How do I send an SMS campaign in Pest AI?
Short answer
Build the audience as a saved segment first, confirm the sending number has finished A2P 10DLC registration, then create the campaign, write one message with your company name and opt-out language, and schedule it inside business hours with throttling turned on. Assign someone to the inbox for the two hours after it sends, because a good pest control text gets replies immediately.
Before you start
- A registered, SMS-enabled number with completed A2P 10DLC brand and campaign approval.
- Contacts with valid mobile numbers and no opt-out flag.
- A defined audience segment — not "everyone in the database".
- A person available to handle replies during the send window.
Step by step
Define the audience as a saved segment
Filter to something specific: customers with a lapsed quarterly service in a set of ZIP codes, or quote recipients from the last 60 days who never booked. Save it as a named segment so the campaign references a living list instead of a one-off export.
Tip: If the segment is over about a third of your database, it is probably not a campaign — it is a blast, and it will perform like one.
Exclude the people who should not get it
Layer exclusions onto the segment: opted out, currently in an active service issue, already booked for the offer, and anyone messaged in the last seven days. Message fatigue is the quiet killer of SMS performance.
Verify the sending number and registration status
Check the number's A2P 10DLC campaign is approved and that the use case matches what you are sending. Marketing content sent under a customer-care registration is exactly what carriers filter.
Watch out: A large first send from a cold number invites filtering. Warm a new number with lower volumes for a week before a full campaign.
Write one message, not three
Lead with the company name, state the offer in one clause, and end with a single action. Keep it under 320 characters including the opt-out. Merge fields are fine for the first name; anything more usually reads as automated.
Tip: Read it as if you received it while driving. If it takes two reads to understand, cut a clause.
Add the compliance elements
Include your business name and clear opt-out instructions such as "Reply STOP to opt out". Confirm STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, and HELP handling is automatic on the number, and that opt-outs write back to the contact record so no other campaign picks them up.
Schedule with throttling and a business-hours window
Send inside local business hours and throttle to a steady rate rather than dumping the whole list at once. Throttling keeps carrier filtering down and, just as importantly, keeps the replies arriving at a pace your team can answer.
Send a test, then launch
Send to two or three internal numbers first. Check the sender display, merge-field rendering, link preview, and that STOP works. Then launch and watch the delivery report for the first few hundred messages.
Work the replies and measure the right number
Staff the inbox for the two hours after launch. The metric that matters is booked jobs from replies, not delivery rate. Log the result against the segment so the next campaign starts from evidence.
Common mistakes
- Sending to the whole database because the segment took too long to build.
- Launching from a number whose 10DLC campaign is still pending, then wondering why nobody replies.
- Sending at 6pm and leaving the replies until the next morning, by which time the intent is gone.
- Packing two offers and three links into one message.
Where this fits
This task lives inside Messaging AI. If you would rather not build it yourself, we set it up during implementation and hand it over documented — partners run the systems, we handle the hard parts. Existing partners can also reach the team through support.
Frequently asked
Want this built for you instead? We configure it with your services, your calendar, and your data, then train your team on it.
Book a Discovery Call