Steps
1. Understand the key terms
Before you build your first campaign, get familiar with three terms. A campaign is the text message you send to customers. Credits are what you spend to send it -- one SMS equals one credit. Templates are the content framework your campaign is built on. Templates use variables to make them reusable across different promotions.
2. Purchase credits
You must have credits in your account before you can send a campaign. Go to the Marketing tab in Meadow Admin and purchase credits there.
3. Configure your marketing settings
In Meadow Admin, click Settings, then Marketing. Enable "Always send opt-out instructions" so your messages include a "Reply STOP to end" option. This is strongly recommended. Customers can still opt out without it, but they may not know how.
Before using the Organization Name variable in any template, contact the Meadow team via Live Chat to request your approved marketing organization name. That name cannot include any cannabis terminology.
4. Choose your template type: pre-approved or custom
There are two types of templates.
Pre-approved templates are created by the Meadow team and can be sent immediately with no approval wait. Find them in the Content section of the Marketing tab. Use these to get started fast.
Custom templates are written by you and must be submitted for Meadow team review. Allow one to two business days for approval. No cannabis content or workarounds are allowed in either template type. The only exception is the Digital Flyer variable, which creates a link to a separate, private message where cannabis terms are permitted.
5. Request a custom template (if needed)
In the Content section, create your template and insert variables to make it reusable. Available variables include days of the week, category, BOGO, promo code, loyalty points, and Digital Flyer. Variables are case sensitive. To insert one quickly, click the calendar icon, select Personalize, and choose from the dropdown.
Once your template is written, submit it for review. Check the Requests tab to monitor status. If your content is rejected, click View, scroll to the Ready header to read the reason, update the template, and click Update Request to resubmit.
6. Understand Digital Flyers
A Digital Flyer is a link embedded in your campaign. When a customer clicks it, they enter a PIN (which auto-fills) and view a private message. Inside that message, you can include cannabis terminology, your phone number, your address, and direct URLs. Phone numbers should start with 1. URLs should start with https.
7. Create and send your campaign
Go to Campaigns and click Create Campaign. Select your template, title your campaign, and schedule it. Sending immediately can take one to 20 minutes depending on your customer base size. If your template includes variables, fill them in at this step.
Watch the character calculator at the bottom. Messages over 160 characters (or 70 characters for Unicode) cost additional credits. Emojis also cost more.
8. Target your audience
Use segments to narrow who receives your campaign and reduce credit spend. You can segment by customer profile data (birthday, gender, zip code, loyalty points, tax status, referral source) or by order history (order date, value, count, or recently purchased brands and products).
Select "Match any segments" to reach customers who meet at least one condition. Select "Match all segments" to reach customers who meet every condition. For a fully custom list, download a customer report from Meadow, filter by customer ID in Excel, and paste those IDs into the Custom Segment field.
9. Review and send
Click Create Campaign, review the draft and credit cost, then send. This action is final and cannot be reversed.
10. Track your results
Go to the Marketing tab after your campaign sends. The Sent Campaigns section shows pending, in-progress, and completed sends. On the Results tab, view how many customers received the message, opt-in rates, retention, and if a Digital Flyer was included, how many customers opened it. Click Details to see the exact audience and cost. Use the one-day and seven-day revenue calculations to measure ROI. To reuse a successful campaign, click the three dots in the top right corner and copy it.
Tips
Cannabis terminology is never allowed in campaign text or template content. The Digital Flyer is the only place where it is permitted.
Custom template approval takes one to two business days. Plan ahead before any promotion or event.
Copying past campaigns is the fastest way to run recurring promotions like monthly birthday deals.
Before using the Organization Name variable, request your approved name from Meadow via Live Chat. Your name cannot include cannabis terms.