Use Send SMS Actions

Customer Journey actions perform marketing or organizational tasks in your journey map. Use Send SMS actions to send a text message to your subscribed SMS contacts. This allows you to target your SMS audience based on their activity and create a multi-channel marketing plan.

In this article, you’ll learn how to use a Send SMS action.

Before you start

Here are some things to know before you begin this process.

• To learn more about Customer Journeys, how they work, and what you can do with your plan, check out About Customer Journeys.
• Send SMS actions are included with the Standard plan or higher.
• To send a Customer Journey with a Send SMS action, you’ll need to submit an SMS Marketing application and get approved. You can create a Customer Journey draft with a Send SMS action while your application is processing.
• You need SMS credits to send a Customer Journey with a Send SMS action.
• Our pre-built journey maps use default starting points, rules, and actions. To learn more, check out Use Pre-Built Journey Maps.

How it works

After you submit an SMS Marketing application and get approved, use a Customer Journey action to send text messages to your subscribed SMS contacts. If you have more than 1 audience, select the audience connected to your SMS Marketing program when you set up your Customer Journey. Then, add a Send SMS action to your journey, and Mailchimp will send your text message automatically outside of quiet hours. This helps save you time, and it widens the scope of your marketing efforts.

Add a Send SMS action

To add a Send SMS action to a journey map, follow these steps.

1. Hover over the plus icon (+) on the step where you want the rule to occur, then click Add a journey point.
2. In the Actions section, click Send SMS.
   
3. In the Send SMS pop-up modal, click Edit name, enter the name of your text message, then click Save. You need to set up an SMS Marketing program before you can add a Send SMS action to your journey map.
4. In the Send time section, view Mailchimp’s quiet hour settings, then click Save. With an SMS action, your text message will automatically send outside of quiet hours.
5. In the Content section, click Edit content, type your text message content into the text box, then click Save. A preview of your message will automatically appear on the screen.
6. When you’re ready, click Save.

Well done! You’ll see the Send SMS action in your journey map. Repeat these steps to add additional actions to your Customer Journey.

In order for the SMS action to work, your Customer Journey must be active and you must have enough SMS credits. After the first text message is sent, a sent and open count will show on your journey action. The counts are updated as your subscribed SMS contacts receive or open your text message.

You can only send 1 SMS per abandoned cart. To learn more about how to use Send SMS actions to send abandoned cart text messages, check out Create an Abandoned Cart Customer Journey Map.

Edit, copy, or delete a Send SMS action

If you need to make changes to your SMS actions, follow these steps.

1. On the My Journeys page, choose the Customer Journey that you want to work with.
2. Click the three vertical dots next to the Send SMS action you want to manage.
   
3. Choose Edit, Copy, or Delete from the menu.
   • If you choose Edit, make changes to the name or content of your text message, then click Save.
   • If you choose Copy, click Paste here in the spot where you want to add the new action.
   • If you choose Delete, confirm the action in the Are you sure? pop-up modal, then click Delete Action. The action will be removed from your journey map.