SMS templates save time and make it easy to communicate with prospective families. Personalizing them with guardian and student details adds a meaningful touch with little effort. Use SMS templates with automations for more efficiency and consistent, thoughtful engagement.
Create an SMS Template
Create an SMS Template from scratch
From your Playground CRM dashboard, click the Marketing tab, and then click SMS.
Click the blue Add SMS button in the top right corner of the screen, then click From Scratch.
Add a name for your SMS Template and then click Add SMS.
Use the AI Suggestions tool to help write or refine the message. Click the AI Suggestions button at the top of the editor to open a list of built-in tools. These tools can:
Write the SMS from scratch
Fix spelling and grammar
Make the message more formal
Make the message more concise
Make the message more friendly
Choose any of the options to help shape the message before making edits.
Click the Personalize button to insert a variable. Use this to autofill specific CRM properties, such as a guardian’s name or the organization’s phone number.
After clicking the button, a dropdown will appear.
Filter by category (Organization, Lead, Guardian, or Student), then select the detail to insert into the message.
Any personalized field will populate automatically when the SMS is sent.
Review your message. Make any final edits to the wording, adjust formatting, or double-check that everything looks good before saving.
Choose whether the message is promotional. At the bottom of the template window, you’ll see the Marketing/Promotional toggle.
Turn this on if the SMS is being used to promote your program (e.g., enrollment events, promotions, open house invites).
If selected, Playground will automatically add the legally required opt-out message (“STOP to opt-out”).
If the message is promotional and this isn’t turned on, it could impact your ability to send SMS in the future.
When you are done, click the blue Save button.
Create an SMS Template from a template
From your Playground CRM dashboard, click the Marketing tab, and then click SMS.
Click the blue Add SMS button in the top right corner of the screen, then click From existing SMS
Add a name for your SMS Template and then choose which template to start from and click Add SMS.
Edit the message content as needed. You can type freely or use the Personalize and AI Suggestions tools to help write or refine the message.
To insert CRM-specific information, such as a guardian or organization name, click the white Personalize button and choose a variable from the dropdown.
If you’d like help writing or improving your message, click the AI Suggestions button. You’ll see options to:
Write the SMS from scratch
Fix spelling and grammar
Make the message more formal
Make the message more concise
Make the message more friendly
Review your message and make any final adjustments.
Choose whether the message is promotional. At the bottom of the template window, you’ll see the Marketing/Promotional toggle.
Turn this on if the SMS is being used to promote your program (e.g., enrollment events, promotions, open house invites).
If selected, Playground will automatically add the legally required opt-out message (“STOP to opt-out”).
If the message is promotional and this isn’t turned on, it could impact your ability to send SMS in the future.
When you are done, click the blue Save button.
Edit and Delete SMS Templates
To edit an SMS template, click the pencil icon.
💡 If you are updating an SMS template that is used in an automation. The newly saved SMS text will be used for all future emails.
To delete an SMS template, click the three dots and then click Delete.
🚨 SMS templates being used in automations cannot be deleted.
View SMS Send History
You can view the send history for your SMS templates to confirm when messages were sent and who they were delivered to.
To view an SMS message’s history:
Go to SMS in the CRM.
Click the three dots of the SMS template you want to review.
Select View to open the message history.
The SMS history shows:
The timestamp of when each message was sent
The recipient phone number
The message content that was sent
