SMS campaigns
The channel your customers answer in minutes.
One blast to 9,000 of your own customers, 804 replies, and every reply answered by a human or Carly, our AI — in seconds, in a real conversation. This page is a tour of the actual product, on demo data, ending with the compliance layer that lets you sleep.
Renee Calloway
Text Message · Today 10:02 AM
Chapter one
The blast, graded past the send.
4,650 texts out the door at 9:41 AM. By lunch you know exactly what happened to every one: delivered to carriers, replied, or opted out — no vanity 'reach' number in sight. Flip between drops; each one keeps its own scorecard.
SMS Performance
Drove 410 replies · Deployed 07/09 to 986 recipients
Demo Motors Chevrolet
(904) 298-6629
Delivered
986
Sent
Deployed 07/09
410
Replied
41.6% response rate
164
Opted out
16.6% unsubscribed
246
Conversations
replies minus opt-outs
Appointments
246 Conversations17 Appointments6.9% Appt Rate All TimeJuly
Sat, Jul 11
3 appts
- 10:00 AMShoteya Coleman
- 1:15 PMDominique Kelsey
- 3:30 PMJayda Hurdle
Campaign-scoped: only conversations whose first reply landed on or after the campaign start count — and repliers who opt out are subtracted, not hidden.
9.9% of recipients replied to Drop 1. And a reply here means a conversation — repliers who opt out are subtracted, not buried.
Chapter two
Replies become conversations, not counts.
This is the workspace your replies land in: every thread labeled, assigned, and answered — by your team during the day, by Carly AI at 11 PM when a customer wants to know if she's a real person. Click the threads; watch the STOP thread too. That one matters.
Conversations
4 SearchTanya WhitfieldHot
(555) 014-7702 · Trade-Up Blast #4823
Chapter three
The dashboard ties it to appointments and sold units.
Replies are the start, not the score. The campaign dashboard runs the thread all the way down: 804 replies, 377 conversations, 96 appointments set in-thread, 21 sold units matched in the DMS.
Trade-Up Blast · Campaign #4823
Demo Motors ChevroletLiveSMS
Deployed May 6 · 9,000 sent
9,000
Sent
98% delivered
804
Replies
8.9% reply rate
377
Conversations
human + Carly AI
96
Appointments
set in-thread
21
Sold
matched in the DMS
Response activity · first 14 days
Hover the days · switch channels above · try “Split sources”
Chapter four
The compliance layer, in writing.
TCPA is the reason most GMs never text their database — and the reason we built compliance into the pipe instead of a policy binder. Here's exactly what runs on every send.
10DLC registered
Every campaign sends from a registered 10DLC number with a carrier-approved use case. Carriers know who's sending before the first message leaves — that's why the delivery bar reads 98%.
Opt-outs are automatic
STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL — honored the second they arrive, logged with a timestamp, and suppressed from every future send. No human in the loop to forget.
Quiet hours enforced
Blasts deploy inside TCPA calling windows, in the customer's local time. Nobody gets a dealership text at 6 AM — and nobody screenshots one either.
Everything on the record
You text your own customers — people with a business relationship with your store — and every send, reply, and opt-out sits timestamped on the blast report you just saw.
Why this matters
Texting your database is a privilege you can lose.
Blast tools treat opt-outs like a footnote. We print them on the front of the report, subtract them from our own reply numbers, and suppress them forever — because the vendor that shows you the opt-out rate is the vendor you can hand your customer list.
Go deeper
The whole SMS story, page by page.
Audience, message, results, and what happens after the send — each gets its own tour.
Audience & EBR
Built from your DMS and CRM — established relationships only, scrubbed hard.
Take the tour →
Messaging
Watch a record become a personalized text on the customer's phone.
Take the tour →
Results
Real stores, 32–60% reply rates, from the platform ledger.
Take the tour →
Follow-up
The campaign ends; the conversations and the list keep working.
Take the tour →
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to text my dealership's customers?
Yes, dealership SMS marketing is legal when it follows the TCPA and related rules, which require prior express consent before you send marketing texts, clear identification of your dealership, and an easy way to opt out. The key is that you can only text people who have agreed to receive messages, not cold numbers from a purchased list. Xcel builds SMS campaigns around your owned customer data and consent, and handles the compliance mechanics like opt-out language and honoring stop requests.
What kind of consent do I need before sending marketing texts?
For promotional texts you generally need prior express written consent, meaning the customer clearly agreed to receive marketing messages from your dealership at a specific number. Consent gathered through your sales process, service visits, web forms, or existing customer relationships should be documented and kept on file. Xcel works from your owned, consented audiences rather than rented lists, which keeps campaigns on the right side of TCPA requirements.
How do opt-outs work with text campaigns?
Customers must be able to stop messages at any time, typically by replying STOP, and that request has to be honored immediately and permanently. Every compliant campaign includes clear opt-out instructions, and once someone opts out they are suppressed from future sends. Xcel manages opt-outs and suppression automatically so a customer who leaves stays off the list across future campaigns.
Can I actually track replies and appointments from SMS, and does it work with my CRM?
Yes. In UpDash, the platform included with Xcel campaigns, you can see real inbound replies, conversations, and appointments tied to each SMS send rather than just delivery counts. Results are also matched back against your DMS so you can connect texts to sold units and repair orders, not just clicks. Realistic reply and appointment rates vary by list quality, offer, and timing, so Xcel reports your actual numbers instead of promising a fixed figure.
Text your database this week.
We'll show you a live SMS campaign — the blast, the conversations, and the appointments they set.
We sell texting for a living — try us.