How to Send Scheduled Text Messages in 2024: Steps, Examples

Texting has a problem.

It’s a great and convenient and now universal thing - for most people, it’s the easiest way to communicate with someone quickly.

Here’s the rub.

What if you want to schedule your text message ahead of time?

What if you…

• …think of something you want to say, but don’t want to send it at 12am?
• …want to make sure you don’t forget to tell a family member “Happy Birthday”?
• …want your message to go out at just the right time?

Is there a way to designate the day and time you’d like your message to be sent, so that you’re not stuck in that conundrum?

The answer for Android users: you bet!

The answer for iPhone users: it’s complicated.

We’ll walk you through how to schedule a text on both platforms. We’ll also take you through how to schedule a business text using a mass texting platform.

First, the iPhone.

How to Schedule a Text on iPhone

Unfortunately, your iPhone’s default text messaging app doesn’t have scheduling capabilities.

That means you can’t schedule a text ahead of time without using a separate app.

A couple of built-in apps may help, but don’t truly offer the experience of being able to actually schedule a message.

We’ll go through those options here.

Reminders

If you want to simply set up an easy reminder for yourself, you can use your phone’s Apple Reminders app.

You can:

• Open up the Reminders app
• Tap to add a “New Reminder”
• Enter a description for the reminder
• Tap the “i” icon
• Enter the text content you’d like to send for the reminder into the “Notes”
• Set the date/time you’d like to be reminded
• Click “Done”

After doing that, your phone will automatically remind you when it’s time to send the text, and it will even have the content for the text easily available to you to copy and paste.

Obviously, the limitation to this option is that it won’t actually send the message. It’s merely a reminder to you so that you can go in and send the message on your end.

Shortcuts

Another default option available to you is to set up an automatically recurring message using the Shortcuts App.

The “Automation” function in this app allows you to set up automated actions for your phone to take under conditions that you specify.

One of those options is to have a specific message sent to the same recipient or group of recipients daily, weekly, or monthly at a certain time.

Here’s how it works:

• Open up the Shortcuts app
• Tap the “Automation” section at the bottom
• Select to “Create Personal Automation”
• Choose the “Time of Day” option and select the time you’d like your message to regularly go out
• Select “Add Action” and choose the recipient(s) for your recurring message under the “Send Message” section
• Tap “Message” to type in the content for your message and click “Next”
• Confirm your automation

Once that’s set up, it will automatically show a popup that you can click to send out the message at the intervals you designated.

Remember that if you only want to send the message one time, you’ll need to go in and delete the automation after the message sends.

Here’s how…

• Go back to your Shortcuts app
• Find the automation you created under the “Automation” tab
• Swipe left and tap “Delete”

The limitations to the "Shortcuts" automation option include:

• It’s complicated and cumbersome to set up
• It sets up your message on a repeating basis and there’s no option for a one-time message
• It won’t actually send the message, but will show a popup that you will still have to tap to send out the message

Third Party Apps

Although those makeshift options are available, the only way to truly schedule a message ahead of time on an iPhone is through third-party scheduling apps like Mobile Text Alerts and Scheduled.

Dr.Fone shares the top 10 SMS scheduling apps for Apple, including:

• SMS Scheduler
• Schedule SMS: Send it later
• Text Later
• Advance SMS Scheduler
• SMS Scheduler (Text Later)
• AutoText
• Smart SMS TIMER
• iSchedule
• SMS Timing
• Schemes

The cons?

Most third-party message scheduling apps will require a payment to really function as intended.

Also, third-party scheduling apps most likely won’t be able to send texts from your personal number unless you’re able to port the number over.

Full text alert platforms like Mobile Text Alerts will cost more but will have more robust features.

Smaller third-party apps like Scheduled will cost a lower fee, but the quality will likely not be on the same level.

–

Now that you know the in’s and out’s of scheduling options on iPhone, what about Android?

How to Schedule a Text on Android

The good news for Android users is that most phones by default now come with the ability to schedule texts ahead of time.

That means no complicated workarounds and no third-party apps needed.

The experience is a bit different for Samsung users and non-Samsung users, because they have different default messaging apps.

For Non-Samsung Users

Non-Samsung Android phones often have the standard Google Messages app preloaded.

When typing up your messages in Google Messages, you can simply press and hold the Send button to open up the scheduling option.

Any time before the scheduled message is sent, you can also go into the conversation thread and tap the “Schedule” option to make any changes.

If you’re not a Samsung user but also don’t have Google Messages on your phone, there unfortunately wouldn’t be a built-in scheduling option for you.

In that case, one option would be to schedule a reminder to yourself via Google Calendar to help you remember to send out a text.

Another option is to use a third-party app such as the texting platform Mobile Text Alerts or the more low-key Do It Later.

For Samsung Users

For Samsung users texting through the Samsung Messages app, scheduling a message is cake.

The main difference from the Google Messages app is that you select the scheduling option before you type out the content for your message.

