Our customers use our cloud communications platform to send out billions of SMS messages every year. In keeping them happy and productive, we’ve learned a few things about best practices for sending SMS notifications. Whether you’re one of our customers or you haven’t tried Plivo yet (what are you waiting for?) here are some tips that can help your business use messaging more effectively.

Do you need convincing that SMS is the best communications channel for sending notifications to customers? According to Techjury, SMS messages have a 98% open rate, and 60% of people read text messages within 5 minutes after receiving them. And since almost 4 billion people worldwide own smartphones, you can send SMS messages to just about anyone — and do it cost-effectively. Alternatives like email, postal mail, and voice calling cost more and lack the reach, ease of use, and immediacy of SMS.

Maybe you already use SMS for some use cases — reminders or delivery alerts, maybe. You can leverage your investment in SMS messaging by doing more with it: offering event notifications or collecting customer feedback, for instance.

We’ve written a guide that talks about more possible use cases, and offers best practices for using SMS. You should download it to get all the details, but to stimulate your imagination, here’s a preview of what you’ll find.

Get permission

First, before you start sending messages willy-nilly, make sure you have permission to contact recipients. Thanks to privacy regulations such as the GDPR and CCPA, businesses need consumers to opt into being contacted. Organizations that fail to get permission may be subject to heavy fines.

Timing

Think about the optimal time to send your messages. Aim for times when your customers are likely to read them and take advantage of what you have to say. For example, if you’re a restaurant offering a lunchtime discount, think about scheduling your texts for the midmorning, so that your offers will be on your customers’ minds when they’re making lunch plans.

Personalization

Personalizing your messages lets you build deeper relationships with customers and treat them as unique individuals. Use your subscribers’ names, and keep the customer benefit at the front and center of the message.

Measure your results

Don’t just send out messages and hope for the best. You should have a plan to track and measure your efforts in place before you send your first message. Consider not only open and response rates, but also things like list growth rate, acquisition cost per recipient, and return on investment.

Infrastructure

Use a single platform to manage all your communication channels. A single platform takes less training, speeds up your time to market, and takes fewer resources and less time to maintain.

Prioritize deliverability

To be effective, SMS messaging should be timely — received as quickly as they’re sent —  and reliable — there’s no point in sending out messages that people can’t receive. But if your SMS messages can’t make it through, have a backup plan. Voice messaging offers an alternative to SMS for when your message absolutely, positively has to be there right away.

Get the guide

We go into more depth on these and other points in our best practices guide. Download it for free, or sign up for a free Plivo trial account and see how we let businesses take advantage of SMS messaging.

SMS messages offer a way to directly send customers delivery notifications, account alerts, and two-factor authentication texts, as well as marketing and other customer service messages.

However, it can be surprisingly complicated to send SMS messages at scale. Rules, regulations, and restrictions vary by country and carrier. It’s important to choose an SMS API provider that can provide the features, carrier networks, and infrastructure you need to get your messages delivered consistently and correctly.

As a sender, there’s a lot you can do to maximize success. We’ve put together this SMS best practices guide so you can focus on content that captures your recipients’ attention and worry less about the risk of delivery failure. Use this guide to help you craft, format, and send great messages.

SMS best practices FAQ

What are the different types of SMS content?

The industry defines three main types of SMS content: person-to-person (P2P), application-to-person (A2P), and promotional.

• P2P is a back-and-forth conversation between people that takes place via text. Examples include texting back and forth with a food delivery person, or taking an SMS survey where each question is followed by an answer.
• A2P is informational messaging that occurs when a consumer gives their phone number to a business and asks to be contacted in the future. Examples include appointment reminders, welcome texts, and alerts sent by a business to fulfill a consumer’s request. The consumer must agree to receive texts when they give the business their mobile number. A2P messages fall into two subcategories.
• Transactional — Non-marketing messages that provide important information to customers, such as a welcome message, an order confirmation, or a shipping update.
• Promotional — Messages sent that contain a sales or marketing promotion. Any call to action (such as a coupon code to an informational text) may place the message in the promotional category.

