Bulk SMS: Announcements and Marketing
Overview
Bulk 1-Way SMS lets you send a single message to many pet owners at once. Whether you need to notify customers about a holiday closure or promote a new service, Bulk SMS handles it from one screen.
Needs Communications Booster, an add-on for Business Pro, Flex and Max, with an active dedicated number
Two Sending Modes
Business Announcements (Operational)
Use Business Announcements for operational, non-promotional messages that your customers need to know about:
Holiday hours ("We're closed from 23 Dec to 2 Jan")
Policy changes ("Updated vaccination requirements from 1 April")
Weather closures ("Closed today due to extreme heat, all appointments rescheduled")
Facility updates ("Our new grooming salon opens Monday")
Business Announcements are sent to all selected recipients regardless of marketing consent, because they are operational in nature.
Marketing SMS (Promotional)
Use Marketing SMS for promotional content designed to drive bookings or sales:
Seasonal promotions and discounts
New service launches
Loyalty rewards and special offers
Re-engagement campaigns for inactive customers
Marketing SMS respects each pet owner's communication preferences. Only recipients who have opted in to marketing messages will receive the SMS. Recipients who have opted out are automatically skipped.
How to Send a Bulk SMS
1. Open Mass Text
Go to Messages and choose Mass Text from the actions menu at the top of the thread list. The dialog that opens is titled Send Announcement SMS.
2. Choose Your Mode
Select either Business Update or Promotion depending on the nature of your message. (Business Updates are operational announcements; Promotions are marketing messages and respect marketing consent.)
3. Select Recipients
You can build your recipient list in several ways:
Search for specific pet owners by name, pet name, or phone number
Select all matching customers, or pick individuals from the list
To filter the audience, use Bulk Send from the same actions menu. Its Refine Your Audience step filters by Filter by service booked, Animal type, Breed, Tags, Pet age range, Total spend range, Last appointment date, Future booking status, Number of pets and Pet weight range. There is no suburb filter.
The recipient count updates in real time as you adjust your selection.
4. Compose Your Message
Write your SMS content in the message field. Keep messages concise (SMS segments are 160 characters for standard text).
5. Content Analysis
Before sending, Petboost runs a content analysis scan on your message. This checks for:
Compliance with Australian messaging regulations
Potentially problematic content or phrasing
Message length and segment count
If the analysis flags any issues, you will see a warning with guidance on how to adjust your message.
6. Review and Send
In Send Announcement SMS, select Review Prior to Sending, then confirm to send.
If you started from Bulk Send, the dialog is titled Mass Text. The steps across the top are Choose Audience, Review Audience, Compose Message and Review & Send.
On Choose Audience, pick Announcements, Marketing or Rebooking reminders
Build the list, then continue to Review Audience
On Review & Send, tap Review my message if you want to read it again
Tap Review Prior to Sending
Confirm to send
Review your recipient list, message content, and estimated credit usage. Confirm to send.
If the scan treats a Business Update as promotional, you will see Switch to Promotion segment and Or send as a Promotion instead.
Stop or resume a send
Open Messages
If a send is in progress, tap Stop Sending
After a stop or a drop, the history row shows Send interrupted or Send still running
Tap Resume remaining {n} message(s) to finish the remaining recipients
Opt-Out Handling
Petboost automatically processes opt-out requests:
When a recipient replies STOP, they are automatically opted out of future marketing SMS
Opted-out customers are skipped in all future Marketing SMS sends
Business Announcements (operational messages) are not affected by marketing opt-outs
You can view and manage opt-out status from each pet owner's profile
Consent Management
Each pet owner has a marketing consent preference stored on their profile:
Opted in: receives both Business Announcements and Marketing SMS
Opted out: receives Business Announcements only; Marketing SMS is skipped
Consent can be updated:
By the pet owner replying STOP or START
Manually by your team from the pet owner's profile
Through the pet owner's own communication preferences
For more detail, see Communication Preferences and Consent.
Send History and Delivery Tracking
After sending a Bulk SMS, you can review:
Send history: a log of all Bulk SMS campaigns with date, mode, recipient count, and message content
Delivery status: per-recipient delivery tracking showing sent, delivered, or failed statuses
Skipped recipients: customers who were excluded (opted out, missing phone number, or flagged by content analysis)
Credit Usage
Every outbound SMS uses 1 credit from your account balance, however long the message is. Credits are drawn in the following order:
Monthly plan allocation (Business Pro: 500/month, Business Max: 1,000/month)
SMS credit packs (purchased separately, never expire)
The send screen shows the estimated credit cost before you confirm. If you do not have enough credits, you will be prompted to purchase an SMS credit pack.
For full details on credits, see SMS Credits and Usage.
Best Practices
Include your business name: always identify yourself in the message text
Respect opt-outs: never attempt to circumvent consent by sending promotional content as a Business Announcement
Test your content first: send to yourself or a team member before sending to your full customer list
Time your sends wisely: avoid early mornings, late evenings, and public holidays
Segment your audience: targeted messages to relevant groups perform better than blanket sends
Compliance
Petboost has Australian Spam Act 2003 compliance built in:
Marketing SMS requires recipient consent before sending
Every marketing message includes an opt-out mechanism (STOP to unsubscribe)
Opt-out requests are processed automatically and immediately
Your business identity is included in message metadata
Troubleshooting
Messages not sending
Check your credit balance: you may have run out of SMS credits. Purchase a credit pack or wait for your monthly allocation to reset.
Check recipient phone numbers: invalid or missing mobile numbers will cause delivery failures.
Review content analysis results: your message may have been flagged. Adjust the content and try again.
Recipients being skipped
Marketing SMS: recipients without marketing consent are automatically excluded. Switch to Business Announcement mode if the message is operational.
Missing phone number: pet owners without a mobile number on file cannot receive SMS.
Invalid number format: numbers must be valid Australian mobile numbers.
Content analysis blocking your message
Review the specific flags raised by the analysis
Adjust your wording to address compliance concerns
If you believe the flag is incorrect, try rephrasing and resubmitting