Applies to: Keap™ Max Classic

Legacy Feature Notice: Keap Business Line is no longer available for new sign-ups. For our latest communication tools and enhanced features, see Simplify Your Communication with Thryv Text and Voice.

What This Article Covers

This article explains how to send an SMS text broadcast to a specific group of contacts filtered by a shared attribute — for example, all contacts assigned to a particular sales owner. The workflow uses a saved search to define your recipient segment, then pushes that segment directly into a new text broadcast.

This article does not cover:

• Creating or managing tags. Tags can be used as filter criteria within a saved search to further refine your segment — for example, filtering by a specific sales owner and a tag at the same time. To learn how to create and apply tags to contacts, see Create a Tag.
• Setting up SMS for your account. SMS must be enabled before you can send text broadcasts. 

Why Filter Contacts Before Sending

Sending a text broadcast to the right segment — instead of your entire contact list — means your message lands with the people it's actually relevant to. Contacts assigned to a specific sales owner may be at a different stage in the sales process, part of a regional campaign, or due for a follow-up from that owner's pipeline. Filtering before you send protects your deliverability, keeps your opt-out rate low, and makes your outreach feel personal rather than mass.

Saved searches in your CRM are dynamic. The contacts in the results update automatically as your data changes, so if you save this search for reuse, it will always reflect your current contact records without any manual maintenance.

Before You Start

Confirm the following before building your segment:

• SMS is enabled on your account. If text broadcasts are not available in your Marketing menu, contact support to confirm SMS is active. ⚑ Verify: confirm correct support path or link
   
• Your contacts have phone numbers on their records. During the broadcast setup, you will be prompted to select which phone number types to send to. The Review phone number delivery options step asks "Which phone number(s) do you want to send to?" and displays a dropdown labeled Only send to these phone types. The available phone number types are Mobile, Work, Home, and Other, as well as Phone 3, Phone 4, and Phone 5 for contacts with additional numbers on their records. You can select one or multiple types. Contacts who do not have a number matching your selected type(s) will not receive the broadcast.
   
• Your segment contains 500 contacts or fewer. SMS broadcasts in Keap™ Max Classic are limited to 500 recipients per send. If your filtered segment exceeds 500 contacts, the recipient field in the broadcast will not populate and the broadcast cannot be sent. If your list is larger than 500, plan to send in batches or narrow your filter criteria.
   
• You have permission to view other users' contacts. To filter by Owner (Sales Owner), your account permissions must have "Can see other users" set to Yes. If the Owner field does not appear in your search criteria, ask your account administrator to review your permissions. To learn how contact-level permissions are configured, see User Permissions: Contact.

Step 1: Create a Saved Search Filtered by Owner or Tag

A saved search defines the segment of contacts your broadcast will be sent to. You can filter by the Owner field (which corresponds to the Sales Owner assigned to each contact record), by a tag, or by both at the same time. Filtering by both Owner and a tag will return only contacts that match all criteria.

1. Click CRM in the top navigation bar. Then click Contacts.
   
    
2. Click New Search in the toolbar at the top of the Contacts page. Clicking New Search clears any previous search criteria so you can start fresh. The toolbar on the Contacts page displays, from left to right: Actions, New Search, Edit Criteria/Columns, Save, and Print.
   
    

3. Navigate the tabs in the search criteria panel to add your filter criteria. To filter by sales owner, click the Misc Criteria tab and find the Owner field, then select the sales owner whose contacts you want to include. If you do not see a Misc Criteria tab, your account permissions may be hiding the Owner field. Ask your account administrator to review your contact permissions, or see User Permissions: Contact for details. 
   
   

   You can also filter by tag from within the same saved search. To add a tag as an additional filter criterion, navigate to the tab that contains tag criteria and select the tag you want to include. Adding both an Owner filter and a tag filter will return only contacts that match both conditions.
    

4. Click Search. Your CRM will display all contacts that match your criteria. Review the results to confirm the correct contacts are showing.
   
    
5. Click Save in the toolbar. Enter a short, descriptive name for the search — for example, "Owner - Sarah - SMS June." Click Save to confirm. You are saving the search criteria, not a fixed list. The results will update automatically as contact records change.
   

Step 2: Send the SMS Broadcast from Your Saved Search

Once your saved search is ready, create a new text broadcast and search for your saved search or tag by name in the audience field. You do not need to return to the Contacts page or use the Actions menu in contact search results. The Actions menu only supports sending email broadcasts, not text message broadcasts.

