Bulk SMS: get started and use it well

Bulk SMS sends marketing messages, alerts and one-time passwords from the web panel, by API, or over SMPP.

What to prepare

• Your sender ID: your brand name or number. Many countries need it registered first.
• Your use: marketing, alerts or one-time passwords.
• The countries you send to.
• Your connection: web, API or SMPP. For API and SMPP, tell us the IP addresses you send from.

Writing messages that work

• Keep it short. One SMS is 160 characters, or about 70 with non-Latin text or emoji. Longer messages are charged as several parts.
• Say who you are in the first words.
• Put the action and link at the end.
• Include an opt-out on marketing messages, for example "Reply STOP".
• Avoid spam-like wording, capital letters and many exclamation marks.

Best practice

• Send only to people who agreed.
• Clean your lists. Remove bad numbers and opt-outs often.
• Use full international format, for example +14155550100.
• Send at sensible hours in the recipient's time zone.
• Separate one-time passwords from marketing, because they need the fastest route.
• Test on a few numbers in each country first.

Advanced options

Ask us about these:

• Delivery receipts sent to your own system.
• Two-way SMS: receive replies.
• Per-country sender IDs.
• Higher sending speed on request.
• SMS from campaigns, so leads get a message automatically.

Delivery status

Common questions

Messages are not arriving. Check the number format, then the sender ID rules of that country, and your balance.

One message was charged as two. It was over the single-SMS length, or used a special character.

See your usage in the customer portal.