goldie22

Hi All,

I have recently signed up with a SMS service that limits the number of characters for a message to only 130 characters, and I have some concerns that this may not be enough for all clients, is it normal for a SMS provider to limit the size of the text messages to such a limited size?

Thanks,

Debbie

MitchKid

I believe the limit is 160 characters, however that includes the required opt-out, which should take it down to like 145. 130 seems a little low in my opinion.

Aaron Doud

You have to remember in a text message you have the

Txt STOP to end or HELP for help

So that leaves 130

Also your client should start the text with their company name so a lot of times they will be limited to 100 or so characters for example

DJ's Pizza
$5 off your next large pizza. Exp 11/15
Show this message
Txt STOP to end or HELP for help

See I am using way under 160 characters including all the info. And my message being short and being a coupon means people who want in the list are going to love it.

The Pour House
Tues night is ladies night.
No cover for the ladies.
$5 pitchers
Txt STOP to end or HELP for help

I'm making these shorter on purpose because I am not counting the characters but that should be way under 160 again.

Think short. People will read your text. They want texts from the client. Now catch their attention fast.

GilNelson

Aaron makes a good point. One of my SMS vendors limits the characters to 140 because of this.

I tell clients that it's like twitter. Short messages to the point... like the offer and a call to action.

This is part of why text message marketing is so powerful! People seem to be OK getting short blasts of information that they can use - especially if they can digest the info in about 3 seconds.

Aaron Doud

It is really back to pure marketing. The kind of stuff guys did with small classified ads. You gotta know what to say in very few words.

apolwar

Hmm, I haven't encountered an SMS provider that limits the size of text messages.

130 characters is enough for text messages though. You just have to be creative and precise your text messages.

Or you could send two text messages one after another.

Aaron Doud

Any text message must have the

Text STOP to stop or something similar.

Any service that is letting you not do that I would not want to be on as it may get blocked soon by the networks.

dailyblogtools

recently i seened that so many companies are offereing long length sms services.try it

limecellular

If the message is too long, it will go into another message. But, of course this all depends on what service you have.

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BKH

Interesting! How does that work as far as following the regulations? Messages per month must be disclosed on all of the signage now, so if I say 3 and every message goes into 2 messages do I get shut down for that? almost seems that it is a gray area that is being watched as if it is black and white. Maybe you can elaborate for us Lime...
b

goldie22

Thanks for all the feedback! It's helped me to learn a bit more about what to look for with SMS services!

GilNelson

Hey BKH,

When message length exceeds what can fit in one message, a second text can be generated by the system, in some cases (not every vendor will allow this).

In regards to the Disclosure message and # of messages sent per week/month... a best practice would be to overestimate the number of messages that might be sent each month - then you'll be safe (or your client will). The Disclosure message can say something like, "up to 2 messages/week" or to save characters, "up to 2 msg/wk".

My experience with 2 part messages is that occasionally, the 2nd part will arrive BEFORE the first part - and that's not good... so I avoid this and recommend that my clients avoid this as well.

There are times when it does make sense, like when giving product info... but be careful. Also, the 2nd message will be counted as a credit, so if your clients' plan has say 1000 messages/mo - if they were all 2 part messages, your client will be able to send only 500 replies before they hit their contracted limit.