Texting in CoolFocus is built around clear, one-to-one conversations in the Inbox. When you need to reach several people — a program group, an event list, or everyone connected to a church — there are a few good ways to do it today, plus more on the way.
For a small group, the simplest approach is to send from the Inbox, one conversation at a time. Each reply stays attached to the right person, so that staff can keep full context and can follow up, assign, or add a note. This works well when you're reaching a handful of people and want the conversation to feel personal.
You can attach a picture to a text in an Inbox conversation, which is handy for a quick flyer or image to one person.
For a picture that needs to go to a whole group — like a church promoting a summer event — email is the better tool today. An email campaign carries the flyer as an attachment or inline image and can go to a saved segment in one send. If you'd rather text, send a short message with a link to a page or portal message that shows the flyer, instead of the image itself.
Some texts already reach everyone they should without a manual send:
• Appointment reminders and confirmations go out automatically to the people with upcoming appointments.
• Secure message alerts let a contact know there's a new message waiting for them in the portal.
If you want more people to get these, the fix is usually making sure their records have a valid mobile number and recorded consent — not sending a separate blast.
A common request is to send the same text — like an event promotion — to everyone in a saved list or segment.
Today, the dependable way to send one message to a whole segment is by email, which also lets you include a flyer or picture. For text, staff members can reach people from the Inbox conversation, which works well for smaller groups. A one-step "text this whole segment" campaign — with a cost preview and consent built in — is on the CoolFocus roadmap. Until it's available, use email for large sends, or a short text with a link to the flyer for the people you text directly.
Whether you text one person or many, a few habits keep your messages landing and your texting number in good standing:
• Text people who expect to hear from you. Consent isn't just a rule — contacts who opted in are far less likely to report a message as spam, which is what causes carriers to start blocking a number.
• Match the message to the relationship. A reminder to a client and a general promotion to a broad list are different kinds of messages. When in doubt, keep client and service texts separate from marketing.
• Honor opt-outs automatically. When someone texts STOP, CoolFocus blocks further texts and warns staff. See Understanding Text Message Delivery Warnings.
• Sending Text Messages
• Understanding Text Message Delivery Warnings
