Send one-time SMS

Before you start

Connect your SMS provider in Settings → Configure Platforms → SMS before you create a campaign. Learn how

To send a one-time SMS in Pushwoosh, navigate to the Campaigns section, select One-time messages, and click Send message > SMS.

Select SMS content

In the Content step, choose the SMS preset you want to send. The message text comes from the preset, so a preset is required.

• To find an existing preset, use the search field or open the dropdown and select a preset. The preview on the right shows how the message will look.
• To create a new preset, click Create new, build the preset, and save it. The new preset is then selected automatically.

Select message type

Choose how this SMS is treated for subscription and delivery rules:

• Marketing message: Respects user opt-outs and frequency capping. Not sent to global control group users.
• Transactional message: Sent to all users regardless of subscription status. Bypasses opt-outs and frequency capping. Delivered to control group users.

Learn how message type affects delivery.

Select the audience for your SMS campaign

In the Audience step, define who will receive your SMS.

Send to segment

Target a predefined segment of your audience based on tags, events, or behavior. Select a segment from the dropdown, or click Create segment to build or import one.

Send to a list of phone numbers

Send the SMS to a specific list of phone numbers entered directly in the form. Phone numbers that are not yet in your project are automatically registered as SMS devices and included in the send.

Send to all subscribers

Target your entire SMS-reachable audience.

Once you’ve set your audience, click Next to proceed to the scheduling step.

Schedule SMS

Choose when to send your SMS.

Send immediately

Send the SMS as soon as the campaign setup is complete. This is ideal for urgent or time-sensitive messages.

Selected time

Schedule your SMS for a specific date and time.

• Set the date and time: Use the calendar to pick the date, then specify the time in hours and minutes (24-hour format).
• Select the timezone:
  • Subscriber’s device timezone: The SMS is sent at the specified local time for each recipient.
  • Custom timezone: The SMS is sent at the same time for all recipients, useful for targeting a particular region.

Configure message delivery settings

Set frequency capping

Use Frequency capping to limit how often users receive SMS messages, preventing over-messaging and reducing opt-outs. Choose one of the following options:

• Use Global frequency capping settings

  Apply the project-wide limits configured in your Global frequency capping settings. For example, if the global limit is 3 messages in 9 days, additional messages exceeding this limit are skipped.

  

• Ignore Global frequency capping

  The user receives this message even if they’ve exceeded the channel’s message limits. Use with caution to avoid over-messaging.

  

• Use custom frequency capping

  Set a custom message limit for this message. If the user exceeds this custom cap, the message is skipped.

  

Note

Frequency capping applies only to Marketing messages. When you choose Transactional, frequency capping doesn’t apply and these options are disabled.

Set send rate limits

The Send rate setting controls how quickly messages are delivered to your audience. Adjusting the send rate helps you manage delivery speed, prevent backend overload, and improve overall deliverability.

Choose one of the following options:

• Use global send rate settings

  Applies the send rate limits configured in your project’s message delivery settings. If no limits are set, all messages are sent immediately. Learn more about global send rate limits

  

• Send messages without send rate

  Sends messages as fast as possible, ignoring any global send rate limits. Use with caution to avoid delivery spikes.

  

• Use custom send rate

  Overrides the global send rate for this message only. Specify the number of messages sent per minute for full control over delivery speed.

  

Once you’ve configured the options, click Next to proceed to the confirmation step.

Review and send

In Review, check the preview and the summaries for content, audience, and schedule. Update anything that still needs to change before you send.

Once everything is verified, click Schedule to set it for later delivery or Send Now to send it immediately, depending on your selected scheduling options.

Cancel or edit a scheduled SMS

For SMS messages that are scheduled and not yet sent (status PENDING), you can change or cancel them. Open the list of messages in Campaigns → One-time messages, then open the actions menu (⋮) for the message:

• Edit message: opens the SMS form with the message data loaded. You can update the content, audience, schedule, and delivery settings.
• Delete message: cancels the scheduled delivery and changes the status to Canceled.

Tip

You can also send SMS using Messaging API v2 Notify with platforms: ["SMS"]. This requires assistance from your development team.

Example scenario

Imagine you run an e-commerce store and want to send a flash-sale alert by SMS to customers who purchased in the last 90 days, scheduled for the morning the sale starts.

1. Navigate to Campaigns, select One-time messages, click Send message, and choose SMS.

2. In the Content step, select the Flash Sale Alert preset:

"Flash sale starts now! Get 30% off everything today only. Shop: {shortened link}"

Keep the message type as Marketing so it respects opt-outs and frequency capping.

3. In the Audience step, choose Send to segment and select Recent buyers (90 days).

4. In the Schedule step, choose Selected time, set the date and time to the sale’s start, and select Subscriber’s device timezone so each customer receives it at the same local time.

5. In Review, check the preview and the audience and schedule summaries, then click Schedule to finalize the campaign.