Run SMS and email campaigns

Campaigns are for targeted messaging: a reminder to one year group, an urgent notice to all parents, a note to staff about a meeting. Where newsletters are published for people to read, a campaign pushes a message out by SMS, email, or both.

When to use a campaign

• Urgent notices that cannot wait for someone to sign in — a closure, a change of timing, a safety message.
• Targeted reminders to a specific class or group, such as outstanding fees or an upcoming trip.
• Short, actionable messages that do not need the length of a newsletter.

For longer, general updates, a newsletter is usually the better choice.

Step 1 — Create the campaign

1. Open the campaigns area. Campaigns are available where your school’s plan includes them.
2. Create a new campaign and name it so you can recognise it later in your history.
3. Choose the channel: SMS, email, or both.
4. Write your message. Keep SMS short and direct; email can carry more detail.
5. For email, add a subject line that makes the purpose obvious.

Step 2 — Select recipients

1. Filter by role — for example parents, students, or staff.
2. Narrow further by class or the other filters available to you.
3. Combine filters to reach exactly the group you intend.
4. Review your selection carefully before moving on.

Step 3 — Preview recipients

Use Preview recipients before every send. This is the single most valuable habit in bulk messaging.

1. Open the preview and check the total count — if it is much larger or smaller than expected, your filters are wrong.
2. Scan the list for people who clearly should not be included.
3. Adjust your filters and preview again until the list is right.

Step 4 — Personalise

Where placeholders are offered, use them to insert details such as the recipient’s name. A personalised message reads as though it was meant for that family rather than broadcast at them. Check the placeholder spelling carefully — a mistyped placeholder appears literally in the delivered message.

Step 5 — Send and review

1. Send the campaign, or schedule it if it should go out later.
2. Review delivery tracking afterwards to see what was delivered.
3. Follow up on failures — usually caused by out-of-date phone numbers or email addresses.
4. Ask the office to correct contact details so the next campaign reaches more people.

Tips

• Send yourself a test where you can, before sending to hundreds of families.
• Respect timing. Late-night SMS messages are rarely welcome unless genuinely urgent.
• Do not over-send. Frequent non-urgent campaigns lead people to ignore the urgent ones.
• Keep contact data clean. Campaign quality depends entirely on the accuracy of your records.
• Use class feed and memories for lighter classroom announcements instead of campaigns.

Common issues

Campaigns are not in my menu

Campaign features depend on your subscription plan. Your school owner can review plan options from the owner portal.

My recipient count looks wrong

Re-check your filters in the preview. A missing or overly broad filter is almost always the cause.

Some messages were not delivered

Check delivery tracking. Failures usually indicate incorrect or missing phone numbers and email addresses on the record.

A placeholder appeared as text in the message

The placeholder was mistyped. Correct it and resend to the affected recipients only.

What’s next

Review your delivery results, correct any bad contact details with the office, and use newsletters for your regular school-wide updates.