Ⓘ Available to Essentials, Teams, and Corporate accounts
Frequently asked questions about SMS
What does SMS stand for?
SMS or “Short Messaging Service” is the official name of what we commonly refer to as texting.
Is SMS available to all accounts?
SMS is only available when you sign up for an Essentials, Teams, or Corporate contracted plan. For Essentials, this can be purchased as an add-on and for Teams and Corporate, SMS comes as part of the plan.
Can I send images in my SMS messages?
Yes, you can! Messages sent with images and text will count as more than one message, so you’ll want to keep an eye on your estimated send cost when building out your messages.
How do SMS credits work?
When sending an SMS, each message segment corresponds to one SMS credit. The number of characters per segment depends on the type of characters used in the message. If the message only uses GSM-7 characters, then a single message segment is 160 characters or less; thus an SMS message with 235 GSM-7 characters will use two message segments / credits per recipient.
However, if the message contains any non-GSM-7 characters, such as emojis, then the message must be encoded differently for sending. As a result, in those cases a single message segment is 70 characters or less, meaning that a 235 character SMS message that contains an emoji will use four message segments / credits per recipient.
Due to their variable nature, any non-GSM-7 character may count as more than one character for the purpose of identifying the number of characters in the message. For example, some emojis may be counted as seven characters, while others may only be counted as three. This is caused by the way those non-GSM-7 characters have to be encoded for sending and is outside of our control.
Do my contacts need to opt in before I can send them an SMS message?
Yes. Like email, SMS is permission-based; this means that your contacts must provide consent for you to communicate with them through this channel. Providing a phone number through a form in the past does not satisfy the SMS consent requirement.
How do my contacts opt out of receiving SMS?
Contacts who have opted in can revoke their consent at any time by replying “STOP” to the SMS thread. Doing so will unsubscribe the contact from all SMS lists. In order to make it clear and easy for customers to unsubscribe, it is best to always include information about how they can opt out with your SMS communications.
How can I gather SMS opt ins from my contacts?
Because SMS is permission-based, you won’t be able to immediately use your email marketing lists for SMS. However, there are still ways that you can use your existing contact list to get your SMS marketing off to a great start.
For example, you can ask contacts for their phone numbers and consent by including the request and a signup form in an email campaign. Including a value exchange with the ask may help improve your opt-in rate; for example, “By giving us your phone number you’ll receive [a discount, exclusive content, etc.]”
You can now capture US-based mobile numbers with our new signup forms and contact fields. For more information, check out this article.
Can a contact reply to an SMS message sent through my account?
No, SMS is a one-way service. This means that if a contact tries to reply to an SMS, there will be no way to see that in your account.
Can I import SMS numbers?
Yes, you can! During the import process, if you map data to an SMS field, you will be prompted to confirm the consent status for those contacts for either marketing or transactional sends. Just like with your email list, you’ll need to be sure to adhere to our Permission & Privacy Policy before importing SMS numbers.
If you plan to move an existing SMS contact list from another platform, you can choose to opt these contacts into SMS in bulk, or opt contacts out of SMS in bulk. However, when you use the SMS bulk opt-in feature, you must also be able to confirm that all contacts on your list have actively consented to receive SMS communication from you.
What are promotional and transactional messages?
A promotional message aims to create brand awareness, promote a product or service, or generate sales; for example: coupons, discounts, special offers, contests, etc. Promotional messages require prior express consent and are included in our SMS feature.
Whereas, a transactional message is an informational update about a contact’s ongoing transactions, such as appointment reminders or order confirmations. Transactional messages require implied or express consent and are not currently included in our SMS feature, but we do plan to include them in the future.
To align with TCPA (Telecommunications Protection Act) regulations, you must obtain consent for transactional and promotional messages separately. Capturing consent cannot be tied to a single checkbox. The text must also contain explicit language around the use case that the consent is tied to (e.g. “I would like to receive marketing messages.” or “I would like to receive informational messages.”)
What types of SMS messages can I send to my contacts?
You can use SMS messages for a variety of different purposes, however, we will only be featuring promotional messages at this time. Some of the common use cases for SMS are found in the chart below.
| Type of Message | Promotional | Transactional |
|---|---|---|
| Exclusive offers | ✔️ | |
| Appointment reminders | ❌ | |
| Announcements | ✔️ | |
| Early access to products or promotions | ✔️ | |
| Order confirmations | ❌ | |
| Coupons and deals | ✔️ | |
| Discounts | ✔️ |
How does SMS consent work?
Contacts are required to opt in to SMS separately; consenting to receive emails does not mean that someone consents to receive SMS messages. That being said, contacts must have opted in to email in order to be eligible to subscribe to SMS messages. This means that if a contact opts out of email communications, they will also be opted out of SMS.
Can multiple contacts have the same phone number?
No, each phone number can only be used once. If you try to add a contact with a duplicate phone number, you will receive an error message.
Can I add an SMS option to a signup form that I created with the API or through an integration?
If you create a custom form with our API, then yes, there is a way to include an SMS option. Both the POST /members/add and POST /members/signup calls now have an optional parameter called sms. This parameter is a dictionary that contains three strings: phone_number, promotional_status, and transactional_status. Please note that whil the documentation for this parameter is only listed under the POST /members/add call, it will work with the POST /members/signup call as well.
When using the sms parameter, it is vital that you also include the group_ids parameter with at least one valid group. Please note: The group_ids parameter for the POST /members/add call must be an array of integers, even if you’re only including one group. Meanwhile, the group_ids parameter for the POST /members/signup call must be an array of strings, even if you’re only including one group. The syntax requirements for an array of integers is slightly different from those required for an array of strings; using incorrect syntax can prevent your form from working correctly, so please test it thoroughly.
So far, none of the third party signup form integrations are using the sms parameter, so it is currently not possible to add an SMS option to a form created through an integration.
Can parent-level users see a breakdown of each subaccounts’ SMS credit usage?
Yes, parent-level users can find this information by following these steps:
- Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Select Billing from the dropdown menu.
- Click on the Plan & usage tab.
- Click on the Subaccount SMS usage section.