When managing SMS marketing campaigns, it’s crucial to understand the concept of SMS segments, their impact on billing, and strategies to optimize your messages for better efficiency and compliance.
What Are SMS Segments?
SMS messages are not always as straightforward as they appear. While recipients may perceive a message as a single text, the way messages are billed depends on their character count and encoding.
- Character Limits: SMS messages are typically limited to 160 characters using standard encoding. If special characters, such as emojis, are included, the message switches to the Universal Character Set (UCS-2) encoding which reduces the limit to 70 characters.
- Segments and Costs: Exceeding these character limits causes a message to split into multiple segments. For instance, a 170-character message becomes two segments, incurring double the cost. Similarly, a message with UCS2 encoding and 137 characters spans two segments.
Segments are reassembled by the recipient’s device, creating the illusion of a single message, but each segment contributes to your billing. Thus, it’s essential to manage your character count carefully to control costs.
Steps to Avoid Additional Segments
To optimize your SMS campaigns and minimize segment costs, follow these actionable tips:
- Monitor Character Counts:
- Keep messages under 160 characters for standard SMS.
- For messages with an emoji, ensure it stays under 70 characters.
- Edit your message if a warning indicates you’ve exceeded these limits.
- Be Cautious with Emojis:
- Emojis change the encoding to UCS2, drastically reducing character capacity.
- Each emoji takes two UCS2 characters. For example, one emoji limits plain text to 68 characters.
- Manage Merge Codes:
- Ensure that merged content doesn’t cause character limits to exceed during personalization.
- Test your messages with maximum data lengths to avoid unexpected additional segments.
- Shorten URLs:
- Use Fishbowl’s URL-shortening feature to conserve characters and track click-through rates. Your click-through rates are only tracked through the Fishbowl shortener, so shorten every URL even if the character message count doesn’t necessitate.
- Test Before Sending:
- Simulate campaigns to check for potential overages in character limits or encoding changes. As mentioned, test with the longest possible scenario. Even though it may show on your phone as one seamless message doesn’t mean it’s not multiple segments, check that message for the total number of characters.
Billing Insights
Invoices are generated based on the number of SMS segments sent. For example:
- A 161-character message becomes two segments: one with 153 characters, the other with 8 characters.
- UCS2-encoded messages exceeding 70 characters also result in multiple segments.
To avoid surprises, regularly audit your campaign messages and monitor encoding and character count.
Compliance: Staying on the Right Side of Regulations
Fishbowl offers support for product-related questions and best practices but does not provide legal advice. It is the responsibility of each brand to ensure full compliance with TCPA, CTIA, and carrier-specific guidelines.
Adhering to compliance regulations is non-negotiable for SMS campaigns. Here’s what you need to know:
Compliance with SMS regulations is essential for running successful campaigns. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) governs telephone solicitations and messaging, requiring brands to adhere strictly to its provisions. To stay compliant, brands should consult their legal counsel and ensure all messaging practices meet these guidelines. Beyond TCPA, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) establishes stricter policies that align with ethical and effective messaging standards. Brands must align with both TCPA and CTIA regulations and consult legal experts for specific advice.
To maintain compliance, brands must secure express written consent for messaging. Fishbowl, for instance, mandates a double opt-in process to ensure recipients’ explicit permission. Clear communication about message frequency, topics, and content expectations is critical. Additionally, brands should provide recipients with opt-out options—such as replying STOP to a shortcode—and include links to terms and conditions and privacy policies in all communications.
Final Thoughts
Effective SMS marketing requires careful planning and attention to detail. By understanding SMS segments, optimizing your messages, and adhering to compliance guidelines, you can maximize the impact of your campaigns while keeping costs and risks under control. Always consult legal professionals for advice specific to your SMS program.