SMS End-user Guide

You must fill in the following mandatory fields:

• Name – This will be the name of your campaign.
• From name – This is the sender ID. This can be:
  • a word, such as your company or brand. This is supported by GSM 7 only and must be between 3 and 7 alphanumeric characters long; no special characters or spaces are allowed (as these are not supported by all operators).
  • a valid mobile number, if you wish to be able to receive replies. This can be up to 15 digits long.

Note: In case you need an inbound number for reply SMS messages, please contact Emarsys Support.

• Message – This is the standard SMS text content. The character count shown above the text box is an approximation, as the final total depends on the encryption standard used to send the SMS.
  • GSM 7 allows for a maximum of 160 characters.
  • Other encodings (e.g. for Chinese characters) allow for a maximum of 70 characters.

If you exceed the maximum, the SMS will be sent in multiple parts and you will be charged accordingly.

These variables are estimated as seven characters when they are added but will of course affect the final character count according to the length of the value of the field in question, so bear this in mind when using them. If you are concerned that using variables will generate too many multi-part messages, you can always check the campaign summary before launch.

After selecting your field for personalization, you can also define how it is capitalized, and the alternative text to be used if no value exists for a contact in the given field.

Emarsys uses a short URL to add the unsubscribe link, and reduces the character count by 22. In addition to adding the unsubscribe link to the SMS, you can define the landing page which is displayed after the contact clicks the link.

Your message will be displayed in the live preview pane on the right as you create it. Click the Opt-out button in the preview to see how the landing page will display.

To send a test message, simply enter the destination number in the field provided. This must be a full international number but without the leading 00 or +. To send test messages to more than one number, separate the numbers using a semi-colon (;). Please note the following if you send a test SMS:

• This does not reference the Emarsys database, therefore personalization will not work.
• Unsubscribe links will open the landing page that you have defined, but will not function as an unsubscribe.
• Test messages are billed at the normal rate and are also included in the Dashboard Usage report screen.

On the bottom of the page, if you click Save & exit, the message will be saved and displayed under the Create tab on the SMS page.

Note: if you leave the page without saving, your SMS content will be lost.

This section is one of the biggest advantages of Emarsys SMS. Not only can you calculate the exact cost of your campaign before you launch, but you can also get an instant overview of the launch list in terms of how many contacts are actually eligible to receive text messages.

Important note: If the total campaign cost exceeds your current balance, Emarsys will not launch the campaign, giving you the time to top up the balance and ensuring that no messages are sent that cannot be delivered.

Although we always insist on securing an opt-in for marketing messages, you may need to send some transactional messages (such as purchase confirmation or sending security/voucher codes) to contacts who have opted out of normal SMS campaigns.

You can therefore request from Emarsys Support to have the Ignore opt-in feature enabled. This feature ignores the opt-in setting and ensures that the message reaches the contact. To avoid accidental use in batch campaigns, this is only available for use in Automation Center programs.