GoHighLevel SMS Keyword Opt-In: Text-to-Join (2026)

By Dr Priya Jaganathan, GoHighLevel Certified Admin · HL Growth Partner, Australia · Updated 7 October 2026 · 9 min read

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A GoHighLevel SMS keyword opt-in lets anyone text a short word like JOIN, GUIDE or VIP to your Australian number and instantly land in your CRM, tagged, consented and receiving the offer they asked for. It is one of the simplest ways to turn a sign at the counter, a radio mention or a stall at a trade expo into a contact you can actually follow up.

Below I walk through building a text-to-join campaign in HighLevel: the workflow, keyword auto-reply, tagging, STOP handling and the Spam Act rules. It's the same build we roll out for Australian clients.

Why a GoHighLevel SMS keyword opt-in beats a web form offline

Forms work online but fall over in the physical world. Nobody at a footy club fundraiser wants to type a URL and fill in five fields.

Texting one word is different. The phone number arrives with the message, so the contact is captured the moment they hit send, with no landing page, no typing errors and no drop-off between interest and opt-in.

Where text-to-join works well in Australia

• Signage: shopfront windows, A-frames, counter cards and table talkers in cafés.
• Radio and podcasts: "Text GUIDE to 04xx xxx xxx" is far easier to remember than a web address.
• Events: expos, workshops, open homes and school fetes where you want names without a clipboard.
• Packaging: a keyword on a box or swing tag for warranty registration, recipes or a reorder discount.

Set up your number before the text-to-join campaign in HighLevel

Your keyword campaign can only be as reliable as the number behind it. The inbound number must be an SMS-capable number on LC Phone or Twilio, connected inside the specific sub-account running the campaign.

Text the number from your own mobile and confirm the message appears in Conversations. If it doesn't, no workflow will fire, so always prove the inbound path first.

Prepare tags and a source field

Before building the workflow, create the tags and custom fields it will write to.

• A tag per keyword, for example sms-kw-guide or sms-kw-vip.
• A general tag such as sms-optin so you can report on every keyword together.
• A custom text field like "Opt-in Source" holding the keyword and the channel (e.g. "GUIDE – radio").
• A custom date field like "Opt-in Date" so you have a timestamp for consent records.

Build the keyword auto-reply workflow step by step

Step 1: Add the Customer Replied trigger

Choose the Customer Replied trigger and set the reply channel to SMS. Then filter the trigger on the reply text containing your keyword, so the workflow only fires when someone texts GUIDE and not for every inbound message.

If you haven't worked with trigger filters much, our walkthrough of GoHighLevel workflow trigger filters covers how filters stack and where they commonly trip people up.

Step 2: Tag and record the source

The first actions should be Add Tag (both the keyword tag and the general opt-in tag) and Update Contact Field for your source and date fields. Doing this first means your consent record exists even if a later step fails.

Step 3: Send the keyword auto-reply

Add a Send SMS action with the reply. Keep it short, identify your business by name, deliver what was promised and tell people how to opt out.

A good template looks like this: "Thanks for texting GUIDE to Coastal Physio! Here's your free back-care guide: [link]. Questions? Call 07 xxxx xxxx. Reply STOP to opt out."

If the offer is a downloadable resource, the delivery logic in our lead magnet delivery workflow guide slots straight into this step, including email backup delivery once you've collected an address.

Step 4: Confirm consent and add to nurture

A keyword text is consent for that specific offer, not a blanket licence to market anything. If you plan to send ongoing promotions, ask for it plainly in a follow-up such as "Want our monthly specials too? Reply YES."

Then add the contact to the right nurture sequence or pipeline stage, and keep the first follow-ups useful rather than salesy.

Handling several keywords in one workflow

Once you run several keywords, separate workflows get messy. The alternative is one workflow with a broader Customer Replied trigger (SMS channel) followed by an If/Else branch on the replied message.

Each branch checks whether the reply contains a different keyword, then runs its own tag, field update and auto-reply. Add a final "none" branch that does nothing, so normal conversations aren't hijacked. Our If/Else conditions guide for HighLevel workflows explains how to order branches so the most specific keyword is checked first.

Not on HighLevel yet? Start with a free 30-day trial here — long enough to build everything in this guide before you pay a cent.

Keyword design rules for SMS opt-in campaigns

• Keep it short: one word, ideally four to six letters, easy to say on radio.
• Make it unique: avoid everyday words like "HI" or "YES" that people send in normal conversation.
• Plan for variations: people type "Guide", "guide " or "GUIDE!", so test upper case, lower case and trailing spaces against your filter.
• Avoid reserved-style words: never use STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT or HELP as campaign keywords.
• Avoid near-collisions: don't run VIP and VIPS at the same time, because a "contains" check will match both.

