Try Before You Buy: SMS Features

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.

• How to Explore SMS Marketing Features 
• How to Upgrade or Purchase the SMS Add-On
• SMS Features

How to Explore SMS Marketing

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.
   
   
    

How to Upgrade or Purchase the SMS Add-On

When you’re ready, easily upgrade or purchase the SMS Add-On to deliver your drafted campaigns. 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 each month. You can adjust your tier at any time.

SMS plans start at just $10/month.

Note: 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.

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. 

Learn more about purchasing SMS marketing by reading our Add the SMS marketing add-on to your Constant Contact email plan article. 

Add SMS marketing to your email plan

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. For sole proprietors who are the only employee, they do not need to enter Employer ID Number (EIN). Contacts with phone numbers from Puerto Rico are able to join your list and receive text messages. Learn more.

To add SMS marketing to your Constant Contact email plan, complete the following steps:

1. Click on the Three dots icon 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 the number of SMS contacts and the number of 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 of the segments 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.
   
   
   
   

SMS Features

The SMS campaign editor

Makes it easy to create new SMS campaigns from your desktop computer or our website on your mobile phone. Draft the content you want to include in your message and add links, personalized fields, and emojis.

Previewing SMS Messages

While drafting your message, you can easily see if your campaign will be sent in one, two, or three separate texts and which parts of your message will be included in the first, second, or third text. You can also see how your emojis, links, and opt-out content will look in your SMS message before you send it. 

SMS AI Generation Tool

Having writer’s block? Constant Contact’s AI Generator tool can help you create your SMS messages quickly. Enter the general idea of your message into the tool – don’t forget to include the most important details, like dates, times, and any restrictions or regulations your customers need to be aware of. Then click “Generate content” to get multiple message options in just seconds. 

Saving SMS Drafts

Drafts of your message are saved as you type, so you never have to worry about losing your progress. When you return to the SMS Campaign Editor, your message will be located on the right side of the page, under Drafts. 

SMS Scheduling in Multi-Channel Flow

Schedule and view your SMS campaigns in your marketing calendar to visualize your end-to-end marketing strategy and get an idea of how SMS messages will fit into your existing marketing plans. Try before you buy is an opportunity to plan your campaigns out before you pull the trigger on the add-on. 

SMS Scheduling in Current Single-Channel Flow

Schedule and view your SMS campaigns in the single campaign flow to see how to select one or more SMS contact lists and visualize how an SMS campaign can be scheduled. 

Learn more about the Campaign Editor and all of the available SMS marketing features by reading our Create and send an SMS marketing message article. 

Questions?