You do this by hitting the “+” icon when you’re setting up your message in your messaging app, and the scheduling option will appear.

Easy!

How to Schedule Business Texts with a Mass Texting Platform

Thinking about sending texts for your business?

Great idea!

But how?

Mass texting platforms allow you to easily schedule, send, and manage your business texts, either from a mobile app on your phone, or by logging into an online dashboard.

The process is not complicated.

It comes down to 2 steps: add contacts and schedule your message.

For a text alert platform like Mobile Text Alerts, there are 6 ways you can add contacts to receive your texts.

The simplest ways are by manually adding people through dragging and dropping a spreadsheet, or by having your subscribers text in to your account’s phone number.

After your contacts are loaded in, you’re ready to schedule your messages.

Step 1: Navigate to “Send a Message”

To schedule your message, you’ll first navigate to the “Send a Message” tab in your online dashboard.

Or if you’re using the mobile app, you’ll go to Messages and then tap the “paper airplane” icon.

Step 2: Select the Date and Time for Your Message

Next, you can designate the day and time for your message.

(If you’d like to send it right away, you can select “Send the message now.”)

If you’re using the online dashboard, you can also select whether or not you’d like the message to repeat, and if so, how often you’d like it to repeat.

Step 3: Select the Recipients for Your Message

You’ll then choose who you’d like to receive your message.

You can either:

• Send the message to all of your subscribers
• Send the message to individual recipients (you’ll manually select which individuals you’d like to send it to)
• Send the message to groups you’ve organized in your contact list

If you select the “individual” or “groups” option, you can search or filter the lists to help you narrow down exactly which contacts you’re looking for.

Step 4: Input the Content for Your Message

Lastly, you’ll set up all the content for your message.

You can type out the content you want to send and leave it at that, or you can utilize several different options, including:

• Sending your message as SMS (a “regular” text message) or an MMS (a multimedia/picture message)
• Filling in your message content from an existing template
• Including a trackable link
• Inserting “name” variables for your individual recipients so that they each receive the text with their personal name included
• Inserting emojis into your message content
• Attaching a contact card in your message so that your recipients can easily save your number on their phone

Once your message is all set up, you can simply click the “Send / Schedule Message” button at the bottom and your message will be sent as designated.

Why Use Scheduled Text Messaging? Importance, Use Cases, + Examples

Scheduling text messages allows you to send messages at the perfect, right moment for your recipient(s).

When it comes to sending business texts, this is particularly important because timing is often everything. A well-timed promo or reminder can make a significant impact.

Here are some specific examples to help you see the usefulness of scheduled texts…

Scheduled Text Messaging for Appointment Reminders

Do you know the best way to help reduce no-shows to your appointments?

Texting.

You can schedule your appointment reminder texts to send to clients strategically to help them remember to keep the appointment.

So you could schedule an appointment reminder for 24 hours ahead of time and 2 hours ahead of time, for example.

Using a texting platform to schedule appointment reminders helps you avoid no-shows… without you having to actually be on your phone sending out texts all the time.

Here’s what your texts might look like:

“

Shawn, your appointment with Dr. Pelton is tomorrow at 1:15pm. Please arrive 10 minutes early to fill out paperwork.

“

Hi Alessandra! Your massage appointment is at 10am on Friday. If you need to cancel or reschedule, click here: [link]

Scheduled Text Messaging for Webinars

Webinar hosts have all experienced it - a disappointing attendance number for a webinar.

The average rate for registrants who actually show up is only around 40%, after all.

Scheduled text message reminders help get more attendance - and you can also boost post-webinar engagement with follow-up texts.

You can schedule a workflow similar to the following:

• Your registrant receives a reminder text 1 day before the webinar
• Your registrant receives a reminder text 90 minutes before the webinar
• Your registrant receives a reminder text 5 minutes before the webinar
• Your registrant receives a follow-up text 90 minutes after the webinar

These texts will help make sure people actually show up to your webinars.

(And if you use Zoom or GoToWebinar to host your webinars, you can totally automate the whole process.)

Here’s what your texts might look like:

“

Katie! Time to finish up what’s in front of you because it’s go time in 5 minutes! Join the “Double Your Jewelry Sales” webinar here: [link] Say hi when you join!

“

Hope you were able to hop on today’s webinar! If you missed it, you can check out the reply. And don’t forget that you can get 50% off the Conversion Copywriting training course TODAY ONLY: [link]

Scheduled Text Messaging for Drip Marketing

Drip marketing refers to marketing that “drips” out your messages over a period of time.

The term is typically used in reference to email marketing, but you can send drip campaigns via text messages as well.

With these types of campaigns, you won’t select the specific dates that your messages go out, but you’ll set general periods of time.