What are the different SMS source number types?

In the United States and Canada, three SMS number types are available:

• Long code with A2P support. This is a standard, local 10-digit number
• Toll-free numbers
• Short codes, five- or six-digit numbers specifically for SMS and MMS messages to mobile phones

What are the different types of opt-in consent?

As a sender, you must obtain consumer consent (opt-in) for each message, depending on the type of content you send to the consumer. There are three types of consent with which you should be familiar:

• Implied consent — If the consumer initiates the text message exchange and the business only responds to each consumer with relevant information, then no verbal or written permission is required.
• Express consent — The consumer gives permission for a business to contact them before the business sends a text message. Consumers can give permission over text, on a form or website, or verbally. Written permission also works.
• Keyword consent — Keyword consent requires the consumer to signal their consent to receive text messages by having them text a specific keyword to a number. For example: Text START to 12345 to subscribe to alerts.

Before you send a message, determine which content type, number type, and opt-in requirements suit your communication. This quick reference table can help you determine what kind of message you have, what number to use, and how to get opt-in consent.

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How do I craft good message content?

Here are some tips for making your content more valuable to recipients and less likely to be flagged as spam.

• Use one recognizable number — Each campaign should use one primary phone number, ideally for both text messages and voice calls.
• Use one recognizable domain name — Each campaign should be associated with a single web domain. Although a full domain is preferred, you can use a URL shortener to deliver custom links.
• Use natural language — Use natural language in your messages, and don’t use nonstandard spellings, such as “H! h0w ar3 you do1ng?”
• Set expectations on frequency — If you plan to send five texts a month, then disclosing “five messages a month” on the first interaction leads to a positive user experience.

What SMS message content should I avoid?

Carriers continuously monitor messages traveling through their networks. Your content may be subject to review, so knowing what types of content to avoid will keep your messages from being flagged. Here are the content types to avoid:

• Promotional messages on toll-free numbers
• Phishing messages that appear to come from reputable companies but in fact trick consumers into revealing personal information
• Fraud or scam messages that involve wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain
• Deceptive marketing messages that do not meet the standard held by the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Truth In Advertising rules
• S.H.A.F.T. (sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco) content
• Sensitive content such as
• Betting-related content — game bet, lucky draw, etc.
• Debt restructuring/refinancing offers
• Debt relief offers
• Payday loan offers
• Home loan offers
• Education loan offers
• Insurance quotes (unsolicited)
• Earn money from home job offers

What triggers a carrier review?

In addition to reviewing messages for disallowed content, carriers also monitor for disallowed sending practices. Avoid these disallowed sending practices, which can trigger a review and result in the suspension of sending rights and more.

• Ignoring opt-out requests or other forms of opt-out avoidance (for instance, sending texts from a new phone number from the same business)
• High opt-out rates. A daily opt-out rate (total number of unique consumer phone numbers divided by the unique opt-outs that were sent messages within a 24-hour period) greater than 5% is flagged for monitoring. An opt-out rate of 10% or higher may result in immediate suspension of services.
• Snowshoe sending (applies to toll-free numbers only) or spreading messages across many source phone numbers, specifically to dilute reputation metrics and evade filters
• Using multiple numbers for similar content without first informing the carrier of the phone numbers ahead of time to have them excluded from monitoring
• URL cycling or the utilization of multiple destination URLs on the same message content for the specific purpose of diluting reputation metrics and evading filters

SMS best practices: key takeaways

• Match your content with an approved SMS number type.
• Each SMS number type has different requirements for user opt-in consent.
• Consumers can revoke consent at any time and in any way. Consumer opt-out requests must be honored, whether they are made by phone call, email, or text.
• Carriers continuously monitor messages traversing their networks. They don’t preapprove or whitelist messaging content, but they may review any message content as part of an account review.
• Use of disallowed content can trigger an account review which may result in suspension of sending rights, restriction of high-throughput access, the suspension of provisioning rights for new phone numbers, and/or suspension of all network services.