Keyword mapping table

Handle STOP and DND properly

Every keyword auto-reply should tell people how to opt out, and the opt-out has to actually work. In HighLevel, that means making sure STOP-style replies set the contact to Do Not Disturb for SMS.

Test it: opt in from your own mobile, reply STOP, then try sending a message. Our guide to DND and unsubscribe management in GoHighLevel covers channel-level DND, re-subscribes and common gaps.

Also make sure your keyword workflow never removes DND. A person who texted STOP last month and then texts JOIN today is a judgement call; treat the new keyword as fresh consent only if your process clearly records it.

Australian Spam Act compliance for keyword campaigns

The Spam Act 2003 applies to keyword campaigns. According to ACMA's spam rules for businesses, commercial email, SMS and MMS need consent, and express consent is best because the sender bears the burden of proving it.

• Consent: a person texting your keyword in is a strong form of express consent for that specific offer, but you need a record of it.
• Identify: every message must clearly identify the sender and how to contact them.
• Unsubscribe: every commercial message needs a functional unsubscribe option.

On unsubscribing, ACMA's guidance on the Spam Act 2003 is specific. Requests must be honoured within 5 working days, unsubscribing must not cost money or require logging in, and the unsubscribe must keep working for at least 30 days after the message is sent.

Your tag plus the source and date fields form your consent record. For a deeper look at the rules as they apply in HighLevel, read our GoHighLevel SMS compliance guide for Australia. This is general information, not legal advice, so check anything unusual with a qualified adviser.

Measure your keyword campaigns with tags and smart lists

Because each keyword writes its own tag and source, reporting is straightforward. Build a smart list filtered on each keyword tag and you can see at a glance how many people each channel produced.

Use a different keyword per channel and you get channel-level attribution without any tracking pixels. Compare those lists against pipeline opportunities to see which keywords produce paying customers.

Rolling out text-to-join for clients with snapshots

For agencies, the keyword build is a perfect snapshot asset. Package the workflow, tags, custom fields and a template auto-reply into a snapshot, then load it into each client sub-account.

Each client still needs their own SMS-capable number, their business details in the auto-reply and their own keywords, so keep a short onboarding checklist.

Snapshots also mean every client gets the same tagging, consent fields and opt-out wording, which makes audits far easier.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Launching signage or radio before testing the inbound number end to end in Conversations.
• Leaving the Customer Replied trigger unfiltered, so every inbound text gets the auto-reply.
• Choosing a keyword that people send in normal chat, or one that overlaps another active keyword.
• Sending the auto-reply without the business name, contact details or an opt-out instruction.
• Treating a single keyword text as consent for unrelated promotions without asking.
• Skipping the source and date fields, leaving no record of how consent was obtained.

If you want keyword SMS campaigns set up compliantly for your business or your clients, book a strategy call with the HL Growth Partner team.

Book Your Strategy Call →

Or if you just need the software first: grab the 30-day HighLevel trial and book us when you're ready to scale it.

Frequently asked questions

What is a GoHighLevel SMS keyword opt-in?

It is a workflow that fires when someone texts a chosen word, such as JOIN or GUIDE, to your HighLevel number. The workflow tags the contact, records the source and sends an automatic reply with the offer. It turns offline attention into a CRM contact in seconds.

Which trigger should I use for a text-to-join campaign in HighLevel?

Use the Customer Replied trigger with the reply channel set to SMS. Filter the trigger on the reply text containing your keyword so it only fires for that word. For several keywords, use one trigger and an If/Else branch on the replied message.

Do I need a special phone number for keyword campaigns?

You need an SMS-capable number on LC Phone or Twilio connected to the sub-account running the campaign. Test that inbound texts appear in Conversations before you promote the keyword anywhere.

Is texting a keyword enough consent under the Spam Act?

According to ACMA's guidance on the Spam Act 2003, a person texting a keyword in is a strong form of express consent for that specific offer. You still need to keep a record, such as a tag plus a source and date field. Ask separately before sending unrelated ongoing promotions.

How fast must I process an SMS unsubscribe in Australia?

ACMA's guidance on the Spam Act 2003 says unsubscribe requests must be honoured within 5 working days. Unsubscribing must not cost money or require logging in, and it must keep working for at least 30 days after the message is sent. In HighLevel, make sure STOP replies set the contact to DND for SMS.

Can agencies reuse a keyword campaign across client accounts?

Yes. Save the workflow, tags, custom fields and template auto-reply in a snapshot and load it into each client sub-account. Each client then needs their own number, business details in the reply and their own keywords before launch.

Related Articles on HL Growth Partner

SMS setup and conversations

• LC Phone vs Twilio: cost and setup compared
• Running two-way SMS conversations in HighLevel
• Managing the Conversations inbox as a team

Segmentation and tagging

• A tag naming strategy that scales
• Building smart lists and segments

Tracking and follow-up

• Attribution reporting for lead sources
• Using trigger links to track and automate clicks
• Setting up a database reactivation campaign