Text message campaign: how it works and how to set it up

A text message campaign that runs inside a workflow keeps working after you stop thinking about it. Every contact who meets the entry condition, such as an enquiry that did not book or a client who has gone quiet for six months, receives the same short, well-timed sequence of texts, and leaves it the moment they reply or act. This article answers one question: how do you build an always-on text message campaign that nurtures and reactivates contacts on the levelpartner.ai platform. It is the same job people describe as automated text marketing or an SMS text campaign, and it is different from a one-off send you plan from scratch each time.

One-off sends versus always-on campaigns

A one-off campaign is a calendar event: you pick a date, an audience and an offer. An always-on campaign is a rule: whenever a contact reaches a certain state, they enter a sequence. The first suits seasonal pushes. The second suits the steady leaks in your pipeline, the enquiries that never booked, the proposals marked lost and the past clients who were never asked back.

Most firms of 10 to 250 people have more revenue sitting in those leaks than in any seasonal push. A dormant client who bought from you before is far easier to win back than a stranger, yet nobody owns the job of asking. An always-on sequence makes the asking automatic.

Automated text marketing, not just reminders

Most firms automate the obvious texts: booking confirmations and reminders. Automated text marketing goes further. It sends the check-in to the proposal that went quiet, the update to the client whose product ends next year, and the last word to the lead who never replied. Each of those is a sale a person meant to chase and did not.

Before you start

• A clear entry rule, written as a condition the platform can check, such as a pipeline stage, a tag or a date field.
• Contacts with recorded text consent and correctly formatted mobile numbers.
• A goal for the sequence, usually a booked call or a reply.
• An exit rule: what removes someone from the sequence before the last message.
• The adviser or team who will handle replies, set as the contact owner where possible.

How to set it up

These are the platform steps for the workflow. The sequence design that follows decides what goes into steps 5 to 7.

1. Go to Automation > Workflows.
2. Create a new workflow and name it after the leak it fixes.
3. Choose the trigger that matches your entry rule.
4. Add the Send SMS action.
5. Enter the first message, signed by the adviser.
6. Add personalisation or a template where appropriate.
7. Add Wait steps, the later texts and a Goal Event for replies.
8. Test the workflow and SMS content with your own contact.
9. Publish the workflow when it is ready to run.

The Goal Event action is what makes this a nurture sequence rather than a broadcast: when the contact replies or books, they jump to the goal and the remaining texts never go. Check Allow Re-entry in the workflow settings too, so a contact who finished the sequence is not pulled straight back in.

Designing the sequence

Three texts over two to three weeks is enough for most audiences. Each needs a different reason to reply. The first is personal and plain: the adviser checks in and asks a question. The second offers something useful, such as a short update relevant to their situation. The third gives permission to say no, which tends to produce more replies than any offer.

The test is whether the recipient could believe a person sent it. "Hi Jo, it's Mark. Back in March you asked about refinancing. Rates have moved since. Worth a quick chat?" passes. "Don't miss our latest offers" does not. Space later messages further apart: close together while the contact still remembers you, wider as the sequence goes on.

The thing most guides get wrong

Most guidance on text campaigns treats them as broadcasts with extra steps. The difference that matters is the exit rule. A sequence that keeps texting people who have already replied, booked or said no is not nurture; it is noise. Build the goal first, before you write a single message, and test it by replying to your own test contact halfway through.

The trade-off

Sequences produce opt-outs as well as replies, and that is not a failure. A dormant contact who opts out was not going to buy, and removing them improves every future send. You give up the comfortable illusion of a large list in exchange for a smaller, accurate one.

What it replaces and the weekly time

An always-on sequence replaces the quarterly intention to call old clients that never quite happens, and the follow-up lists that rely on someone filtering a spreadsheet. Setup takes two to three hours per sequence. After that, the weekly load is answering replies and checking the workflow's execution history. Budget fifteen minutes a week per sequence, plus reply time.

When not to use it

Do not build an always-on text sequence for contacts who never gave text consent; use email instead. Do not use one for clients in an active dispute, or for anyone your team is already speaking to. For a one-off push with a deadline, plan an SMS campaign. For the choice of which sequences to run at all, read SMS marketing strategy, and for single event-triggered texts see automated SMS messages.

Troubleshooting

Contacts who replied keep getting texts

The goal is missing or set to the wrong condition. Make a reply an explicit Goal Event and check it fires on your test contact.

The workflow re-enters the same contacts

Allow Re-entry is switched on in the workflow settings. Turn it off, or filter the trigger on a non-responder tag to keep people out for a set period.

Texts go out at night

Waits count from when the contact entered, which may be the middle of the night. Adjust the waits or add a condition so texts land in business hours.

The sequence produces replies nobody answers

The contact has no owner, so replies sit unassigned. Assign an owner before the first text, and see conversational SMS for routing replies.

Frequently asked questions

How many messages should a text message campaign include?

Three is a sensible ceiling for a reactivation sequence. More than that and opt-outs usually rise faster than replies.

Can I mix email and text in the same sequence?

Yes. Many firms start with an email and use the text as the second touch. The email and SMS marketing guide explains how to order them.

Can an AI agent answer replies to automated texts?

Yes. An AI agent on SMS can answer common questions, qualify interest and offer booking times, then hand the conversation to a person. Limit what it can say about prices and terms.

What if someone replies "not now"?

Thank them, tag them and keep them out of the sequence for several months. A polite "not now" is a future conversation, not a lost contact.

The journey this guide describes