Campaign Manager is integrated with bitly.com to shorten and track link clicks in the platform. You can shorten any URL link used in your text messages in order to limit the number of characters you use.

From within Campaign Manager, navigate to Tools ->Short Links from the panel on the left. In the top right, click on the Actions drop-down list and select Add Short Link URL. Give your short URL a descriptive name so that you can identify which campaign it belongs to and enter the full URL (that will be used to generate the new short URL). Click Save.

To send a campaign that includes your short URL, you can do it by selecting the Send button (envelope icon) in the row of the short URL you want to use. You can also copy the link from the page and paste it into the desired campaign.

The number of clicks that each short URL receives throughout your campaign will automatically be updated in the Clicks column next to the short URL. You can use this to measure campaign success or A/B test your SMS messages. Learn more about how to calculate the click-through rates for your SMS campaigns here.

Message templates can be created to save common or often-used SMS messages so that you won’t need to re-enter the same message repeatedly.

Select Campaign -> Campaign Template in the left-hand navigation menu. Select the Add Campaign Template option from the Actions drop-down list. Name your template in the Template text entry box and enter your message in the Message text entry box before clicking Save.

You can edit or delete your template message by selecting the Edit button in the row of the message template you want to edit.

To update your time zone, navigate to the Preferences tab in the Campaign Manager tool. Select the relevant time zone from the drop-down menu and click Save at the bottom of the page.

If a message contains one or more non-GSM characters, the entire message is automatically converted to Unicode to deliver the message successfully. One message part equals 160 GSM characters or 70 Unicode characters, which means that using non-GSM characters in your messages could result in additional and inflated costs per message.

To check whether your messages contain non-GSM characters, navigate to Tools -> Non-GSM Character Checker and enter the text you want to send. Any non-GSM characters will be highlighted in red. Remove non-GSM characters to ensure that you only pay for one message part.

Here are some key metrics that you can use to measure and optimize the success of your outbound SMS campaigns:

• SMS delivery rate per message: Select Logs in the left-hand menu to view all sent messages.  You can also view the delivery rate for individual messages here.

• Click-through rate: If you used a shortened URL in your SMS, you can see the number of clicks received on that link by navigating to Tools -> Short links. Your click-through rate (CTR) is calculated by taking the number of clicks or messages delivered multiplied by 100. If the objective of your campaign was to drive your subscribers to a web page, the CTR indicates how successful the content of your message was in achieving that objective.

You can personalize your SMS messages with the name of the subscriber when you set up an outbound SMS campaign.

Navigate to the Campaign tab. In the Message text area, add [name] in your message content as the merge field. The name of your subscriber will automatically be pulled into the message if the name is available in your contacts list.

You can add and import your contacts list via a CSV file upload.

Contacts need to be assigned to a specific group when uploaded, so make sure that you know which group this list needs to be added to or create a new group before uploading your list.

If you already have a list of permission-based contacts and you'd like to upload them in bulk, you can do this using the bulk import feature:

• Navigate to Contacts ->Import Contacts and click the Choose File button to upload your contact list. 

• Select the file you want to upload and select Open.

  • Your files must be in CSV format (the file should be saved in comma-separated format) with the customer's name in the first column and their phone number in the second.

  • You can also add their birthdate and email address as third and fourth columns. Include a header row to ensure that your first contact is not seen as a header.

NOTE:

The phone numbers should not include spaces, dashes, or parentheses. Country codes must be included in the number but no leading zeros are required. E.g.:

• US Example: 12025248725

• UK Example: 447481340516

The birth date should be in the format YYYY-MM-DD

If the file you're importing does not contain customer names and only numbers, leave the first column in your CSV file empty and ensure that your numbers are in the second. It is, however, recommended that you upload your list containing the names of your customers from the beginning. This will allow you to easily personalize your messages which will result in better customer engagement.

Next, select the required group name from the Group Name list. This will import all contacts in the CSV file into this group. Choose the header names you want to import and click Next. Your contacts list will be uploaded and displayed on the Contacts page.

You should only use the bulk import feature if the contacts on your list have already given permission for you to send them marketing messages. Never use purchased or third-party lists.

Please ensure that you read our terms and conditions and that you comply with the regulations and best practices of the country where you are sending messages to.

Note: If you are experiencing issues uploading a large CSV file containing your contact, try breaking it up into smaller batches.

Note that to receive replies to your message, you need to have purchased a two-way number (short code or long number).

To view all your received messages, navigate to Logs from the left panel. In the Actions drop-down, select SMS Inbox.

From here, you can read and respond to individual SMS messages. You can export the log of all messages as an Excel spreadsheet by clicking on the Export button at the top right of the logs table.

Select Logs in the left-hand navigation menu to view the logs for your inbound and outbound messages.

SMS Outbox

All messages sent to contacts can be viewed in the SMS Outbox. Navigate to Logs and select SMS Outbox from the Actions drop-down list.

SMS Inbox

All messages received can be viewed in the SMS Inbox. Navigate to Logs and select SMS Inbox from the Actions drop-down list.

There is no charge for using the application. You only pay for the SMS messages you send.

Note:

• The maximum length of one SMS is 160 characters if you use GSM characters only.

• If you use special characters in your SMS message, Unicode is used automatically. This reduces the number of characters per SMS to 70.

Also see:

• SMS Pricing Estimator

• What character sets do you support?

• Does Clickatell support Unicode?

• What is the maximum length of an SMS?

• How do I send concatenated messages as one SMS?

• How do I make sure my message does not contain non-GSM characters?

For SMS campaigns, opt-out text may be mandatory for each outbound SMS as per local legislation. The text (e.g., "Reply STOP to end") can be included in the message footer field. This text forms part of your message character limit.

The Campaign Dashboard contains the steps required for you to start sending your first campaign:

• Step 1: Gives you two options on how to add your contacts - you can either upload a contact list or add a single contact

• Step 2: Enables two-way messaging by giving you an option to purchase a long number or short code (country-specific)

• Step 3: Tops up your balance by allowing you to add your desired amount and review the amount you added to your shopping cart

• Step 4: Creates and sends a message - this shortcut will allow you to create a campaign message and send the message to your selected customers

The Dashboard is not only limited to steps to start sending your first campaign but can also be used for shortcuts.

The scheduled SMS calendar makes it easy to get an overview of all your scheduled campaigns.

Navigate to Calendar from the panel on the left to view your campaign calendar. To schedule a message for a specific date, simply click that date on the calendar.

You can view the success and failure status of each message on the platform by navigating to Logs in the side navigation. Scroll down to the relevant message you want to see. If the message failed, the status of the message will be “Error / Failed.”