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Workflow SMS/MMS messages

Workflow SMS/MMS messages are SMS/MMS messages sent as a part of a workflow in the Send SMS/MMS event. Note that in order to use an SMS/MMS message in a workflow, you need to create it using the guidelines below — no SMS/MMS messages of any other type may be used in a workflow. 

It is possible to use particular message only once within any of the created workflows. The workflow that is using a particular SMS/MMS message is indicated on the workflow SMS/MMS messages list. Only active messages that have no workflow assigned can be used for Send events.

To create a new workflow SMS/MMS message, follow these steps:

Preparation#

  1. From the left-hand navigation, select Workflows > SMS/MMS Messages.
  2. Unlike for email messages, there is only one type of editor you may compose your message in: the plain editor. It is selected by default. Click Next to proceed.
  3. At the second stage of the wizard, select the Sender from the list of senders defined at the stage of SMS channel configuration.
  4. Optionally, add a custom campaign description.

Composing your message

  1. You may either compose a new message from scratch (click Text editor) or reuse an old message (click Reuse Message)
  2. Within the text editor, enter the content of the message. Please note that you may also use personalization tags and dynamic content in the SMS channel.

    SMS message length #

    The length limit of a simple SMS message is 160 characters (without special characters) or 70 characters (with special characters). SMS messages longer than 160 characters are, in fact, sent as concatenated simple messages and are later reassembled by the recipient’s cell phone. Usually, SMS messages can consist of maximally 6 parts. The relationship between message length and the number of component parts is displayed in the table below:

    PartsWithout special charactersWith special characters
    1 part160 characters70 characters
    2 parts306 characters134 characters
    3 parts459 characters201 characters
    4 parts612 characters268 characters
    5 parts765 characters335 characters
    6 parts918 characters402 characters
  3. When your message is ready, click Update.

Polish, test, and preview#

  1. You should see the content of your message in the content window. At this point, there is a number of additional options which you can explore:

    Google Analytics#

    If you use Google Analytics, you may integrate it with your ExpertSender messages in order to gain access to the insights offered by this tool. It is enough to check Enable Google Analytics and fill in the fields. To learn more about Google Analytics integration, read Use Google Analytics with ExpertSender.

    Send to seed list#

    Seed lists are designed to store either test phone numbers or 3rd party phone numbers. Test phone numbers are usually used by our clients to test creatives (mainly their rendering and Dynamic Content) before the actual message is launched. Using seed lists before sending the message to your real-world subscriber is considered good practice.

    Live preview#

    With the Live preview utility you may verify how your message will be displayed for a specific phone number. Live preview is particularly useful if you want to test your Dynamic Content. For example, you may check if a subscriber will receive a message with his or her name displayed properly.

  2. If you are not satisfied with the result, continue editing your message. Otherwise, click Next.

Recipients

  1. Unlike for a SMS newsletter, you don’t choose a list of recipients for a workflow SMS/MMS message. Instead, the recipients of workflow messages are subscribers who complete a transaction or cause an event which is associated with the message. However, if there are subscribers who shouldn’t receive the workflow message even though they fulfill the criteria (e.g. make a purchase), you may create a suppression list with their data. At the Recipients stage of the message wizard, you may select the appropriate suppression list.
  2. Click Next to proceed.

Choose delivery settings#

  1. At this step, you may add some tags to your message, such as «discount» or «special offer». Later on, you may use a tag to find a specific message more easily, or to create a segment of subscribers who, for example, have already received a «special offer» email.

You’re almost there!#

  1. Carefully analyze the summary. If you would like to make any changes to the message content or delivery settings, feel free to return to any of the previous steps.
  2. If you are ready, click Finish. You may now use your SMS/MMS message in a workflow.

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