How to Create and Send SMS Marketing Campaigns

The SMS Guest Marketing feature is a powerful tool which allows you to send immediate, and high open-rate messages to guests directly from your Libro dashboard. You can use this feature to send concise yet personalized messages to any guest who has used Libro to make a reservation at your restaurant.

To have access to the SMS Marketing Feature, you must have an active toll-free number. Learn about the activation process by viewing the article How to Get Started with SMS Marketing.

Prior to sending a campaign, we recommend reading our related articles for knowledge on best practices, laws and regulations surrounding SMS Marketing:

• Understanding SMS Marketing Consent - Laws & Compliance
• Disallowed Content in SMS Marketing
• Using shortened URLs While Avoiding Having Your Messages Blocked
• Understanding SMS Segments & Related Costs
• SMS Marketing Best Practices - How to Maximize Engagement and Conversions

Step-by-Step Instructions

Getting Started

1. Open the Main Menu (green square, top left).

2. Click on Marketing Campaigns.

3. Click Create a New Campaign and select SMS.

Step 1: Details

• Name your campaign: For internal use only (guests will not see this).

• Determine your audience: Use different filter to target a specific audience:

  • Language Preference: Filter by the guest's preferred language.

    • Note: If you select English only, the system will only target guests whose profiles are set to English.

  • Guest Profile Tags: Target specific segments like "VIP" or "Locals."

  • Guest Ratings: Filter by the average star rating guests have left.

  • Spending Habits: (Requires POS Connection) Filter by Average Spend or All-time Spend.

  • Aera Codes: Filter by the guest's phone area code to target specific geographic regions.

Note: Only clients who have consented to receive marketing communications are added to the audience. For more information on marketing consent, click here.

Step 2: Message

• Subject Line: Create a compelling title visible to your guests.

• Compose Content: Use the toolbar to add emojis, images (max 500Kb), and links.

• AI Writer Tool (Signature Package): Click the AI icon to generate high-quality content or translations automatically. For a deep dive into this feature, see our AI Writer article here.

• Call-to-Action (CTA): Toggle the "Reserve Now" button. You can link it to your general widget or a specific date/event.

• Preview: Use the Send Email Preview button (limit: 10 per day) to see how it looks before going live.

Personalize Your SMS & Add a Booking Link

• Personalize Your Message : Use the toolbar to add personal touches to your message, like the guest's first name or emojis.

   

• Add a Direct Booking Link Include a booking link to send guests directly to your reservation page. For a specific promotion or event, you can even have the link open to a particular date, saving your guests a step.

  • Note: The booking link won't be visible in the text editor. You can see how it will appear to your guests on the preview screen or by sending a test message.

  

AI Helper Tool

Our built-in AI assistant can help you write compelling SMS copy in seconds. Click on the AI button to open the writing tool, then provide a few details about your offer, and let it generate engaging content for you.

Important:

• In order to respect your audience's marketing consent, some legal text will be sent at the end of each SMS to inform the customer that they can opt out of any future SMS marketing campaign by replying 'STOP' to the message. This legal text is 16 characters in length and it is accounted for in the number of characters remaining for the current segment. Click here for more information about marketing consent. 
• No matter the encoding being used, if the SMS contains more than 1 segment, the real number of characters allowed per segment decreases - from 160 to 153 for GSM-7, and from 70 to 66 for UCS-2. This is because a header is needed to reference the segment number, as well as other information, adding up to a total of 7 bytes for GSM-7, and 4 bytes for UCS-2. 

For detailed explanation on segments and costs, please view the article Understanding SMS Segments & Related Costs. 

Step 3 : Preview

This preview shows how your SMS will look on a guest's phone. Please review it carefully.

• Check the text for any spelling or grammar errors.
• Verify the link is included and correct.
• Confirm the formatting looks clean and easy to read.

Step 4 : Confirm & Pay

• Review the details of your campaign and if needed, quickly edit any field by clicking on the pencil icon.
• Once your campaign is ready, you can do one of the following actions :

  • Save as Draft: Save your campaing and finish it later.

  • Save as Template: Save the design to reuse it for future campaigns.

  • Pay & send: Pay for the delivery of your SMS campaign and instantly send it to your target audience.

The total cost is calculated based on the price per segment and based on the total number of segments resulting from using the real variable names retrieved from your guest list. Note that the audience reached must be large enough to compute a minimum subtotal of $1.00 in order to send out the SMS campaign.

Note: The side tab will also display the credit card that is being charged, which is set in the Back Office under ‘Billing’.

Managing Campaigns

Use the tabs at the top left (Scheduled, Drafts, Sent, Templates) to organize your work. Click the three dots (⋮) next to any campaign to Duplicate, Edit, Delete or Create Campaign from Template.

Tracking Success (Statistics)

In the Sent tab, you can track the following data:

• Open Rate: Corresponds to the percentage of customers who opened the email.
• Bounce Rate: Corresponds to the percentage of SMS that could not be delivered (this can happen for different reasons, such as an unregistered phone number).
• Click Rate: If a reservation link was sent, this corresponds to the number of customers who clicked on the reservation link.
• Generated Seats: Corresponds to the number of customers and the number of bookings generated by your campaign. How is this calculated? 
  • If a client opens the SMS and uses the reservation link to place a reservation. 
  • If a client receives the SMS, then within a certain period of time, places a reservation without using the reservation link of the campaign (i.e., goes through your website to access the widget)

Understanding Conversions

• Direct Conversion: The guest clicked the “Reserve Now” button in your campaign and completed a reservation directly through that link
• Indirect Conversion: The guest opened your campaign, but instead of using the “Reserve Now” link, they made a reservation through your website widget within 30 days of receiving the campaign.

Accessing Reports  

For a deeper dive, visit the Reports section in the Back Office:

1. Access your Libro Back Office
2. Go to Reports, then Marketing Campaigns
3. Use filters to display the desired data fields
4. Click Export (PDF, Excel, or CSV)

Important:

• If the results exceed 2,500 lines, you must download the document as a CSV file. PDF and XLS formats will be available if the result is under 2,500 lines.

• You'll need to accept cookies for this page, otherwise, you'll have trouble downloading the file.

Billing & Payment Method

Receiving Invoices

• You will receive the invoices for each transaction to your billing email.
• All invoices will be available in the 'SMS Marketing Campaigns' section of you Back Office

Modify the Payment Method

By default, SMS marketing charges will be charged on the same card as your subscription. You can modify the credit card used for SMS marketing campaigns in the back office.

To modify your card:

1. Access your Libro Back Office
2. Go to the My Restaurants menu option and select Settings for the restaurant whose SMS marketing card information you want to modify.
3. Select Billing from the reservation settings menu.
4. In the SMS Engagement Campaign section, select use a different card.
5. Enter your payment information and click Update.

Your SMS marketing charges will now be billed on your new card. 

Best Practices for Successful Sending

• Be Brief & Direct: Stick to under 160 characters and lead with your brand name so they know who is texting immediately.

• Perfect Timing: Only send messages between 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM to avoid being intrusive during personal hours.

• One Clear Action: Include exactly one link or instruction (e.g., "Book now" or "Show this text") to avoid confusion.

• Create Urgency: Use SMS for "last chance" offers or "today only" invites to take advantage of the high open rates.