vtiger’s SMS Campaigns feature to send out promotions?
With the SMS Campaigns module, you can:

• Create and send out mass SMS messages
• Track delivery statuses in real-time
• Configure reply actions for SMS replies

Read on to learn more about the possibilities of SMS campaigns. 

Feature Availability and Limits

Let us take the example of Twilio to learn how to set up an SMS provider. You can do this only if you are an Admin user.

Follow these steps to configure an SMS provider:

1. Click the User Menu on the top right corner of the screen.
2. Click Settings.
3. Look for the Extensions section.
4. Select SMS Provider Configuration.
5. Click the +New Configuration button.
6. Select Twilio from the Provider drop-down.
7. Select the Yes radio button to activate the SMS provider.
8. Copy the Account SID and Auth Token from your Twilio account.

• Note: You can find the Account SID and Auth Token on your Twilio dashboard.

9. Enter the sender’s phone number in the From field.
   • The phone number must be in the E.164 format. 
10. Click Save.

Installing SMS Campaigns

The SMS Campaigns module is not readily available in Vtiger CRM. You must install the extension to use it. 
Follow these steps to install the SMS Campaigns extension:

1. Click the User Menu on the top right corner of the screen.
2. Click Settings.
3. Look for the Extensions section.
4. Select Extension Store.
5. Search for SMS Campaigns using the search bar.
6. Click Install.

After installing the extension, you will see the SMS Campaigns module under Main Menu > Marketing.

Creating an SMS Campaign

After you have installed the extension and configured an SMS provider, you can set up an SMS campaign. 
Follow these steps to create an SMS campaign:

1. Click the Main Menu.
2. Go to Marketing.
3. Select SMS Campaigns.
4. Click the +Create SMS Campaign button.
5. Enter the following information:
   • Campaign Name - This is the name of the SMS campaign. It is recommended that the campaign name must be specific to distinguish it from the other campaigns.
   • Assigned To - This is the user or group to whom the SMS campaign is assigned or the owner of the SMS campaign.
   • Select marketing list - This is the list of users to whom you want to send the campaign. You can select an existing marketing list from the drop-down or create a new one by clicking the Create New Marketing List button. To learn how to create a marketing list, click here.
   • Add Fields - You can add field names in the SMS body with the help of merge tags. For example, if you add the merge tag $contacts-firstname$, the tag is replaced with the contact’s first name saved in the CRM.
6. Click Send to send the campaign to the marketing list.

Viewing Campaign Statistics

You can generate these statistics in the form of a pie chart. The chart shows the delivery, error, and failure rates of the campaign.

Follow these steps to view SMS campaign statistics:

1. Click the Main Menu.
2. Go to Marketing.
3. Select SMS Campaigns.
4. Open an SMS campaign that you want to see the statistics for. 

You will see the campaign statistics when you open an SMS campaign.

Different SMS Statuses

When you send out an SMS campaign to a marketing list, you can track the status of the campaign. Here are all the possible statuses:

• Draft - Campaign is created (or being created) and saved but not sent
• Queued - Campaign is in the queue and will be sent soon
• Sending - Campaign is being sent
• Sent - Campaign has been sent to the service provider.
• Completed - Campaign is completed when all the SMS messages are successfully delivered, or the delivery has failed