Text Repeater (SMS Repeater): How to Create Recurring Texts [2024]

Are you a time waster?

Of course, you don’t want to be - nobody wants to be.

But sometimes we can’t help it. Sometimes we’re stuck doing menial tasks and we just get the sense that, “There must be a better way to do this.”

According to smartsheet.com, nearly 70% of workers say the biggest opportunity of automation lies in reducing time wasted on repetitive work.

Source: “How Much Time Are You Wasting on Manual, Repetitive Tasks?”, Smartsheet.

Getting stuck doing repetitive tasks can happen with sending out notifications for your business/organization.

You know that text messages are the best way to communicate effectively - whether you’re sending promotions, internal office alerts, or other types of messages.

But let’s say you have a lot of notifications to send. And you might even want to send the same message out multiple times.

How can you set your text messages up in a way that’s efficient so that you’re not wasting valuable time?

One way is to use a text repeater for recurring messages.

What Is a Text Repeater?

A "text repeater" could refer either to a tool that allows you to repeatedly copy and paste the same text content. It could also refer to a tool that allows you to send out the same message recurringly,

(This article is referring to the second definition.)

There was a time when if you needed to send out the same text message multiple times, you would have had to manually type it in and submit it each time.

Not anymore!

A text repeater (or SMS rpeater) saves you time and hassle by allowing you to set up and send automated recurring messages.

Ah, yes, that magic word *automated."

Automated means one and done. In other words, you can set up your message and designate how often you’d like it to repeat.

Then you can relax and enjoy not having to worry about it as the recurring message sends out.

How Can You Use a Text Repeater?

A text repeater tool may sound intriguing, you think - but is it actually useful?

How can you actually use recurring messages? In what cases would it be beneficial?

Here are some real-life examples you can check out.

Recurring Employee Notifications

Use recurring messages internally for your business or organization’s staff.

This can allow you to send notifications about recurring meetings, HR items, IT maintenance, or other relevant reminders or announcements.

Examples:

“

Don’t forget to clock in today!

“

Hello! If you are reporting to work today, please submit your Daily Health Self-Certification by clicking this link: [link]

“

COVID-19 Daily Check In - Night Shift: Use link to answer all 5 questions daily BEFORE arriving on site. [link]

“

Here is the daily question and graphic of the day to go over in morning huddles. [link]

“

Good morning! The Morning Motivation Group is today at 10AM. To join, please click [link]

“

Please complete and submit your reports by the end of the day.

“

Weekly reminder: Management meeting at main office at 5 pm.

“

Weekly remote system maintenance will begin at 7:00 pm. Please connect your company laptop to the internet to receive updates - Thank you.

Event Reminders

Whether you have a for-profit business, a non-profit organization, or something else, recurring text reminders can help drive up attendance to your events.

That way, both you and your audience can get the most benefit from your services.

Examples:

“

Going live in 5 minutes on Facebook! Hope to see you there :)

“

Prayer Line today @ 6 p.m. Join us! Mondays,Tuesdays, & Thursdays. Dial [phone number].

“

Reminder: Hot lunches today at 12-noon @ [location]. Until supplies last.

“

Ready for the Word and worship tomorrow? Join us at 10am! Access the live stream here: [link]

Recurring Promotions

Do you run regular promotions for your business or service? Maybe monthly specials? Weekly discounts?

Use recurring notifications to let people know about these deals - thus, saving time while still reaping the rewards of boosted revenue from your SMS promotion.

Examples:

“

Tonight it's Steak Night at Leo’s - Steaks are 25% off! Come hungry!

“

Get ready for our new releases! Dropping soon!

“

Enjoy $75 off when you schedule a FREE consultation with us. Schedule here: [link]

Appointment Reminders

Appointment no-shows are frustrating.

But most of the time, these “truants” are not intentionally missing their appointments. Likely, many of them simply forgot.

Reduce that no-show rate with recurring appointment reminders via SMS.

It means less frustration for you and your office. Not to mention it benefits your client, patient, or customer, because they’ll be able to take advantage of the benefit of your service.

Examples:

“

Hi, this is an APPOINTMENT REMINDER for [name] at the 2:30-5:00PM and Friday 2:30-6PM

“

Reminder: Your child has speech therapy this week at 2:00PM. Please arrive 10 minutes early.

How Do You Set Up a TextRepeater?

Let’s say you’ve decided to use recurring SMS via a text repeater.

