Sending your first bulk SMS campaign can feel daunting - there are platforms to compare, CSV files to format, compliance rules to understand, and a whole new dashboard to navigate. This guide strips it all back to first principles: a practical, beginner-friendly walkthrough that takes you from zero to a sent campaign, step by step.
We'll cover everything: choosing a platform, setting up your account, importing contacts, writing a great message, running your compliance checklist, scheduling your send, and reading your results after the campaign goes out.
Time to first send: If you already have a contact list ready, you can go from sign-up to sent in under 15 minutes. Let's do it.
Before You Start: What You Need
Before diving into the platform, make sure you have these three things sorted:
- A consenting contact list - mobile numbers for people who have agreed to receive messages from your business. Do not use a purchased list - this is both ineffective and non-compliant under the Spam Act 2003.
- A clear message and goal - know what you want to say and what action you want recipients to take.
- Your business name - you'll need this for your sender ID.
The 7 Steps to Sending Bulk SMS
Choose a Bulk SMS Platform
Not all bulk SMS platforms are equal. Here's what to look for when choosing one for an Australian business:
- Australian carrier routes - ensures fast, reliable delivery to Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone numbers
- Compliance built in - automatic opt-out handling (when someone replies STOP, they're removed automatically)
- Custom sender ID - so your business name appears instead of a random number
- Simple dashboard - especially important if you're not technical
- Free tier or trial - so you can test before committing money
Monster SMS offers all of the above plus a free tier with 100 messages (one-off sign-up bonus) - ideal for testing. You can sign up at app.monstersms.ai/sign-up without a credit card.
Create and Set Up Your Account
Once you've chosen a platform, sign up and complete your account setup. This typically takes 5–10 minutes. Key things to configure:
- Business name / sender ID: This is the name that appears as the sender on the recipient's phone. Use your actual business name (max 11 alphanumeric characters, no spaces or special characters). Example: "MonsterSMS", "CafeBar", "DrSmithDent".
- Reply handling: If you want to receive replies, you'll need a virtual mobile number (VMN) or long code. Alphanumeric sender IDs are one-way only.
- Time zone: Set your account time zone so scheduled sends go out at the right local time.
Tip: Alphanumeric sender IDs are free to set up and look professional. However, in some countries and with some carriers, they may be replaced with a generic number. In Australia, alphanumeric sender IDs are well-supported across all major carriers.
Import Your Contacts
Most bulk SMS platforms allow you to import contacts via CSV file or by entering them manually. Here's how to prepare your CSV:
- Format: Create a spreadsheet with at minimum a "Mobile" column. Add additional columns for First Name, Last Name, or any custom data you want to use in merge tags.
- Australian number format: Include the country code. Australian mobile numbers should be in the format 614XXXXXXXX (drop the leading 0, add 61). So 0412 345 678 becomes 61412345678.
- Clean your data first: Remove duplicates, invalid entries, and any numbers that have previously unsubscribed.
- Save as CSV (not .xlsx) for broadest compatibility.
Once your file is ready, navigate to the Contacts section of your platform and use the Import function. Most platforms will preview your data and let you map columns before committing the import.
Organise contacts into lists or groups (e.g., "VIP Customers", "Email Subscribers", "All Contacts") - this makes targeting much easier when you create campaigns.
Write Your Message
A great bulk SMS message is short, clear, and actionable. Here's the anatomy of an effective message:
- Business name - included either as the sender ID or at the start of the message
- Personalisation - first name merge tag lifts engagement by 15–20%
- The value prop - state the offer or reason clearly and immediately
- Urgency - time limits drive action ("expires tonight", "24 hours only")
- CTA and link - one clear action to take
- Opt-out - "Reply STOP to opt out" (legally required for commercial messages)
Character counts: A standard SMS is 160 characters. If you use Unicode characters (e.g., emojis, smart quotes, accented characters), the limit drops to 70 characters per segment. Most platforms will show you a live character count and tell you how many SMS credits the message will use.
