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SMS: Fields, signup forms, and imports

Ⓘ Available to Essentials, Teams, and Corporate accounts

SMS consent

SMS consent is similar to email consent, but there are a few key differences that are important to keep in mind. To align with the Telecommunications Protection Act (TCPA), you must obtain consent for transactional and marketing 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.”)

Transactional messages require prior implied or express consent. Whereas, promotional / marketing messages only require prior express consent. At this time, only promotional messaging is available in our system.

All SMS recipients can opt out of receiving messages at any time by replying with “STOP” to revoke their consent. As with email, it is important to be transparent about consent, which is why it is best practice to always include instructions on how to opt out with your SMS communications, making it clear and easy for customers to unsubscribe.

SMS mobile number contact field

A new field is now available in each contact record. This new field is located underneath Email and is labeled SMS mobile number. It is a unique field that does not follow the format of other field types; essentially, it acts as a true phone number field.

How to add SMS to a signup form

For step-by-step instructions on how to create a new signup form, please refer to this article.

If you want to collect SMS information on your signup forms, you’ll first need to add a specific field to the desired forms.

  1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
  2. Click on the Forms section in the panel on the left.
  3. Click on one of your signup forms to open it.
  4. Click on the Builder tab.
  5. Click the Add object button and choose Add field from the dropdown menu.
  6. In the pop-up window, choose the Select from your current fields option, select SMS Mobile Number from the dropdown menu, and then click the Next button.
  7. Check the appropriate SMS consent message box or boxes. Review the sample SMS Terms and Conditions language and make updates as needed. You must add a contact email or phone number for customer care.
  8. Click on the Add field button.

SMS consent checkboxes

Once added to a form, the SMS mobile number field gives contacts the option to enter their phone number. It also adds the SMS consent checkbox(es) that you selected previously to the form: one for promotional purposes and one for informational purposes aka transactional messages. You must have at least one SMS consent checkbox on your form if the form includes the SMS mobile number field. Since we currently only offer promotional SMS, we recommend always including the “promotional purposes” checkbox.

SMS terms and conditions

When you add the SMS mobile number field to a form, in addition to the checkboxes described above, our system will automatically add a Privacy policy section and a Terms and conditions section to the form. These are required and cannot be removed.

The Terms and conditions section must include a contact email or phone number for customer care. This is required by law.

Both the Privacy policy section and the Terms and conditions section contain sample language, which you may use, if desired. That being said, we strongly recommend that you seek legal counsel to craft language specific to your organization. You can update both sections by clicking on the corresponding pencil icons in the form builder.

How to import SMS contacts

You can also use the import tool to add SMS contacts to your account. The process for importing SMS contacts is the same as the process for importing regular contacts, but with a couple of extra steps.

We are a permission-based sender only. Rented and purchased lists are not allowed. You may only upload a contact list if everyone on that list has asked to receive messages from you or has had a clear relationship with your organization (as a customer, employee, or volunteer, for example) in the last 12 months. If you have contacts who were added earlier than that, you must have messaged them at some point within the last 12 months to keep them on your list. You must obtain prior, express consent from all SMS contacts before you upload them.

Best practices for importing SMS contacts

Proper spreadsheet formatting is always important when importing contacts, but especially when importing SMS contacts. Mapping the SMS mobile number field introduces more opportunities for errors to occur, so here are some best practices to help keep things running smoothly.

If you don’t need it, don’t map it

It’s always best to import the minimum amount of information that you need, and this has never been more true than with the SMS mobile number field. If you haven’t signed up for SMS or if you don’t plan on sending SMS messages, just don’t map the SMS mobile number field in your import.

If you still want to import a phone number, but you don’t need it to be text-able, consider making a Phone number field using the short answer field type. That way you’ll be able to import phone numbers into a field while still avoiding unnecessary headaches.

Separate your contacts

When mapping the SMS mobile number field, the import wizard automatically adds two new consent boxes to the last step; one for promotional SMS consent and one for transactional SMS consent. While transactional SMS messaging is not live yet, it’s good to get into the habit of breaking your audience into four spreadsheets: Promotional consent, Transactional consent, Both, and Neither. This way, you can import each list separately and know that you’re correctly keeping track of everyone’s consent. This also allows you to follow the “If you don’t need it, don’t map it” rule when importing the Neither spreadsheet.

Check your data

Formatting is extremely important when mapping the SMS mobile number field, so it’s vital that you look over your data before attempting to import it. All phone numbers in the sheet should be unique, valid, and formatted correctly or else errors may result. Here are the acceptable formats for SMS mobile numbers:

  • Country code with phone number: 19876543210
  • Phone number alone: 9876543210
  • Phone number with hyphens: 987-654-3210
  • Phone number with parentheses and a hyphen: (987)654-3210

Mobile numbers must be unique. This means that one mobile number cannot be used for multiple contacts in an account. If a mobile number appears multiple times on the same sheet, the contacts after the first instance of that number will show up as errors in the import summary. This is also true even if there are no duplicates on the spreadsheet itself, if there is a contact on the sheet whose mobile number is the same as an existing contact in the account, then the contact in the sheet will fail to import and show up as an error in the import summary.

Because of this, you may find it helpful to keep a separate spreadsheet as a running list of all your SMS contacts. This way, it will be easier for you to identify duplicate mobile numbers and prevent errors.

Mobile numbers must be valid. This means that the numbers must have a valid area code and exchange code. The exchange code, also called the prefix, refers to the three digits that follow the area code. Some exchange codes are not valid with certain area codes; for example, the 505 area code does not have a 646 exchange. Additionally, some area codes are unused altogether. This means that any phone numbers with an invalid area code or area code-exchange code combination will likely throw an error when imported into your audience. They may not cause the entire import to fail, but you will likely see them show up as errors in the import summary.

This also means that many common fake numbers, such as 000-000-0000, cannot be imported into your account. Attempting to do so, may cause the entire import to fail. As a result, it is vital to screen the data you’re importing so that you can remove these.

Choose your file

  1. Navigate to your Audience tab.
  2. Click on the Imports section in the panel on the left.
  3. Click on the blue Import contacts button.
  4. Click on Choose file and select the appropriate spreadsheet from your computer.
  5. Choose the desired update and automation settings, then click Continue.

Map your fields

  1. If the first row of your spreadsheet contains headings, check the Skip box next to Row 1. If the first row of your spreadsheet does not contain headings, leave this box unchecked.
  2. Use the dropdown fields on the left to match the correct field to each row. When mapping the SMS field, you will need to choose SMS mobile number from the dropdown menu.
  3. Click Continue.

Choose your groups / subscriptions

  1. After mapping your fields, you’ll reach the Choose your groups page.
  2. Check the box next to the appropriate audience group. You can also create a new group using the Add a new group tool at the top of the page. You must choose at least one group.
  3. On the next page, you can choose to add the imported contacts to your subscriptions, if desired.
  4. Use the checkboxes to select the appropriate subscriptions. This step is optional.
  5. Click Continue.

Summary and consent

  1. The top half of this page contains a summary of all your selections from the previous steps.
  2. Review the details listed. If something needs to be corrected, use the Back or Cancel buttons.
  3. Scroll down to the SMS consent section. When you select the SMS mobile number field, this section automatically appears in the import wizard.
  4. Select the appropriate consent boxes based on the list that you’re importing. If the contacts on the list have not given prior, express consent to receive SMS messages from you, do not check the boxes.
  5. Click Import.

Additional resources