But there may be a few questions burning inside your mind:

• How in the world would you go about it?
• Is it difficult to set up?
• What if you need to edit or delete the recurring message?

Not to worry! Setup is not difficult, and all of these questions will be answered below.

Step 1: Sign Up for an SMS Platform

To set up and manage recurring text messages, you need an SMS platform like Mobile Text Alerts.

Sign-up is simple and doesn’t cost anything to try it out. Just create a free trial account and you’ll be able to test it out to see if it’s a right fit for you.

GET A FREE TRIAL NOW

Step 2: Load in Contacts

Once your account is set up, you’ll need to add in contacts before you can send messages.

There are several easy ways to add contacts:

• Manual entry
• Importing spreadsheets
• Text-in keywords
• QR codes
• Online sign-up page
• Automations (integrations and API)

To get started with testing, we’d recommend that you do a quick manual add of your own phone number from the Manage Contacts page.

Step 3: Select to “Schedule” the Message

From your platform’s Send a Message page you’ll have the option to send the message “now” or to “schedule” it for later.

Select the "arrow" icon on the "send message" button to view the scheduling option.

Step 4: Choose the Date/Time

Next you’ll choose the date and time you’d like the message to go out.

Simply select the date and time from the calendar tool. (Note: you’ll need to make sure your time zone is set up correctly in your account Settings.)

Step 5: Identify Your “Repeat” Preference

You will then be able to select how often you’d like your message to repeat.

Your “repeat” options are:

• Don’t Repeat
• Every Day
• Every Week
• Every 2 Weeks
• Every Month
• Once Per Year

If you’d like your message to go out on specific days of the week, you can designate that as well. For example, you can set the message to go out every 2 weeks on Thursday and Friday, or every week on Tuesday.

Step 6: Fill Out the Rest of Your Message Preferences

Once you’ve determined when and how often you’d like your message to send, scroll down to select the recipients for your message.

Lastly, scroll to the bottom of the screen to type out the content you’d like to include in your message, and click the “Schedule” button.

That’s all there is to getting it set up!

Editing or Deleting a Recurring Text

What if you create a recurring text but then decide you don’t need it anymore?

Or what if you only need a text to recur for a certain period of time?

No sweat!

You can easily manage your scheduled messages from the Scheduled Messages tab on your platform.

Simply click the “Delete” icon if you want to stop a recurring message.

If you just need to adjust the days of the week or change how often it goes out, you can click the “Edit” icon. This will allow you to make changes. You can then scroll down and click “Save Scheduled Messages” to save those changes.

Other Options for Recurring Texts

Perhaps you prefer not to use the text repeater (SMS repeater) tool on a particular recurring text message for whatever reason.

For example, maybe you don’t want to have to select the specific day and time of the first send. Maybe you don’t want to designate a particular repeat cycle.

(Or maybe you just want to be aware of all of your options.)

There are 2 main choices available to you if you want to send recurring texts without using the text repeater:

• Drip campaigns
• Message templates

Drip Campaigns

An SMS drip campaign is a series of automated texts you can set up to go out over specified periods of time.

For example, you could set up a workflow such as:

• A message sends out as soon as a contact is added into your SMS database
• A 2nd message sends out a week later
• A 3rd message goes out 2 weeks after that

So you could set up the same message (or different messages) to send automatically as many times as you’d like. Then once your contact receives the final message in the campaign, they wouldn’t receive any further automated messages.

Here are some scenarios in which you might choose the drip campaign option for your recurring message:

• If you only want to send a certain number of recurring messages (rather than having a message perpetually recur over and over again)
• If you don’t want to designate a specific date for your first message to go out (since drip campaigns are triggered when the recipient is added to the campaign, rather than scheduled for a specific date)

Message Templates

Let’s say there’s a message that you’re sending now, and you know you’ll want to send out again in the future. But you’re not sure when you’ll send it again, or how often you want to send it.

In that case you wouldn’t want to use the text repeater or drip campaign options.

However, what you can do is save your message as a Message Template.

This will allow you to easily access the content again later so you can send out the same message.

Having these additional options on top of the text repeater opens up your possibilities to fit whatever needs you may have for recurring text messages.

Use a Text Repeater to Maximize Efficiency

Why waste time manually sending out the same notifications over and over again when you can automate the process?

Use a text message repeater to maximize the efficiency of your communication, saving hassle and frustration in the process.

Ready to try it now?

Get a free trial account today!