For example, if you’re marketing for a restaurant…

• You may send a text message to someone as soon as they subscribe to your text promotions saying…
  • “Thank you for joining Sam’s Kitchen text alerts! Over the next few weeks you’ll receive deals and discounts on our most popular items, so stay tuned.”
• You may send another text 1 week later saying…
  • “Announcement! 1 FREE dessert with any entree purchase if you come in today and show this text!”
• Then you may send a 3rd text 1 week later saying…
  • “Guess what? You’re getting an EXCLUSIVE discount today - half-priced apps all day! Come hungry.”
• And you may send a final text 2 weeks after that saying…
  • “Sad news! Here’s the last of your 'new subscriber' discounts - 1 entree TOTALLY FREE with the purchase of a drink or side today. (But don’t worry, you’ll get new deals coming your way periodically throughout the year!)”

So scheduled text messaging via drip becomes a way to automate your marketing.

That way, you can take advantage of all the benefits of texting without having to micromanage every detail of the campaign.

Other Scheduled Text Messaging Examples…

The possible uses for scheduled text messaging are basically limitless.

For some more general examples, imagine the following scenarios:

• Let’s say you have a plan to send out 4 texts as part of a promotional campaign in the upcoming month. You know what you want to say, and you want to be able to set it all up at once.
  • So you create the whole month’s worth of text messages within your text platform and schedule them out for the times that you want them to send.
  • Then you don’t have to worry about it as the messages send out automatically over the next several weeks.
• Or let’s say it’s late at night and you just had an epiphany that offering a free consultation with your offer will sweeten the deal and get a lot of response - so you want to send out a text to your customers letting them know.
  • You want to set up that text message while it’s fresh on your mind, but you obviously don’t want to send out a text to your customers at midnight.
  • So you schedule the message for the perfect time and then you can rest easy while it goes out automatically.

Below are several other use cases.

Event Reminders

“

Don’t forget our annual convention starts TOMORROW at 9am CST sharp. If you can’t make it in person, tune in to the live stream here: [link]

“

I hope you’re as excited as I am about our workshop on how to grow your direct sales business (Saturday, 7pm). Check your email and texts on Saturday. We’ll be sure to send you the link to join us in the live room!

Live Sale Notices on Facebook

“

You’ll LOVE the new prints! Going live in 5 so you can be among the first to check them out! View here: [link]

“

Hi friends! I’m going LIVE in 10 minutes with can’t-miss new jewelry pieces. Check it out here: [link]

Customer Care Follow-Ups

“

Hi, this is Sam from J. Johnson Supplies. Just letting you know that your protection plan expires soon. If you haven’t made any claims, you’re eligible for a credit to get some FREE stuff! Reply back with the word “free” if you’d like me to take a look at how much of a credit you’ll get.

“

It’s time for your CPAP resupply. Please contact our office to have these items pulled for pickup.

Employee Recognition

“

Happy birthday to Cassidy in accounts receivable!

“

Shout out to Jordan for exceeding sales quota by 200% this month! Keep up the great work!

HR / Payroll Notices

“

Paychecks are ready for pickup in Processing today!

“

Please report to Nancy by EOD for a briefing on some updated HR policies.

Holiday Closures

“

Reminder that offices will be closed Monday, Jan. 2 in observation of New Year’s Day.

“

REMINDER - All branches will be closed 12/31 and 1/1.

Encouraging Notes

“

Take a moment and think about how your business can help others. How many lives can you impact? - Coach Aaron

“

Leadership is the skill of inspiring and mobilizing others to achieve shared aspirations.

Meeting / Training Reminders

“

Join us for our agent training class tomorrow morning at 10am MST in the conference room (or via Zoom). The class this week is “How to Close a Sale with Confidence,” with Jane Harrison. See you then!

“

Good morning! Just a quick reminder about the committee meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, December 14th) at 10 AM at the office.

Deadline Reminders

“

Reminder to off-campus students: Bi-weekly externship logs are due tonight by 11:59PM EST.

“

Reminder! All camp forms must be turned in by 12pm tomorrow. Please submit payment by that time as well. Payment can be submitted via cash/check or online at [link]

New Release Notices

“

It's FRI-YAY!! Time to celebrate! Come shop these amazing new releases!!! [link]

“

NEW dresses available now! Check it out: [link]

Scheduled Text Messages FAQ

Here are some other frequently asked questions about scheduling text messages...

Can you schedule text messages on iPhone?

The short answer is no, the iPhone doesn't have an inherently simple way to schedule text messages.

However, there are some workarounds as described above.

What are apps to schedule text messages?

For personal texting on Android, you can use Google's messaging app.

For personal texting on Apple, some apps to schedule text messages for personal reasons are listed above and include:

• SMS Scheduler
• Schedule SMS: Send it later
• Text Later
• Advance SMS Scheduler
• SMS Scheduler (Text Later)
• AutoText
• Smart SMS TIMER
• iSchedule
• SMS Timing
• Schemes

For business texting, you can use apps such as:

• Mobile Text Alerts
• SlickText
• Textedly

Get Started with Scheduling Messages

Want to see how it works?

Try it now for free.