There are a lot of nuances to sending great SMS messages. This post is just a quick overview of the basics. Download our SMS Best Practices Guide: A How-to Guide to Maximize Success for the US and Canada for more insights and tips.

Watch this short video to learn more.

Most companies don’t change their SMS phone numbers, but sometimes changes are forced on them. Fortunately, there are a number of things organizations can do to decrease subscriber churn when changing SMS phone numbers.

Businesses may change their SMS phone numbers for various reasons:

• Combining voice and SMS on the same toll-free phone number. All voice toll-free phone numbers in the US can be enabled with SMS capabilities. Companies can now send and receive SMS text messages on the same numbers they use for voice calling. This means that businesses can opt to combine their subscribers from dedicated SMS virtual phone numbers to a common toll-free phone number. This can provide better branding and lets them more efficiently manage their customer base.
• Switching from a shared to a dedicated short code. Shared short codes are unreliable by nature. When multiple companies share the same short code, and one company violates short code regulations, the carrier can block the entire short code, so all users of that short code suffer the consequences and experience service disruptions. An increasing number of companies are paying a bit more to switch to dedicated short codes for more reliability and control.
• Switching from a random to a vanity short code or phone number. Having a memorable phone number can be a great advantage. Even though short codes, with five or six digits, are already shorter than long codes or toll-free numbers, they still need to stand out. One strategy is to switch to a short code whose numbers spell out the company name (827438 for TARGET, for example). Another is to use an easily recognizable number, such as 888222, which Chipotle uses.
• Switching service providers. Most SMS phone numbers can be ported from one service provider to another, but country and carrier-specific regulations may limit porting, so in some cases businesses must migrate to a new phone number when switching to another provider.

Regardless of which type of phone number you’re migrating to, regulations specify that all SMS subscribers must first opt in to all SMS campaigns. You’re not legally allowed to start sending text messages from a new phone number to your existing customers even if it’s part of the same campaign that your subscribers have opted in to in the past. If you violate any consumer protection laws, then your phone number could be blocked and your company may even be sued by consumers for the violation.

Abrupt changes in your SMS campaign phone numbers can wreak havoc on customer engagement from your subscriber base, especially in a heavily regulated telecom market like the one in the United States. Changing phone numbers can cause subscribers to drop off.

When switching phone numbers, always treat the new phone number as a brand new campaign that each user has to subscribe to again. Here are several tacks you can take to ensure that as you move to a new SMS phone number, your subscribers migrate as well. Not only is retaining your subscriber base important for future marketing campaigns, but reducing churn positively impacts company revenue and the bottom line.

How to retain subscribers while migrating phone numbers

First, a caveat: Not all of your subscribers will opt in for your new campaigns. The techniques we describe here can help migrate a healthy percentage of subscribers to a new campaign phone number, but some will choose to opt out.

Consider toll-free SMS (available in the US)

Toll-free SMS messaging is growing in popularity in the United States. Studies have shown that toll-free campaigns experience better response rates and customer engagement than long codes and short codes, because interactions with toll-free numbers are always free to end users.

Toll-free SMS can also be more affordable for businesses. Toll-free numbers cost only a few dollars and are charged for on a monthly basis, while short codes often cost more than $500 per month and require three months’ payment up front.

Choose a vanity phone number

Whether it’s a toll-free or a short code phone number, having a recognizable, memorable phone number helps you gain and retain subscribers. You can ask your SMS provider to procure a vanity toll-free number with specific digits, and if it’s available, you can typically purchase it for the same price as a regular toll-free phone number and have it enabled within 48 hours.

Many companies have seen higher SMS response and retention rates with vanity short codes as compared to random short codes, especially in competitive markets. Rental fees for vanity short codes, however, are often significantly more than fees for random short codes. You can search for available vanity short codes on the Common Short Code Administration (CSCA) website.

Notify your customers early via web form opt-in

Notify your customers of the transition as early as possible — but remember, a new phone number can receive SMS opt-ins only after it’s activated.

