SMS broadcasts

SMS broadcasts send a text message to clients who've opted in to receive SMS from your business. Open rates for SMS are typically much higher than email — great for time-sensitive promotions, schedule announcements, or flash offers.

Create an SMS broadcast

1. Go to Marketing → Broadcasts

2. Click Create new (if the Arketa Agent dialog opens, click Start from scratch)

3. Select Text message (your studio needs a texting phone number)

4. Fill in:

   • Name your broadcast — internal label
   • Who should receive this text message? — all customers, a tag, or a segment (only SMS-opted-in clients receive it)
   • Message — your text, up to 450 characters (160 characters = 1 SMS segment; longer messages use multiple segments and cost more)

5. On the Review step, click Send Test SMS to preview, then Send Broadcast or Schedule

SMS character limits

SMS messages are measured in "segments" of 160 characters each (67 if the message includes an emoji or special character). Longer messages automatically split into multiple segments, and each segment uses credits from your monthly SMS allotment for every recipient. Keep messages concise to make your credits go further. See Plan and billing for how credits are counted.

Images in SMS broadcasts have a size limit of 5MB. Adding a JPEG or PNG image sends the broadcast as an MMS, which uses more credits per message. Image delivery is supported for US and Canadian numbers.

Opt-in requirements

Clients must opt in to receive SMS marketing messages. Arketa tracks opt-in status and only sends to opted-in recipients. Clients who haven't opted in won't receive your SMS broadcasts.

Marketing consent is separate from transactional consent. A client who opted in to booking reminders and confirmations has not opted in to marketing texts, and texting with them from your Inbox doesn't count either.

Clients can opt in to marketing texts:

• From your booking site or app — the marketing SMS opt-in checkbox at checkout, the Marketing text messages toggle on the account page of the newer booking site, or Communication Settings in your branded app.
• From your dashboard — open the client's profile and turn on Marketing texts under communication settings. Only do this with the client's explicit permission.
• On CSV import — map a Marketing text opt-in column, or choose Opt everyone in for Marketing text on the import's opt-in step. Imported clients without either are not opted in.

Why your recipient count can be lower than expected

Even among opted-in clients, a broadcast only sends to clients with a phone number on file. A client with no number, or an invalid one, is skipped. If an opted-in client didn't get a broadcast, check their profile for a valid phone number.

Two-way SMS

A broadcast text appears in each client's Inbox thread, and a reply from the client lands in that same thread. Use the Inbox to continue the conversation. See two-way texting.

Best uses for SMS

• Last-minute class openings ("Spot just opened in tonight's 7pm yoga!")
• Flash promotions with a short deadline
• Schedule changes or cancellations
• Event reminders the day before
• Quick wins with high urgency

Tracking SMS results

SMS broadcasts don't show delivery or engagement metrics: the Broadcasts list shows N/A for them. A Sent status means the message went out. See broadcast results.

Frequently asked questions