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When you have news worth sharing with a large group of prospects at once — a weekend sale, a new inventory arrival, or a service special — a Blast gets the word out fast. A Blast is a one-time bulk SMS send targeted to a specific segment of your lead database. Unlike funnels, which run on autopilot over time, a Blast is a deliberate, point-in-time campaign that you aim, compose, and fire. Every lead in the selected audience receives the same message at the same time (or at a scheduled future time), giving your team a powerful tool for driving urgency and generating immediate responses.

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Common Use Cases

End-of-Month Sales Push

Hit your quota by reaching every open lead with a time-sensitive offer before the month closes.

New Inventory Announcement

Alert leads who have been waiting on a specific model that the vehicles have arrived on the lot.

Service Specials

Promote oil change deals, tire rotations, or seasonal maintenance packages to your customer base.

Event Invitations

Drive attendance to a dealership event, test-drive day, or customer appreciation night.

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Creating a Blast

1

Go to the Blasts section

Click Blasts in the left navigation menu to open your Blasts dashboard, where you can see all past, scheduled, and draft blasts.
2

Start a new blast

Click New Blast in the top-right corner of the page.
3

Build your audience

Use the audience filters to define exactly who receives this blast. You can filter by:
  • Lead Status (e.g., Open, Contacted, Appointment Set)
  • Label (custom tags you’ve applied to leads)
  • Lead Source (e.g., Cars.com, Website Form, Walk-In)
  • Date Range (e.g., leads created in the last 90 days)
You can combine multiple filters to narrow your audience precisely. When you’re done, Dealer Funnel displays an estimated audience count so you know how many leads will receive the message before you commit.
4

Review the estimated audience count

Before moving on, confirm the audience number looks right. A count that’s much larger or smaller than expected usually means a filter is set too broadly or too narrowly. Adjust filters as needed until the count matches your intent.
5

Compose your message

Write your SMS message in the text field. Keep these best practices in mind:
  • Open with the lead’s name using {{first_name}} for a personal feel.
  • State your offer or news clearly in the first sentence.
  • Include a clear call to action (reply, call, visit).
  • Always include opt-out language at the end of the message — for example, “Reply STOP to unsubscribe.”
The character counter shows how many segments your message uses (see note below).
6

Choose your send time

Select one of two options:
  • Send Now: The blast goes out immediately after you confirm on the review screen.
  • Schedule for Later: Pick a specific date and time for the blast to send. Scheduling is ideal for aligning sends with business hours, sale start times, or event announcements.
7

Review the summary

Dealer Funnel shows you a final summary screen with:
  • Total audience size after exclusions (opted-out and DNC numbers are removed automatically)
  • Estimated message segments and approximate send time
  • Send time — now or your scheduled date and time
Read through the summary carefully before proceeding.
8

Send or schedule the blast

Click Send Blast to send immediately, or Schedule Blast to lock in your chosen send time. The blast moves into the queue and Dealer Funnel handles the rest.

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Blast Status Lifecycle

Track where your blast stands at any point using the status indicator on the Blasts dashboard:

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Viewing Blast Results

Open any completed blast to see its performance report:
  • Delivery Rate: The percentage of messages that were successfully delivered to recipients.
  • Reply Rate: The percentage of recipients who responded to the blast message.
  • Lead Conversions: Leads from this blast who subsequently moved to a positive status (appointment set, sold, etc.).
Use these numbers to refine future blast messaging — a lower reply rate often signals that the offer or call to action needs sharper language.

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Cancelling a Scheduled Blast

If you need to pull back a blast before it sends, open the blast from the dashboard and click Cancel Blast. Cancellation is only available while the blast is in Scheduled status. Once a blast enters Sending status, messages are already in flight and cannot be recalled.

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Copying a Blast

Save time by duplicating a previous blast instead of building from scratch. Click the Copy icon next to any blast to create a new draft pre-loaded with the same audience filters and message text. Update the message, adjust the audience if needed, and schedule the new blast — all without re-entering every setting.

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Compliance

Dealer Funnel automatically enforces two critical compliance protections on every blast:
  • Opted-out leads are excluded: Any lead who has replied STOP or been manually opted out is removed from the audience automatically — you don’t need to filter them yourself.
  • DNC numbers are excluded: Numbers on the Do Not Call registry are excluded before the blast sends.
Only send blasts to leads who have given consent to receive SMS marketing from your dealership. Always include opt-out language (such as “Reply STOP to unsubscribe”) in every blast message. Dealer Funnel automatically removes opted-out and DNC numbers from your audience, but maintaining accurate consent records for your lead list is your dealership’s responsibility.
Standard SMS messages are limited to 160 characters per segment. If your message exceeds 160 characters, it is split into multiple segments and delivered as a single concatenated message on most devices — but each segment counts toward your messaging usage. Emoji characters and special formatting can reduce the per-segment character limit further. Keep an eye on the segment counter in the message composer and aim to say more with fewer words.