1. Click the navigation menu at the top of the page. Under Marketing, click Email & Broadcasts.
   
    
2. Click Create broadcast. In the broadcast type menu that appears, click Text message. The broadcast type menu displays three options: Email broadcast, Text message, and Other.
   
    
3. On the broadcast setup page, find the Pick your audience section. The audience field displays a To input with the placeholder text "Type saved searches, tags, or contact names."
    
4. Type the name of the saved search you created in Step 1. The field will display matching results as you type. Click the saved search name to add it as your audience. You can also type a tag name to use a tag directly, or combine a saved search and a tag in the same broadcast.
   
    
5. Review the compliance notice that appears below the audience field: "To avoid government fines, and deliver a good experience for your audience, make sure your recipients have given consent (opted in) to receive text message marketing." Confirm that the contacts in your segment have opted in before sending.
    
6. When prompted with the Review phone number delivery options screen, click the Only send to these phone types dropdown and select the phone number type(s) you want to send to. The available options are Mobile, Work, Home, Other, Phone 3, Phone 4, and Phone 5. You can select multiple types. Only contacts with a number matching one of your selected types will receive the broadcast.
    
7. Write your message in the Write your message field. If some contacts may not have a first name on their record, do not use the first name merge field. Instead, open your message with a neutral greeting such as "Hi there" to ensure every recipient receives a complete message.
    
8. Click Review broadcast to preview your message and confirm recipient details. ⚑ Verify: confirm exact button label
   
    
9. Before the broadcast sends, a compliance confirmation screen will appear with the following requirements:You must keep record of the permission according to applicable laws. Failure could result in legal action or fines and/or termination of Keap services.
   
   Check the box to certify: "I certify and confirm all contacts in this broadcast have provided prior express opt-in consent compliant with all laws to receive marketing texts from my company and that I will maintain those records as required by applicable laws." Click Continue to proceed. Click Go back if you need to make changes to your broadcast before confirming. The broadcast will not send until this box is checked and you click Continue.
   
    
10. Click Send Now to send immediately, or Schedule to set a future send time. ⚑ Verify: confirm exact button labels on the review screen
    

Limitations

500-contact limit per broadcast. SMS broadcasts in Keap™ Max Classic cannot be sent to more than 500 contacts at one time. If your filtered segment exceeds 500 contacts, the recipient field in the broadcast will appear empty and the broadcast will not send. To work around this limit, narrow your filter criteria or send in multiple batches by saving separate searches for subsets of your segment.

Phone number type selection required. During broadcast setup, the Review phone number delivery options step requires you to select at least one phone number type from the Only send to these phone types dropdown. The available types are Mobile, Work, Home, Other, Phone 3, Phone 4, and Phone 5. Contacts who do not have a number matching your selected type(s) will not receive the broadcast. If you are unsure which phone number types your contacts have on their records, selecting all available types ensures the broadest delivery.

Owner filter requires contact view permissions. The Owner field in contact search criteria is only visible to users whose account permissions allow them to see other users' contacts. If the Owner field does not appear under Misc Criteria, an account administrator will need to update your permission settings before you can filter by sales owner. See User Permissions: Contact for details.

Saved searches are dynamic, not static. When you use a saved search as your broadcast segment, the contacts included reflect your CRM data at the time you run the search. If contacts are added or removed from an owner's list between the time you save the search and the time you send the broadcast, the results will reflect those changes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I select Sales Owner directly in the broadcast recipient field? No. The SMS broadcast audience field accepts saved searches, tags, and individual contact names — not the Owner (Sales Owner) field directly. To send to contacts belonging to a specific sales owner, create a saved search filtered by Owner first (Step 1), then type the name of that saved search into the Pick your audience field when setting up your text broadcast.

What happens if my saved search returns more than 500 contacts? The recipient field in the broadcast will not populate and the broadcast cannot be sent. Reduce your segment to 500 contacts or fewer before attempting to send. You can narrow your saved search criteria or send in separate batches.

Why are some contacts not showing up in my broadcast recipient list even though I selected them? The most common cause is that your segment exceeds 500 contacts, which will prevent the recipient field from populating. Reduce your segment to 500 contacts or fewer and try again. If your segment is within the limit and contacts are still missing, confirm that the contacts have a phone number on their record that matches the phone type(s) you selected in the Review phone number delivery options step. Contacts without a number matching your selected type(s) will not receive the broadcast.

Can I reuse this saved search for future broadcasts? Yes. Saved searches are dynamic and update automatically as your contact records change. You can open the same saved search for a future broadcast and it will reflect your current CRM data at that time.