SMS Messaging
SMS works well for short, time-sensitive outreach such as follow-up nudges and quick reminders.
Before you start
- Patient consent. You need documented consent to text patients, in line with TCPA rules and your organization's policies.
- Contact details. Texts go to the patient's highest-priority eligible phone number. No email address is needed. If no eligible phone number is available, the SMS step is skipped. See Which contact details are used.
- Optional: your own number. By default, campaign texts come from CareLaunch's shared marketing number. To text from your organization's own 10DLC or toll-free number, CareLaunch support registers it for you. It then appears under Outreach → Outreach Identities → Phone numbers.
- Optional: an SMS template. Create one under Settings → Templates on the SMS tab. See Templates.
Adding an SMS step
- In the campaign builder, click Add Action and choose Send SMS.
- Write the Message Content or pick a Message Template, and set Recipient to Patient.
- Optional: choose the sender and message type (below).
- Check the Message Preview, then Save.
SMS identity
SMS identity chooses which number the text comes from. Leave it empty (Organization default) to send from CareLaunch's shared marketing number. If your organization has its own registered number or sender ID, select it here to send from that instead.
Message type
Carriers handle marketing texts and service texts differently, so each SMS step has a Message Type:
| Message type | Use for |
|---|---|
| Organization default | In campaigns, this sends as Promotional |
| Promotional | Marketing and outreach, such as health campaigns, re-engagement, and announcements |
| Transactional | Messages a patient expects about their own care, such as reminders or personal notifications |
Choose Transactional only for messages that genuinely are transactional. Sending marketing content as transactional can get your number filtered by carriers.
Writing good SMS
- Keep it short. One SMS segment is 160 characters. Longer messages are split into several segments and cost more. Personalized text such as
{{FirstName}}counts toward the length after it's filled in. - Lead with the point. Many people only read the notification preview.
- Say who you are. Start or end with your practice name, especially when sending from the shared number.
- Include a clear next step, such as a link or a phone number.
- Avoid link shorteners. Carriers often flag them as spam.
- Images and attachments aren't supported.
Opt-outs
Recipients can reply STOP to stop receiving texts from the number that texted them. Patients whose record is marked as opted out of texts are skipped, and the Logs show "SMS skipped — patient opted out." A text blocked by a STOP reply that hasn't been recorded on the patient's record appears as "SMS delivery failed" instead. See Opt-Outs.