SMS marketing best practices

Use SMS marketing from Constant Contact to reach your contacts in a more personal way and convert abandoned carts into sales, while staying compliant

Important: Our SMS marketing tools are only available to US customers (excluding Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) with a valid 9-digit Tax ID Number (TIN), which includes a Social Security Number (SSN) for sole proprietors, or an Employer ID Number (EIN) for businesses assigned by the IRS. (Contacts with phone numbers from Puerto Rico are able to join your list and receive text messages.) Learn more.

Getting started with SMS marketing? Here's how to make your SMS messages stand out from the crowd, meet compliance standards, and effectively promote your organization:

• Make your brand apparent
• Stay compliant
• Set up content for success
• Promote responsibly

Be a better marketer: Want to learn more about SMS marketing? Check out SMS Text Message Marketing Best Practices to Build Relationships and Increase Sales!

Make your brand apparent

When filling out the "Sender information" section during the SMS registration process, we automatically pull in your "Organization name" from the "Organization details" section in My Account as the default sender name. This name shows up in your outgoing text messages, and can only be changed before completing the registration.

Contacts who opt in to receive SMS messages are much more likely to read them if they immediately recognize who sent them! Make sure your Sender name is closely tied with the face of the organization that your contacts are used to seeing so there's no confusion when they receive your text messages.  For example, use the same name that they see on your website or on the sign over your door.

Please note that:

• Once you have completed SMS registration, you won't be able to edit your sender name.
• Emojis and special characters are not supported in a Sender name.
• Your Sender name contributes to your message’s character count.

Stay compliant

To send SMS messages to your contacts, they must opt into SMS marketing. Phone numbers you have on file for your existing contacts are not automatically considered opted in. Once your SMS registration is approved, we automatically create an SMS-enabled Sign-up Landing Page for you so that you can begin collecting new SMS contacts and ask your existing contacts for their permission to send SMS messages to them.

S.H.A.F.T. and prohibited SMS content in the US & Canada

For those in the US and Canada, prohibited content topics follow more strict regulations, guidelines, and industry standards. Before drafting your content check out the prohibited content section in our article: About Constant Contact’s SMS tool.

Please see the CTIA's Short Code Monitoring Handbook for more information about S.H.A.F.T. and prohibited content.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the US

For those in the US, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires businesses to get prior consent in order to send text messages to customers for marketing purposes. Collecting SMS contacts through an SMS-enabled Sign-up Landing Page, and inviting your existing contacts to opt-into SMS through our specially designed email template are the best ways to ensure that all your SMS contacts provide express/explicit permission to receive SMS messages from you.

The TCPA also prevents marketing messages from being sent during quiet hours. Quiet hours for SMS marketing messages are between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., and we prevent you from sending or scheduling SMS messages within this timeframe.

Please see Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Part I, § 227 of the U.S. Code for more information about the TCPA.

Set up content for success

Content

Keep your content relevant and timely. Most recipients open SMS messages almost immediately, so your message should be timely, accurate, and relevant, and make sense for your particular campaign and organization.

Message length

Each SMS message has a 1950 character limit, and is broken down into multiple text messages (or segments) that each have a 160-character limit, or a 70-character limit when an emoji is added. The individual text messages are recombined to appear as a single text message on your contacts' devices. 

If possible, it's best to keep your messages short and concise as a 160 character message, since:

• The individual text messages that make up your SMS message each count toward your monthly message limit for your billing.
• Your contacts are more likely to engage with a message when it is to-the-point and has meaningful information.
• Mobile carriers have spam-blocking measures and sometimes flag multiple messages sent at once, even if they are legitimate. In situations where messages longer than one segment are marked as spam, they won't be delivered, which affects your ability to stay in touch with your contacts via SMS.

Links

When creating SMS messages, being aware of the character limit can lower your monthly message count. To maximize your space within the character limit, links are automatically shortened. To give you the most accurate statistics, such as click-through rates and conversions, each SMS message is limited to one link, even if it is broken into multiple segments. Please note that shortened URLs can result in higher bounce rates.

Clear call-to-action for abandoned cart messages

When using automated customer journeys, messages created for an abandoned cart need a clear call-to-action with the purpose of the message. By default, we have all the text and links you need in our 'abandoned cart' templates. If you decide to edit the template messages, be consistent with the call-to-action and not detract from its purpose.

For more information, please see our guidelines for using SMS marketing for abandoned cart text message restrictions.

Promote responsibly

When you're upfront about how you use SMS in your marketing, it makes it easier for people to opt-in and ensures that the people who do opt-in really want to be part of your SMS list.

• Set clear expectations - Explain how often your contacts can expect to hear from you through SMS messages, and the situations where you would use them over other communications, like email and social media posts.
• Include disclaimers - Your promotional materials should include links to your terms and conditions and privacy policy, your contact and support information, text commands, like "Help" or "Stop," and information on when to use them, and the phrase "Msg & Data rates apply."
• Share opt-out  information - It may seem counterintuitive, but letting your new contacts know they're not signing up without a way to revoke their permission can encourage sign-ups.
• Use incentives wisely - Putting the customer first and making them feel valued creates stronger relationships. This doesn't always mean coupons or discounts! You can provide exclusive information, special access, or services that make sense for your organization, too.

Any links we provide from non-Constant Contact sites or information about non-Constant Contact products or services are provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as an endorsement by Constant Contact.

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