What an SMS recruiting campaign is in ATS Mako
When you set up an SMS recruiting campaign, you send one message to a group of candidates and work every reply as a real conversation. Two-way SMS is part of the core platform, not a paid add-on. Replies land in one centralized inbox, threaded by candidate, so your whole team sees the same history. If you want to create a text campaign for candidates that keeps going after the first touch, you can chain templates into follow-up sequences and trigger them off status, time, recruiter actions or calendar events.
Every text carries your brand. ATS Mako is fully white-label, so candidates see your logo, colors and domain, not ours.
Before you start: prerequisites and permissions
- Confirm you can access messaging in your account. If you are unsure, ask your ATS Mako account admin.
- Make sure the candidates you plan to text have given prior consent. The platform is built around TCPA rules, but you bring the candidate consent.
- Decide which role, location or pipeline stage this campaign is for. A narrow first audience is easier to manage.
- Check which templates your organization already uses. Org-level templates may include locked legal or EEO wording that you cannot edit.
Connect your texting number
Your campaign needs a working texting connection before anything goes out. ATS Mako can send and receive across multiple SMS providers, with two-way conversation tracking and inbound message capture. If texting is not active on your account yet, follow the guide to set up two-way texting for your recruiting team first, then come back here.
Build your candidate audience
Pick the candidates who should receive this message. Start with people who match one job, one location or one stage, and who have opted in to texts. Leave out anyone who has replied STOP. For more ways to slice your list, read about targeting candidates by audience segment.
Write and preview the message
Start from a preloaded template or build your own. The Recruiting Template Library covers first touch, screening, scheduling, follow-up and offer messages, and you can create unlimited custom templates. Dynamic merge fields such as first_name, position and interview_time fill in from each candidate's record, so a bulk send still reads one-to-one.
Example first-touch text
Hi [first_name], thanks for your interest in the [position] role. Are you still looking? Reply YES and we will send next steps. Reply STOP to opt out.
Bracketed names show where merge fields go. Use the merge field format shown in your template editor.
- Keep it short. One question per text gets faster replies.
- Say who you are. Candidates should recognize your company right away.
- Read it once as if you were the candidate. Check that every merge field will have data.
Schedule, send and monitor replies
- 1 Choose your template and audience Pair the message you wrote with the candidate group you built. Double-check the list before sending.
- 2 Decide when it goes out Send now or use a time-delay trigger. Quiet hours are respected, so texts are not sent at times candidates should not be contacted.
- 3 Add follow-ups if you want them Chain templates into a sequence so reminders and nudges fire in order. Automations step aside the moment a candidate replies.
- 4 Launch your first recruiting text blast Send the campaign. Unlike a one-way blast, every reply comes back to your inbox as a live conversation.
- 5 Work the replies Open the centralized inbox and respond. Any recruiter can pick up a thread and see who reached out, who replied and what comes next.
How to confirm it worked
- Candidate threads show your outbound text in their message history.
- Replies appear in the centralized inbox, threaded by candidate.
- Candidates who reply STOP are handled automatically as opt-outs.
- Follow-up messages stop for candidates who have replied.
Troubleshooting common setup issues
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Texts are not sending | Texting is not connected on your account | Complete two-way texting setup, then retry |
| Some candidates did not get the message | They opted out or have no consent on file | Remove them from the audience. Do not re-text opted-out candidates |
| A message went out later than expected | Quiet hours held it | Check your send timing and quiet hours settings with your admin |
| A merge field showed up blank | The candidate record is missing that data | Fill in the record or use a template without that field |
| You cannot edit part of a template | That section is locked legal or EEO language | Edit the unlocked parts or ask your admin to update the org-level template |
When to contact support
Contact ATS Mako support if texts still do not send after texting is connected, if replies are not reaching the inbox, or if opt-outs do not appear to be honored. Share the campaign name, the time you sent it and an example candidate so the issue can be traced quickly.
See SMS campaigns running in your own brand
Book a demo to walk through texting, templates and the shared inbox with your hiring workflow.