SMS steps enable you to automate outbound text messages to prospects or customers in your sequence. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the process for creating an SMS step, ensuring your messages are delivered efficiently.
Follow the steps below to get started:
Navigate to Sequences
- On the side navigation, click on the Campaign dropdown and select Sequences.
- On the Sequences page, select the sequence you'd like to add an SMS step to. If you haven't created a sequence yet, you can quickly create a new one.
Add SMS Step
- Click on the Add Step dropdown in the top-right corner of the page, then select SMS Step. This will open a multi-step slide-out with Basic Setup and Advanced Settings.
Basic Setup
This tab lets you quickly set up your SMS step using simple, essential options. It's designed for a fast and easy setup process.
Texting Mode
Select your preferred texting mode to determine how you want the campaign messages delivered to your customers or prospects. There are two texting options available: Automated or Manual.
- Automated Texting This mode lets you send bulk text messages with less effort. The campaign messages will be sent to your audience automatically when triggered by a specified date, event, or contact activity that you select.
- Manual Texting This mode requires your team members to manually send the campaign messages to your prospects or customers. When an SMS step is due, an SMS task will appear in the assigned rep's task slide-out, and they will be responsible for clicking the “Send” button to deliver the messages to your audience.
Routing Options
If you choose the manual texting mode, you’ll need to set your routing options to specify how the SMS messages in the campaign will be distributed among the team members assigned to the sequence. The available routing options are:
- First come, first serve The text messages will be routed to your team members based on their availability.
- Split Evenly This routing option distributes the text messages evenly across the team members assigned to the sequence. For example, if you have 100 contacts to reach out to in this campaign and 5 teammates assigned to this sequence, each team member will be given 20 contacts to send an SMS to.
Send From
Click on this dropdown to select a phone number or number group from the dropdown menu to send text messages from. If no phone numbers or number groups are available in the dropdown menu, you can purchase a number directly on the slide-out by clicking + Buy More Numbers. You can find a detailed step-by-step guide on how to buy phone numbers here.
Important Note:
- Multiple phone numbers can be used to send the SMS campaign.
- Ensure that the phone number(s) you've selected for this campaign are assigned to you or the team/team members that will be sending the text messages.
SMS Message
In the SMS message box, compose the campaign message that will be sent out to your audience. You can create multiple variants of the same message to be sent to your audience. To create multiple variants, click on the + symbol and compose another variant.
Select Preferred Send Window

Choose the days and times you want the SMS campaign to be triggered. The options available are:
- Any day at any time: As the name implies, selecting this option will result in the SMS campaigns being triggered at any time during the day that you specify.
- Custom day and time: With this option, you can specify the day(s) and time of the day when you want the campaign to be triggered. To configure this option, follow these steps:
- Select the Custom day and time option.
- Choose a day of the week e.g. Monday, then click + Add new time block.
- Set the start and end times for the SMS campaign step. Please keep in mind that you can add numerous time blocks to each day. E.g. 9am - 12noon, then 1pm - 5pm. This example leaves a 1-hour gap to mirror a typical work schedule
- Repeat these steps for Tuesday through Friday to set up time blocks for the entire work week.
Set Timezone
Next, select a timezone for the campaign to run in. Ideally, you want to select the timezone that best fits the location of your audience so that messages are sent at an appropriate time during the day.
Once you’re done click Save.
Advanced Settings
Advanced Settings
For more detailed control, the Advanced Settings tab offers extra options. Here, you can customize more settings for your SMS step, giving you more flexibility and precision.
Daily Start Count
Specify how many prospects or contacts you'd like to add to this step on a daily basis. The two options available are Unlimited and Per day:
- Per Day: This option lets you put a cap on the number of contacts that will be added to the step each day. For example, suppose your audience consists of a thousand prospects, but you only want to send messages to 100 prospects per day, simply select the Per day option and specify the maximum number of contacts you want to send an SMS to per day.
- Unlimited This option adds everyone in your audience to the step at the same time subject to the availability of your Reps and the specified send window for the campaign each day.
Mark Contact as Finished in Sequence When There is a Reply
Toggle this option on to mark contacts as finished and exit them from the sequence after receiving a response from the SMS campaign. This means they won't receive any additional follow-ups or steps in the sequence.
Attribution Window
This is the time period during which a response from a contact is considered a reply to your SMS campaign. By default, this period is set to 1 day. To change it, enter your preferred time in the provided space and use the dropdown menu to select the unit of time (e.g., hours, days).
SMS opt-out text
To add an opt-out option to your SMS message, turn on the Include Opt-Out Text toggle. This ensures your messages comply with regulations by providing recipients a way to stop receiving messages if they choose.
Smart Send
With Smart send, you can decide if the SMS campaign should be delivered to the prospect using the most recent phone number used to contact them, or if the SMS message should be assigned to the team member who most recently communicated with the prospect. The smart send options available are:
- Last Source Select this option if you want the SMS campaign to be sent using the phone number most recently used to contact the prospect
- Last Team Member Select this option if you want the SMS campaign message to be assigned to the team member who most recently communicated with the prospect.
If you have additional questions regarding SMS campaigns in Distrobird, do not hesitate to contact us at hello@distrobird.com. A member of our team will be happy to respond to your questions and resolve any issues you might be experiencing.
Happy selling!