Odoo 18 SMS Marketing Tools: Complete Overview and Setup Guide

PeakFit Studios, a chain of seven boutique fitness studios across Denver, had a retention problem. Members signed up for 3-month packages but about 30% just stopped coming after the first month without officially cancelling. The front desk would call them a few weeks later, but by then most had already joined another gym. Email reminders went unread — the open rate was barely 12%. Their marketing coordinator, Luis, started texting members manually from his own phone to remind them about upcoming classes, and something interesting happened: the people he texted showed up 60% more often than those he only emailed.

That experiment convinced PeakFit to move SMS marketing into Odoo 18's dedicated module. Within three months, they built segmented mailing lists for each studio location, scheduled weekly class reminder campaigns, ran a "Bring a Friend" promotion via SMS that brought in 47 new trial members, and tracked exactly which links people clicked. This guide walks through how they set everything up, from the dashboard to link tracking.

The SMS Marketing Dashboard

Open the SMS Marketing module from the Odoo 18 main menu. The dashboard shows every SMS campaign your company has created, displayed as a list by default. Each row gives you a quick snapshot of what is happening:

Dashboard Views

Creating a New SMS Campaign

Here is how Luis creates a typical campaign at PeakFit — in this case, a weekend promotion offering a free guest pass:

Hey {first_name}! This weekend, bring a friend 
to any PeakFit class for FREE. Just show this 
text at the front desk. Valid Sat-Sun only. 
Book now: {link} Reply STOP to opt out.

Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are how you organize recipients into targetable groups. Instead of picking contacts one by one, you build lists around audience segments and reuse them across campaigns.

PeakFit maintains these mailing lists:

Creating a Mailing List

1. Navigate to Mailing Lists > Mailing Lists and click New
2. Enter a descriptive name (e.g., "Trial Members – Last 30 Days")
3. Optionally enable Public List if you want members to subscribe via a website form
4. Enable Blacklist to automatically exclude opted-out numbers
5. Save the list

Adding Contacts to a List

1. Click New to add a contact
2. Enter the contact's Name, Email, Phone Number, and any Tags (e.g., "yoga-regular," "morning-class")
3. In the Mailing List tab, assign the contact to one or more lists
4. Save

Reporting and Campaign Analytics

The Reporting section gives you detailed metrics on how your campaigns are performing. PeakFit reviews this weekly to decide which campaign types to repeat and which to retire.

Available Measures

Use the Pivot View for a tabular breakdown. PeakFit's Luis exports pivot data weekly to compare click rates across studio locations. He discovered that the Highland Ranch studio consistently had the highest engagement, which led him to model other studios' messaging after what worked there.

Filters and Grouping

The filter bar at the top of the campaign list lets you narrow results by Sent Date, A/B Tests, A/B Tests to Review, or Archived campaigns. Group results by Status, Sent By, Mailing List, or Sent Period to spot trends. Save your most-used filter+group combinations as Favorites for one-click access.

Configuration: Blacklist and Link Tracking

Blacklisted Phone Numbers

When a recipient replies "STOP" or you need to remove a number manually, add it to the blacklist. Navigate to Configuration > Blacklisted Phone Numbers, click New, enter the phone number, and save. Blacklisted numbers are automatically excluded from all future campaigns. If someone requests to be added back, click the Unblacklist button on their record.

Link Tracker

The Link Tracker lets you create trackable URLs to embed in your SMS messages. When a recipient clicks the link, Odoo records the click and attributes it to the campaign.

1. Click New under Configuration > Link Tracker
2. Enter a Page Title and Button Label
3. Paste the destination under Target URL (e.g., your booking page)
4. Select the Campaign, Medium (SMS), and Source (e.g., "Weekend Promo")
5. Save and copy the generated tracking link to use in your SMS content

PeakFit creates a new tracked link for every campaign. Luis compares click counts across campaigns to identify which offers drive the most bookings. The "Bring a Friend" link was clicked 89 times from 342 sent messages, leading directly to 47 trial sign-ups.

Best Practices from PeakFit's SMS Strategy

Summary