Run Your Compliance Checklist
Before you schedule your send, run through this checklist:
- Every contact on your list has given express or inferred consent to receive commercial messages from your business
- Your business name is clearly identifiable in the sender ID or message body
- The message includes a clear opt-out mechanism ("Reply STOP to opt out")
- You are not scheduling the send before 8 am or after 9 pm in the recipient's local time zone
- The message content is accurate and not misleading
- Any offers or promotions in the message are genuine and the terms are accessible
- You have a process to honour opt-outs within 5 business days (a good platform handles this automatically)
Important: Under the Spam Act 2003, non-compliance can result in fines of up to $2.2 million per day for businesses. The ACMA actively investigates complaints. When in doubt, get legal advice about your specific situation.
Test, Schedule, and Send
Always test before you send to your full list. Most platforms have a "Send test" function. Send to yourself and at least one other number on a different carrier:
- Does the sender ID display correctly?
- Does the message body look right? Check for garbled characters.
- Do any links in the message work? Click them and verify the destination page loads.
- Does the merge tag resolve correctly (e.g., shows your name, not "{FirstName}")?
Once your test looks good, decide whether to send immediately or schedule:
- Immediate send: Good for time-sensitive campaigns where the message is relevant right now.
- Scheduled send: Best for planned campaigns. Schedule for the optimal time based on your audience (see our SMS Marketing Guide for timing recommendations).
Confirm your recipient list, review the estimated credit cost, and hit send. Large sends may take a few minutes to complete processing, but messages will begin arriving on handsets within seconds.
Analyse Your Results
After your campaign has sent, review the results in your platform's analytics section. Key metrics to check:
- Delivered: How many messages were confirmed as delivered to the handset. A healthy delivery rate is above 95%.
- Failed / undelivered: Messages that couldn't be delivered (usually due to invalid numbers, switched-off phones, or full message storage). Review and clean these numbers from your list.
- Link clicks: If your message included a tracked link, how many people clicked it?
- Replies: How many people responded? What did they say? Are there patterns?
- Opt-outs: How many people replied STOP? If this is above 2%, review your targeting and message relevance.
Use this data to improve your next campaign. Over time, even small improvements in your message copy, timing, or targeting compound into significantly better results.
Common Beginner Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
| Mistake | Why It's a Problem | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Using Australian numbers without country code | Message fails to deliver | Format as 614XXXXXXXX in your CSV |
| Using emojis in an SMS | Triggers Unicode encoding, cuts your character limit to 70 | Stick to standard ASCII characters for regular SMS |
| Merge tags not resolving | Message says "Hi {FirstName}" to everyone | Always send a test message first and verify |
| No opt-out included | Non-compliant with Spam Act 2003 | Always include "Reply STOP to opt out" |
| Sending to the full list without testing | Errors go out to thousands of people | Always test to at least 2 devices first |
| Sending at the wrong time | Low engagement, high complaints | Avoid early mornings, late evenings, Sundays |
Advanced Tips for Your Second Campaign
Once you've sent your first campaign successfully, here are some next-level improvements to try:
Segment your list
Instead of sending the same message to everyone, create sub-lists based on customer behaviour, purchase history, or demographics. More relevant messages get better results and fewer opt-outs.
A/B test your messages
Send two slightly different versions of your message to two equal segments of your list. Test one variable at a time - the offer, the wording, the CTA, or the timing. Track which performs better and use that learning for future campaigns.
Set up automated campaigns
Most platforms allow you to set up trigger-based automation - messages that go out automatically when a contact does something (joins your list, reaches a certain date, abandons a cart). This is where SMS marketing really scales: your campaigns run themselves.
Connect to your existing tools
If your SMS platform has an API or integrations (e.g., with Shopify, HubSpot, Zapier), connect it to your existing systems so contacts and data flow automatically, reducing manual work and enabling more sophisticated segmentation.
Ready to Send Your First Campaign?
Sending bulk SMS doesn't have to be complicated. Follow the seven steps in this guide, respect your contacts' attention, deliver genuine value, and you'll be off to a great start.
If you want a platform that's genuinely easy for beginners but powerful enough to grow with you, Monster SMS is worth a look. The free tier lets you send up to 100 messages (one-off sign-up bonus) - more than enough to run your first few campaigns and see real results.
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