Learn how to create and send SMS to a specific target in your database.
To create and send an SMS
To create new SMS:
- Enter the Journey lab area, click Create and choose Communication
- Select the desired journey and click Create
- Name your communication, choose the SMS channel, and click Create Communication
Configure an SMS
Assign the sender alias to your message.
If you have already configured it in the journey setup, you will find the field populated (see also how to configure an SMS Alias).
SMS message encoding
Generally, the standard GSM encoding allows to handlerei most frequently used characters. It therefore includes the Italian alphabet.
Are you preparing a message intended for an international audience ? If so, define the encoding to be used.
According to it, you will have a different set of characters, the available number of which will change contextually.
- The GSM 03.38 encoding provides a maximum of 160 characters.
- The Unicode UCS-2 encoding provides a maximum of 70 characters, but supports a greater range.
Add a placeholder to the message
Customize the message content by a placeholder with the contact name, another field, or service data (such as a PIN code or coupon). To do this:
- place the cursor in the Text area of the message at the desired location;
- click on the placeholder icon and select the desired field (for example, the name field); in case the corresponding database field is empty, enter a default value.
- click on Save;
Below the text area is the number of characters still available. If a red writing appears you have exceeded the limit provided. In this case you can:
- shorten the message;
- enable sending long messages using the appropriate option.
In the latter case, each part of the message will be scaled from the remaining package as a single SMS.
N.B.: When entering a text field, if a maximum character limit was not indicated during creation, by default the field can contain 255 characters. It therefore definitely exceeds the limit for SMS testing. Average the length of the field, assuming a name can be 20 characters long maximum, and add it to the characters in the message. In my case, the message is 124 characters long, add the 20 characters of the name, and the result is less than 160.
Insert a link in the text message
You can insert a tracked link into the text, with the possibility of creating shortlinks.
To do this, you must first:
- have a domain configured;
- enable the Enable link tracking option from the journey setups.
To insert the tracked link:
- stand at the desired location and enter the URL complete with protocol (e.g., https://www.magnews.it) and click Save;
- in the preview you will see the text of the message, complete with the preview of the page you want to link to;
- don't see the preview? Check that the Enable link tracking option is checked.
You can omit the link protocol in case the message text is too long, but beware: some mobile devices are not compatible with this option. In this case, the link generated without protocol may not be clickable.
Sending SMS
Now that you have finished creating your SMS, you can send it to the desired target audience.
- Go to the homepage of your message.
- Click on Add Recipients, select and save your target.
- Click Check to check your SMS credit.
- Click Send, check the settings and click Continue.
- Select the sending method and click Continue again .
- Confirm sending.