SMS can be a really powerful way of engaging with your fans. If you've collected phone numbers previously or through one of your OS Landing Page flows, try using SMS Broadcasts to reach out to your fans in creative and exciting ways!
Please note, if you don't have phone numbers in your Artist Settings, reach out to your OS point of contact or email support@openstage.live to get these set up.
Click above to learn how to top up your credit before sending SMS Broadcasts.
The Flow: Choose your channels > Design your message > Select your audience > Review > Schedule & send.
To get to the flow, head to Engage --> Broadcasts and click the yellow 'New Broadcast' button at the top right of the page.
1. Choose your channel
Choose a name for your broadcast, and choose SMS as your channel. For email, click here.
Note: The description is internal and for your own records. Fans won’t see it.
2. Design your message
Add your SMS content here. You have 160 characters to work with and links use 29 of these. Links should be added below. Typically, you would be sending a Landing Page for fans to engage with or links to merch/tickets.
Use {{fan_first_name}} and {{fan_last_name}} tags to pull in the names of fans that are already on record, making this more personal.
Send welcome SMS only - this will only send your contact card and a welcome message (customisable from Artist Settings --> SMS & Phone, Welcome SMS).
3. Choose your audience
Now, choose who you want to send your broadcast to. Pick from recommended audience cards or select Other for a drop-down of all your audiences. As you refine your audience, full details on the recipients will show up in the Recipients column on the right.
You can add a combination of audiences, which will appear as pills in the "Added audiences" section. If you want to filter further, you can do so by clicking on the Customize Audience drop-down to add more complex filters to your audience query.
If you can't find the audience you're looking for, you can create a new one by clicking the yellow link at the bottom of the drop-down, as pictured above.
4. Review your broadcast
Finally, review all the details of your broadcast in a single view. This step checks for any errors or missing info.
Yellow warnings should be reviewed, but emails can still be sent if these aren't fixed.
Red errors MUST be fixed in order to send your broadcast.
Click edit to go back to the corresponding step to fix any issues or make changes.
On the review page, you can also:
Send a Test SMS before sending out to your fans.
Delete a draft, but NOT an SMS that has already been sent.
Clone to duplicate the SMS you are working on, creating a new one with the same design and settings.
Top tip: Your contact card picture is pulled from your fanpage profile picture. When you're happy with it, click save in Artist Settings to confirm.
Schedule and Send
When you are ready to send your broadcast, click the green Schedule button in the bottom right hand corner. Regardless of schedule time, an SMS will NOT send until it is activated. You can schedule for a later date at a fixed time, or in fans' local timezones, or click 'Publish Now' to send immediately.
⚠️ Do not change any aspect of your SMS whilst a broadcast is 'Active'
(i.e. sending) as this can lead to errors in sending.
SMS Costs
The cost of your SMS will be calculated using your chosen audience and the breakdown of countries will also be detailed here. Your current credit will also be shown here, so you can top up if required.
Your quote will factor in the cost of sending any mandatory GDPR messages. (See the bottom of this article for more details). As a guide, click here for the current pricing by region. Navigate to the bottom of that page and see 'usage charges'. Please note, outbound SMS cost varies by country. Inbound SMS is priced at £0.0123 for all countries. Inbound calls cost £0.0246.
Initial Contact SMS costs and GDPR:
