Creating a Campaign

In this article, we will take  you through the steps to creating a campaign in our Blast platform. Learn the basics of campaign setup, contact uploading, and scheduling. For a more interactive experience, check out our Video Tutorial.

Create a Campaign

Upon logging into the platform, you will be taken to a landing page where you can view all existing campaigns and some quick reference details about each. To create a new campaign, simply click on the blue "Add" button at the top right of the page.

Add Blast

You will be presented with a modal that will allow you to fill out the following fields to create the framework of your campaign.

  1. *Campaign Name: Use this to identify your campaign. It is recommended that you make this unique to easily identify specific campaigns.
  2. *Outbound Line: Select the phone line that will be used to send out the messages. The selections are dependent on what is set up for your account.
  3. *Message Body: Limited to 500 characters, use this section to define the message you will send out to the contact list of recipients. See Crafting Your Message for more detailed information. NOTE: You are able to use dynamic parameters to auto-populate certain elements of your message as long as those pieces of data exist in your contact list upload file. The syntax for using the parameters is as follows, {FirstName}
  4. Image: This is optional, but you can choose to include an image with your message.
  5. *Local Send Date and Time: Use this to select the date and time you would like the messages to commence sending to the contacts. See Rate Limits and Sending Basics for more detailed information.
* Indicates a required field.

Once all of the information is filled out appropriately, you can save the campaign framework and move on to uploading your contact list.

Upload Contacts

In order for a campaign to be sent, you will need to provide a list of contacts who will receive the message. 

  1. To do this, click on the "Upload" link next to the campaign you are working with.
  2. In the modal, you will be asked to supply a CSV file of contacts. NOTE: The file type needs to be .csv and cannot be .xslx. You will receive an error if you attempt to import an incorrect file type.
    1. The CSV file will need to contain the required columns defined as part of your company setup. At minimum, a column that contains a phone number is required. NOTE: Phone numbers need to be supplied without dashes, spaces, or parentheses. 
    2. Other optional columns can be added to the file and also used as dynamic parameters in your campaign message. One of the most common use case is a name field.
  3. Once a valid CSV is uploaded, the modal will inform you that it is processing the file. You can close the modal and move onto validating the schedule and checking for any errors.

Confirm Scheduling & Plan Limits

Now that your CSV file is uploaded, you will need to check your campaign's schedule to determine if there are any errors with your file or potential overages with your messaging rate plan. To do this, click on the "Schedule: link next to the campaign you are working on. 

In the modal, you will be presented with messaging communicating any issues with the contact file data as well as warnings of meeting or exceeding message rate limits if applicable.

Message Rate Plan

Message Rate Plan Calculations
When sending a campaign, we evaluate the number of texts being scheduled in that specific campaign combined with any other campaigns that may be scheduled in that same billing period, and compare that to the allotted messages in your rate plan. It is not a campaign specific calculation, rather a comparison of all text messages scheduled during the timeframe compared to your plan.

If you may exceed your rate plan with the campaign, we will display a notice but we will not stop the campaign from sending. Any messages sent that exceed the rate plan are subject to overage charges. 

To avoid exceeding your rate plan you can: 

  • Reduce the number of messages in the current campaign
  • Stop other campaigns scheduled during the same billing timeframe
  • Reschedule the campaign or one of the other campaigns to a different billing timeframe

Contact List - Checked Results

Results MessageWhat to Do

This indicates that there is an error with your uploaded contact file and so the campaign will not be sent as is.

  • Download the error file to determine the issues
  • Correct the issues outlined in the error file and reupload
This indicates that the file uploaded has no errors and is ready to be scheduled and sent.
  • Move onto checking the opt-in and scheduling your Blast campaign

Storing Opt-Ins

In order to schedule your campaign, you will need to acknowledge the requirement to obtain and store opt-in approval for every number that is to be texted with the campaign. The campaign cannot be scheduled without this acknowledgment.

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