Add the SMS marketing add-on to your Constant Contact email plan

Add SMS marketing as a monthly add-on to your email marketing plan, and change your pricing tier to suit your organization's needs

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), or an Employer ID Number (EIN) for businesses assigned by the IRS. Sole proprietors who are the only employee do not need to enter an Employer ID Number (EIN). Contacts with phone numbers from Puerto Rico are able to join your list and receive text messages. Learn more.

Add SMS marketing to your Constant Contact email plan and reach your customers directly and immediately on their mobile devices through text messages. SMS plans start at just $10/month. If you’re in our Premium plan, SMS is automatically added to your account, and you're able to send up to 500 messages per month for free.

• How billing for SMS marketing works
• Try SMS before you buy it
• Frequently asked SMS billing questions
• Add SMS marketing to your email plan
• Change your SMS marketing pricing tier

After you add SMS marketing to your email account, the next step is to complete the registration process so that you can start sending messages to your SMS contacts. When your registration is complete, you can then add an SMS opt-in field to your Sign-up Landing Page to start collecting new SMS contacts, ask your existing email contacts to opt in to SMS, and import a list of SMS contacts who opted in to SMS through another SMS provider. 

Be a better marketer: Check out our blog to learn how to use SMS and email marketing to boost engagement and watch this recorded webinar to see how you can unlock more sales and engagement with text message marketing!

How billing for SMS marketing works

SMS marketing is a monthly add-on to your email plan, and the pricing is independent of your email plan. (Email plans are based on the number of contacts you have and the desired features available in your account.)

When you first add SMS to your account, you choose your starting pricing tier based on the number of texts you plan to send and the number of contacts who have opted in to receive SMS messages from you. You can adjust your tier at any time.

Your monthly billing takes into account:

• SMS messages sent through SMS campaigns.
• SMS messages sent through automation paths.
• The number of contacts each SMS message is sent to.
• Any automated outgoing messages sent when your SMS contacts opt in, opt out, request help, etc.

Important: The length of each SMS message affects the number of text messages sent. SMS messages have a maximum of 1950 characters and are broken into individual text message segments (around 160 characters each, or 70 characters when using emoji). Each segment counts as an individual text message for billing purposes.

Number of text messages billed = (The number of text message segments X The number of contacts the text message is sent to) + The number of automated outgoing messages sent

• Example I: If you have 1,000 contacts who opted-in to receive text messages and you plan to send 2 text messages of 160 characters or less (1 text message segment) to them a month, you would be sending 2,000 messages total ( 2 text message segments X 1,000 contacts) and would select the tier with 1,001 to 2,500 messages. This also leaves some wiggle room for outgoing messages.
• Example II: If you have 1,000 contacts who opted in to receive text messages and you plan to send 2 text messages of 300 characters or less to them a month, you would be sending 6,000 messages total (6 text message segments X 1,000 contacts) and would select the tier with 5,001 to 10,000 messages. This also leaves some wiggle room for outgoing messages and longer messages than originally planned.

In both examples, you're sending to the same number of contacts, but the length of your text message impacts the number of text message segments that are sent. Longer messages are broken into more segments and count as more text messages.

If you send fewer messages than your chosen tier allows:

• You’re charged for your selected tier even if you send fewer messages. You're able to adjust your tier at any time.
• Unused messages don't carry over to the next billing cycle.

If you send more messages than your chosen tier allows:

• You’re charged for the tier that corresponds with how many messages you sent.
• If you exceed the tier you chose for two consecutive months, you're automatically moved into the higher corresponding tier. You can adjust your tier at any time.

Try the SMS feature before you buy it

Explore and experience the full suite of SMS marketing features – including campaign creation, AI generation, and message preview – no matter what plan you’re on! You can now evaluate the full capabilities of our SMS marketing feature before signing up.

Draft your messages and prepare your campaigns. Then, when you're ready, purchase the SMS add-on to send your SMS campaigns. To access the Campaign Editor and get started with SMS, complete the following steps. 

1. Click Marketing channels > SMS.
   
   
    
2. Click the Try SMS button in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
   
   
    
   If you have the SMS add-on or SMS in your plan but have not yet registered, you can still create, preview, and try out the SMS features! Click Create an SMS.
    
   
    
3. Click the pencil icon to rename your SMS campaign.
   
   
    
4. In the Campaign Editor, begin typing your message, browsing emojis, accessing personalized contact fields, and using the AI Generator. 
   
   
    
5. In the Campaign Name field, give your SMS message a unique name that you can easily recognize in your account later. Your contacts never see this name.
6. Click Save.
   
   
    

Frequently asked SMS billing questions

Can I sign up for an SMS plan on its own?

To purchase the SMS add-on, you must be signed up for a Constant Contact email plan.

How am I charged for the SMS add-on?

The monthly SMS add-on cost is deducted from the payment method you have on file in your account.

If you have a prepayment plan, the cost is deducted from your account balance. Prepay discounts apply to the SMS add-on.

Will I still be charged for the add-on if I don’t register for SMS?

Yes, you will be charged at your selected pricing tier even if you don’t register for SMS in your account or send any text messages.

How can I tell how many messages I’ve sent?

You can see the total number of text messages you’ve sent during the current billing cycle from the Billing and SMS tabs within your account settings.

Also, as you create SMS messages, the message editor shows you:

• The total character length of your SMS message.
• The number of text message segments the message breaks into based on its length.
• The number of recipients based on the list(s) you select to send to.
• The number of text messages to be sent based on the message length and number of contacts in your selected list(s). Learn more.

What if I add SMS to my account in the middle of the month?

If you purchase the SMS add-on in the middle of your billing cycle, the price is prorated.

How can I cancel SMS?

You may remove the SMS add-on from your plan at any time by contacting our Support team. Once removed, your SMS registration will be deactivated, and your SMS number will be forfeited immediately.

Add SMS marketing to your email plan

Save time: To prevent registration delays, make sure you meet all the requirements for using SMS marketing before you add it to your email plan.

1. Click on the three dots next to the account profile name in the lower left-hand corner and select "Account settings" from the drop-down menu.
2. Click the Billing tab.
3. Scroll down to the SMS add-on section and click the Add SMS button.
   
    
    
4. Select your SMS marketing tier based on how many SMS contacts you have and how many messages you plan to send each month. Click "View more options" to see and select larger pricing tiers.

• Your email contacts are not the same as your SMS contacts, though there can be some overlap. SMS contacts must opt in to SMS specifically before you can send SMS messages to them. You can filter your contacts by their SMS status through the Contacts tab to see how many you have. Learn more.
• Depending on the length, your SMS message can be broken into several text message segments. Each segment counts as a single text message for billing purposes. Learn more.
• You're charged the monthly rate for the selected tier even if you send fewer messages during the month. Unused messages do not roll towards the next month.
• If you send more messages than your selected tier, you’re charged for the corresponding tier. If an overage happens in two consecutive months, you're automatically moved into the higher pricing tier going forward.

5. Click the Add SMS button.
   
   
    

Change your SMS marketing pricing tier

As your marketing needs change, you have the flexibility to change your SMS marketing pricing tier to meet those needs at any time. The price for your newly selected tier is reflected in your next billing invoice.

1. Click on the three dots next to the account profile name in the lower left-hand corner and select "Account settings" from the drop-down menu.
2. Click the Billing tab.
3. In the SMS add-on section, click View plans.
   
    
    
4. Select your new tier.
5. Click the Change plan button.
   
   

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