SMS Campaigns — Jtek Knowledge Base

1

SMS Campaigns vs. Workflows

Just like with email, Jtek gives you two ways to send SMS. Knowing which to use prevents overuse and makes your texts more effective.

SMS campaigns are one-time blasts — You write a message, select an audience, and send it once to everyone on that list at the same time. Like a mass text announcement.
Workflows handle ongoing automated sequences — Automated texts triggered by contact behavior: someone fills out a form, gets a tag, or doesn't respond to a previous message. Set it up once, runs forever.
Use campaigns for promotions and announcements — Limited-time offer, event reminder, re-engagement blast ("We miss you — here's 10% off"). These are time-sensitive, one-time messages.
Use workflows for lead nurture and follow-up — New lead sequences, appointment reminders, post-appointment check-ins — anything that should happen automatically at the right moment in the sales process.
Don't over-blast your list — SMS has high open rates because people trust the channel. Sending too many campaigns erodes that trust. Campaigns should be high-value and infrequent.

Tip: A good rule of thumb for campaigns: no more than 2–4 SMS blasts per month per contact. More than that and opt-out rates climb sharply. Quality over quantity always wins with SMS.

2

Creating an SMS Campaign

Setting up an SMS campaign takes just a few minutes. Start with a clear audience in mind before you create the campaign.

Go to Marketing in the left sidebar — Click the Marketing icon to open the marketing hub.
Click "SMS Campaigns" — You'll see a list of past campaigns with delivered and reply counts. Click "+ New Campaign" in the top right.
Name your campaign — Use a descriptive internal name (e.g., "March Re-engagement Blast" or "Spring Sale SMS"). This is for your reference only.
Select your audience — Choose a Smart List (a saved contact filter) or a tag group. The contact count updates in real time as you make your selection. Double-check this number before proceeding.
Click Next to write your message — The campaign is saved as a draft until you send or schedule it. You can come back to it at any time.

app.jtek.pro/marketing/sms-campaigns

Jtek

Dashboard

Marketing

Contacts

Campaign Name

Spring Sale SMS Blast

Audience

Active Leads — Last 90 Days 247 contacts

Next: Write Message →

3

Writing Your SMS

A great SMS is short, clear, and feels like it came from a real person. Write it like you'd text a client — not like you'd write a marketing flyer.

Keep it under 160 characters for a single-segment SMS — A standard SMS segment is 160 characters. Jtek shows a live character count. Going over sends as a multi-segment message, which costs more and may display differently on some phones.
Start with your business name — Since recipients may not have your Jtek number saved, identify yourself immediately: "Hi, this is Jesse from Riverside Realty —" or "Jtek here —". Don't make people guess who's texting them.
Include a clear, single call to action — One action per SMS. "Click here to book:" or "Reply YES to claim your spot" — not both. Too many options create confusion and reduce response rates.
End with an opt-out line — "Reply STOP to unsubscribe" is legally required for marketing SMS in the US. Keep it short and put it at the end. Jtek may auto-append this depending on your settings.
Use personalization sparingly — A single {{contact.first_name}} at the start ("Hi Sarah,") makes the message feel personal without looking like a spam template. Don't over-personalize.

Legal requirement: All marketing SMS messages must include an opt-out instruction ("Reply STOP to unsubscribe"). Sending marketing texts without this is a violation of TCPA and can result in significant fines.

4

Scheduling Your Blast

Timing matters for SMS. Unlike email, texts feel immediate and personal — a text that arrives at 7am or 9pm creates a bad impression, no matter how good the content is.

Send during business hours — The safest window: 10am–5pm in the recipient's time zone. If you don't know the recipient's time zone, use your own and acknowledge that some will receive it outside business hours.
Avoid weekends for professional messages — Promotional SMS on Sunday afternoon feels intrusive. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are typically the highest-engagement days for business SMS.
Use Schedule instead of Send Now when timing matters — Click Schedule, pick your date and time, and Jtek queues the campaign to send automatically at that moment.
Consider your audience's context — If you're texting real estate buyers, Friday afternoon is a good time (they're thinking about weekend home tours). For business owners, Tuesday morning works well. Know your audience.
You can cancel a scheduled campaign — Go to SMS Campaigns, find the scheduled campaign, and click Cancel before the send time. Once sending begins, individual messages that have already gone out cannot be recalled.

Tip: Schedule campaigns a day in advance so you have time to re-read the message with fresh eyes before it goes out. Typos and tone issues are much easier to catch the next morning.

5

Reading Campaign Results

After your campaign sends, Jtek gives you data on how it performed. Use these numbers to improve future campaigns and identify segments that respond well.

Delivered count — The number of contacts who successfully received the message. Anything below 90% delivery rate signals a list quality issue or carrier filtering problem.
Failed count — Messages that didn't deliver (invalid number, carrier block, or network error). Check these contacts — many may have outdated phone numbers.
Response rate — The percentage of recipients who replied to your message. For a well-targeted SMS campaign, 5–15% response rate is typical. Below 2% means the message or audience wasn't right.
Opt-out count — The number of people who replied STOP. An opt-out rate above 1% is a red flag — you're either messaging too frequently, your list is not opted in, or your message wasn't relevant to that audience.
Use the data to segment better next time — If only contacts tagged "Buyer Lead" responded, run the next campaign to that segment only. The more targeted your audience, the better every metric gets.

Tip: Every reply to an SMS campaign creates a live conversation in your Jtek inbox. Check Conversations after sending — those replies are warm leads waiting for a personal response from you.