Zoho CRM | Send messages in bulk

Zoho CRM gives you the flexibility to send bulk messages in different ways, depending on what works best for you. You can send bulk messages from Zoho CRM by selecting Leads/Contacts (1-500 recipients per campaign) or from the SMS for Zoho CRM integration using the Send Bulk Campaign tab (500+ recipients per campaign). via Zoho CRM records or via the Sinch Inbox and Bulk SMS tab. There are also some key considerations to keep in mind.

Bulk SMS considerations

• Each message uses around 10 Zoho API calls. These calls fill in your templates with the Lead or Contact data and update the send statistics.
• If your CRM only has a few users, your API quota may be low. You could exceed your quota after sending 1,000 messages. To work around this, you can:
  • Spread your campaign out over several days
  • Purchase additional API credits from Zoho
• We recommend keeping campaigns to a maximum of 2,000 contacts at a time to avoid browser performance issues.

Send a bulk SMS campaign from Zoho CRM

You can send a bulk SMS campaign to a group of contacts in the Leads, Contacts, Deals or any other custom module. 

1. From the left-side navigation menu, click on the Modules tab.
2. Select the module where you want to send messages from e.g. under Sales, click on Leads.
3. In the Filter box, apply any relevant filters to your records to focus on your target audience.

4. After segmenting your records for your SMS campaign, select the checkboxes for the leads you want to send a message to. You can select the top checkbox to select all and use the arrows in the top-right corner to move through the pages until all records have been selected. 

   Note: When sending from Zoho CRM, the maximum number of contacts you can have in a bulk send is 500.

5. Once all the relevant records have been selected, click the Send Bulk Sinch SMS button.

   

6. In the pop-up messaging window, you can configure your message:
   1. From: Use the drop-down arrow to select your From number (you can choose from the Sinch pool number or from the Record owner's phone number).

   2. To: See the details of the recipient you are sending the message to. 

      

   3. Advanced Settings: Option for additional settings. 

      1. Number to use: Select to send to All Possible Numbers stored in the recipient's CRM record or specify a number.
      2. Who should be notified of replies: Select Owner of each record, Me (user sending the message) or Other users (select from Other users drop-down box).
      3. Campaign Name: To help with reporting, you can configure the name of the bulk SMS campaign. A record will be created in the Campaigns module after you send. By default it will be named 'SMS/MMS campaign using {template} to {number of recipients} recipients on {date}'.

      

   4. Templated or Blank: Choose whether you want to use a template or compose the message from scratch.
      1. Template: Use the drop-down box arrow to select a template or click Edit to update the template. Click + Add New Template to create a new template.
      2. Blank: Start composing your message.

   5. Message: Compose and edit your message here.

      

   6. Attachments: Add MMS content with .jpeg, .png, .jpg, .gif, .webp up to 410Kb in total.
7. You'll need to check the box for 'Please confirm that all of the contacts you are about to send to have explicitly opted in and that the message you are sending is not likely to be flagged as spam/harassment.' before you can send the message.
8. We recommend checking and understanding the Estimated cost of the campaign before sending it. Longer messages and messages that include emojis or special characters cost more to send.
   • A special character warning will appear if you include emojis or special characters e.g. Asian scripts or Spanish characters. The special characters are highlighted in blue.
9. You may also receive a timezone warning if any of the contacts in the campaign are in a timezone where it's outside your approved sending hours. You can still send the campaign by checking the box, however we recommend sending during standard sending hours e.g. 8am to 7pm.
10. Click Send Now to send the message now. You can also click the down-arrow and click Send Later if you want to schedule the message to send at a specific date and time.
11. (Optional) You can see a detailed view of your campaign record stats right after clicking Send by clicking the link in the pop-up send receipt. Alternatively, from the left-side menu, you can navigate to the Campaigns module (under Sales) and click on the campaign you want to view.

Send a bulk SMS campaign using the SMS for Zoho CRM integration

To send a bulk SMS campaign to 500+ recipients, you'll need to use the SMS for Zoho CRM integration.

1. From the left-side navigation menu, click on the Sinch Inbox and Bulk SMS tab.
2. Click on the Send Bulk Campaign tab.
3. Select the Module that you want to get the records from e.g. Leads.
4. Select the Search methods you want to use (Custom View or Manual Filter).
   • We recommend using a Custom View in your CRM so you can use it for your SMS campaigns. Select a Template to use to pre-validate if you have missing merge fields in the current custom view before you consume your API Credits to fetch the records data (you can change the template in the next screen).
   • Alternatively, you can use the Manual Filter option and filter the records using Field Name, Comparison Type and Value.
5. (Optional) When your filtered records have loaded, you can see how many records/pages of data are in the segment. It's helpful to make note of the total number of records so you can compare that number to the final send number from the campaign record stats (discrepancies with the total number of records indicate that you may need to clean up your contact database).
6. Click Next to continue to the message configuration window. The message configuration window displays the same fields for Zoho CRM and the SMS for Zoho CRM Integration.
7. Click Send Now to send the message now. You can also click the down-arrow and click Send Later if you want to schedule the message to send at a specific date and time.