What steps can an SMS sequence have?
Three kinds: Text, Wait and Condition. You put them in the order you want, and a one-off campaign is a sequence with a single Text step.
- Text sends your message. Any column on your list becomes a field, such as {{First name}} or {{Company}}, and the composer shows the character and segment count as you type, both before and after the lead replies. You can ask for a first draft from AI and edit it.
- Wait holds the lead for 1 to 30 days before the next step. Turn on Business days only to skip Saturdays and Sundays when counting.
- Condition checks whether the lead has replied yet, or looks at a column in their row: has a value, is empty, equals or contains. For each outcome you choose what happens next: go to the next step, end the sequence for this lead, or skip to a later step.
If a field is empty for a lead, say a missing first name, that lead pauses at the step with the missing field named, so nobody receives a text that reads “Hi ,”.
What happens when a lead replies?
The sequence ends for that lead. No later step goes out, and the reply lands in your shared inbox with the whole thread, ready for someone on your team to answer from the same number.
That is why a Condition step has no “if they replied” path: a reply always ends the sequence first. The lead’s status changes to replied, and the campaign carries on with everyone else. Your team picks up the conversation in the shared inbox.
A STOP or ARRET reply works differently. The lead is marked opted out, no further step reaches them, and a later message from them does not undo it. The inbox blocks replies to that contact as well.
Replies find the right lead even when the same person sits in two campaigns: the reply goes to the lead whose texts came from the number they answered. More on that in one number per lead.
When do the texts go out?
Only inside the sending days and hours you set for the campaign, and never before 8 AM or after 9 PM on the lead’s own clock.
Each campaign has a schedule: the days it may send, a start and end time, and a time zone. Turn on Send in each lead’s local time and the hours follow each lead’s own time zone, worked out from the area code of their number. Leads without one use the campaign’s time zone.
On top of your hours, Textually holds every campaign text to 8 AM to 9 PM in the lead’s local time, the window US federal rules set for telephone solicitations (47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1)). A step that falls due outside the window waits for the next allowed time. Some states set narrower hours; our quiet hours guide covers the state laws we have read.
You choose how leads start. Launch them by hand from the Launch tab, or turn on Send new leads automatically so leads you push into a live campaign start right away. With Auto-update on in your list, new rows can reach the campaign on their own as they arrive.
What does a sequence check before each text?
Consent, the number, the opt-out line and your balance of texts. A step that fails a check is skipped or held, and the reason is saved on the lead.
- Consent. Each lead needs a consent record, the source and date they agreed to texts, carried from columns such as Consent source and Consent date or set in the campaign’s lead list. A campaign can instead carry one confirmation, where you state how all its leads agreed.
- The number. Numbers outside the US and Canada are skipped before any text is used. Numbers a phone type check tagged Landline or Invalid are skipped too.
- The opt-out line. Until the lead replies by text, Textually adds this line at send time: “Msg frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, HELP for help.” Once they write back, later texts drop it, which keeps most of them to one segment.
- Your texts. Each segment uses one text from your balance. When the balance runs out, leads wait and nothing is sent until you buy more.
Every rule Textually applies is listed on the texting rules page.
What does a follow-up sequence look like?
Short and personal, with room to answer. Here is a demo request follow-up a sales team might run, with each wait written out.
- Text: Hi {{First name}}, it’s Sam from Northwind. Thanks for the demo request. Is today at 3 or tomorrow at 10 better?
- Wait: 1 day.
- Condition: they haven’t replied, so go to the next step.
- Text: Happy to answer by text if a call is hard to fit in. What would you like to see first?
- Wait: 2 days.
- Text: I’ll leave it here for now. Reply any time if the timing changes.
Keep each text short. Until the lead replies, the opt-out line adds 89 characters, and the composer shows how many texts each step will use. Ready-made sequences for other cases are in our follow-up text templates, and how many follow-up texts to send covers when to stop.
What does it cost to run a sequence?
Each text step uses one text per segment from the texts you buy up front, from 5¢ down to 2.5¢ each depending on the bucket. Replies you receive are free, and skipped steps use nothing.
The platform fee covers unlimited seats, the shared inbox and the compliance checks. Each number is $10 a month, or $12 for toll-free. The pricing page has every bucket and the founding price.