The turnaround time for phone number activation depends on the type of phone number. Long code and toll-free SMS phone numbers can be provisioned quickly. Long code phone numbers can be provisioned instantly if your vendor has an inventory of phone numbers and provides access via an online user interface or API. Toll-free SMS phone numbers in the US may require up to 48 hours for provisioning because a short application is required for carriers to enable toll-free numbers for SMS. By contrast, short code phone numbers can take at least three months to provision because of a complex carrier application process.

Since you can’t receive new opt-ins via SMS until your phone number is active, start using other opt-in mechanisms, including web forms and in-person signups. The best mechanism for opt-in is an online form, because it lets you seamlessly collect new subscriber information and manage your database for your new campaigns. If you’re getting opt-ins in person, use a digitized form to collect opt-ins to minimize human error and eliminate extra time for data entry. You can lead your subscribers to online opt-in forms via:

• Online advertisements (e.g., Facebook, Google, Twitter, Instagram)
• Email newsletters
• Direct mail invitations
• Offline advertisements (newspapers, banners, posters)

Give incentives for subscribing

Subscriber migration is hard, and even though some users will opt in to a new phone number without any incentives, motivating subscribers with a promotion can go a long way. For example, send your current subscribers a text message with a link to a 20% discount; upon clicking on the link, they can fill out a form to opt in to a new campaign phone number.

Here are a few campaign ideas that can create incentives, add convenience, and make it fun for your subscribers to opt in to a new SMS phone number:

• Special weekly offers
• Flash sales
• Localized offers in their area
• Surprise offers on special days, such as birthdays or Christmas
• Direct discounts on purchases
• Exclusive deals that only this new campaign will get them
• Notifications for order confirmation, deliveries, and inventory availability

Create urgency about switching phone numbers

If subscriber migration is going slowly, give your subscribers a sense of urgency that if they don’t opt in for the new phone number, they’ll no longer receive promotions. Just remember that if you mention a deprecation date to your current subscribers, you should adhere to that date.

Don’t overlap your communication

As your subscribers migrate from an old phone number to a new one, be sure to unsubscribe them from the old campaign. That way, you can avoid any overlap in communication and maintain clean, reliable subscriber data. Eliminating duplicate messages also improves your user experience and helps keep costs down.

Additional takeaways

Before you implement any of these suggestions or run any new campaigns, seek to understand your subscribers. Find out what incentivizes them the most and the best times to send them information. Here are some additional thoughts on running successful and engaging migration campaigns.

Focus on customer engagement. Regardless of the purpose of your campaign, always plan for long-term customer engagement and offer high-quality content and promotions that align with your product and customer incentives.

Create meaningful content. Aligned your content with your customer engagement strategies and company goals. For example, simple discounts are overdone and don’t offer any engagement mechanisms. However, if you put a discount at the end of an engaging SMS survey or riddle, then the engagement will likely be more memorable and encourage customer loyalty.

Optimize your campaign delivery times. CTIA (Cellular Telecommunication Industries Association) guidelines suggest that all marketing campaigns and promotional messages should be sent between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time. This not only ensures that your campaigns stay compliant, it also ensures that your messages are read in a timely fashion. Optimal times during the week are typically during the morning commute (between 8:00 and 10:00) and lunch times (between 11:30 and 1:30). During these times, subscribers are typically more receptive to promotional messaging.

Limit SMS frequency for better user experience. To maintain good customer experience, send meaningful messages no more than once a week. Plan your campaigns so that your messages are concise and to the point.

Set a realistic migration rate. Since it’s not realistic to migrate every customer to your new campaign, it’s important to set realistic expectations before the migration begins to ensure that there will be a reasonable completion date and that the migration won’t drag on unnecessarily. Acceptable migration rates can vary across industry and campaigns.

As an example, suppose you’re trying to migrate 10,000 subscribers and have set the acceptable migration rate at 80%. That means that you can deprecate the old phone number when 8,000 subscribers opt in to your new campaign. It also means that you’ve accepted that you’re willing to lose 2,000 subscribers during the migration.

If you’re thinking about migrating phone numbers, have a chat with our customer success team. We can help answer your questions.