SMS Broadcasts Setup

This guide walks you through setting up and sending your first SMS broadcast in GoHighLevel. By the end, you will have a compliant, targeted broadcast configured with proper pacing and message content.

Prerequisites

Before sending your first SMS broadcast, verify these requirements are in place:

Active phone number assigned to the sub-account under Settings > Phone Numbers
A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration approved under Settings > Phone Numbers > Trust Center
At least one contact list or Smart List with opted-in contacts
Documented SMS consent for every contact on your broadcast list
Message copy drafted and tested for segment length (160 characters or fewer recommended)

Verify Phone Number and Registration

Navigate to Settings > Phone Numbers and confirm you have an active phone number displayed with a green status indicator. If you see a red or yellow indicator, resolve the issue before proceeding.

Click the Trust Center tab and verify both your A2P Brand Registration and A2P Campaign Registration show Approved status. If either shows Pending, wait for carrier approval. If either shows Rejected, review the rejection reason and resubmit with corrections.

Sending broadcasts from an unregistered number results in severe carrier filtering. Messages may never reach recipients, and your number risks suspension.

Build Your Target Audience

Navigate to Contacts and click Smart Lists in the submenu. Click New Smart List and give it a descriptive name like “Database Reactivation - 90 Days” or “Webinar Attendees - March.”

Add filters to define your target audience:

Tag filters: Include contacts with specific tags like “sms-opt-in” or “interested-in-promo”
Custom field filters: Filter by location, interest area, or lead source
Activity filters: Target contacts by last activity date (for example, last contacted 30 to 90 days ago)
DND filters: Exclude contacts with DND enabled for SMS to ensure compliance

Segment tightly. A broadcast to 200 highly targeted contacts performs better than a broadcast to 2,000 generic contacts. Click Save to create your Smart List.

Configure Compliance Settings

Navigate to Settings > Phone Numbers > Messaging > Messaging Compliance and verify these settings are enabled:

Add opt-out message: Automatically appends “Reply STOP to opt out” to your messages
Add sender information: Includes your business name in outbound messages
Periodic Opt-Out: Configured to remind contacts of their opt-out option every 30 days or sooner

These settings ensure every message meets carrier compliance requirements. Do not disable them unless you are manually including opt-out language in every message body.

Write Your Broadcast Message

Open a text editor or the SMS composer to draft your message. Follow these content guidelines:

Structure:

Personalized greeting with first name token
Business name identification
Clear offer or question
Opt-out language (if first contact or 90+ days since last message)

Character count:

Keep messages under 160 characters to stay in a single SMS segment
Each segment costs one SMS credit and counts toward carrier rate limits
Longer messages split into multiple segments, increasing costs and reducing engagement

Example message: “Hi {{contact.first_name}}, this is Sarah from ABC Fitness. We have a few free 10-day passes and I was wondering if you would like one? Reply STOP to opt out.”

This message is personalized, identifies the sender, includes a clear offer, asks a direct question, and includes opt-out language. Total character count: 154 characters.

Open the Broadcast Composer

Navigate to Contacts and open the Smart List you created earlier. Click the Send SMS button in the toolbar at the top of the contact list. A confirmation dialog appears asking if you want to proceed. Click Ok, Proceed to open the broadcast composer.

The composer displays your target audience count at the top. Verify the number matches your expectations. If it is significantly higher or lower than expected, return to your Smart List filters and adjust them.

Configure Broadcast Settings

Paste or type your message into the Message field. Use the Custom Values button to insert personalization tokens like {{contact.first_name}}. The preview below the composer shows how the message will render.

Enter a descriptive Action Title for internal reference (for example, “March Promo - Warm Leads”). This title appears in your bulk actions log but is not visible to recipients.

Choose your Delivery Mode based on your broadcast goal:

Send All at Once:

Delivers immediately to all contacts simultaneously
Best for one-way announcements (event reminders, policy updates, holiday closures)
Not recommended for conversation-driven broadcasts on large lists

Send All at Scheduled Time:

Delivers simultaneously at a future date and time you specify
Best for time-sensitive announcements prepared in advance
Select the date and time in the Start On field

Drip Mode (Recommended for most broadcasts):

Delivers messages gradually in batches over time
Prevents inbox flooding and gives your team time to handle replies
Best for broadcasts designed to generate conversations

Configure Drip Mode Settings

If you selected Drip Mode, configure these settings:

Start On: Set the date and time for the first batch to send. Choose a time when your team is available to respond to replies immediately.

Batch Quantity: Number of messages sent per batch. For most broadcasts, 10 to 20 messages per batch works well. Larger teams can handle larger batches.

Repeat After: Time interval between batches. Set this to 3 to 5 minutes for quick pacing, or 10 to 15 minutes for more breathing room between reply waves.

Send On: Select which days of the week messages should send. Uncheck weekends if your team is unavailable on Saturday and Sunday.

Process Between (optional): Restrict sending to specific hours each day. For example, set 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM to respect quiet hours and ensure your team is available during all sends.

Example configuration:

Batch Quantity: 15
Repeat After: 5 minutes
Send On: Monday through Friday
Process Between: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM

This configuration sends 15 messages every 5 minutes during business hours on weekdays, processing approximately 180 messages per hour.

Review and Send

Review your broadcast configuration:

Recipient count matches your target audience
Message includes personalization, business name, clear offer, and opt-out language
Character count stays under 160 characters (one segment)
Delivery mode is set correctly
Drip settings pace delivery appropriately for your team capacity

Click Send (for immediate delivery) or Schedule (for future delivery). A confirmation message appears. The broadcast begins processing according to your delivery mode settings.

Test Your Setup

After sending your broadcast, verify these success indicators:

Navigate to Contacts > Bulk Actions and confirm your broadcast appears in the active or completed actions list
Check the Conversations inbox for incoming replies
Monitor the bulk action progress to confirm messages are sending at the configured pace
Verify delivery rate stays above 95% (lower rates indicate list quality or registration issues)
Track response rate (5% to 15% is healthy for broadcasts to engaged contacts)
Watch opt-out rate and keep it under 2% (rates above 3% suggest targeting or frequency issues)

Send yourself a test message by adding your own phone number as a contact and including it in the broadcast list. Verify the message renders correctly, personalization tokens display properly, and opt-out language appears.

Next Steps

Once your first broadcast is complete, optimize future campaigns:

Review performance metrics (delivery rate, response rate, opt-out rate) in the bulk actions log
Create additional Smart Lists for different audience segments
Build a library of tested message templates for common broadcast scenarios
Explore Drip Sequences to automate multi-message SMS campaigns over time
Set up Workflows to trigger SMS sends automatically based on contact behavior
Learn about Trigger Links to track click engagement from SMS broadcasts
Review A2P 10DLC Registration best practices to maintain compliance as your volume grows