How Many Maximum Characters Are Allowed in SMS Marketing?

In SMS marketing, knowing the maximum character limit is crucial for crafting concise and impactful messages. The standard SMS character limit is 160 characters, including letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation. Exceeding this limit can lead to message splitting, higher costs, and potentially disjointed communication. Understanding these limits can help you communicate more effectively with your audience, ensuring your messages are delivered as intended and making the most out of your SMS marketing campaigns.

In this article, we will explore the intricacies of SMS character limits, their impact on message delivery, and best practices for effective SMS communication. Additionally, we’ll delve into the benefits of using MMS when text limits are not enough and provide actionable tips to enhance your SMS marketing campaigns.

Key Takeaways

Understanding SMS character limits is crucial for effective customer communication, especially when you’re using SMS for marketing. Here are the main points to remember:

• The standard SMS limit is 160 characters. This includes letters, numbers, spaces, and punctuation.
• Using Unicode characters (like emojis or non-Latin scripts) reduces the limit to 70 characters.
• Exceeding character limits can lead to increased costs, message splitting, and potential delivery issues.
• Utilize abbreviations, URL shorteners, and careful emoji use to make the most of the character limits.
• MMS is a valuable alternative for richer content and longer messages.

By keeping these points in mind, you can craft more effective SMS campaigns that deliver your message clearly and concisely while managing costs.

What is the SMS Character Limit?

The SMS character limit refers to the maximum number of characters allowed in a single SMS message. Typically, this limit is set at 160 characters for standard messages. This limit is essential for marketers to understand because it directly affects how messages are crafted and delivered. Knowing the ins and outs of these limits can make a significant difference in ensuring your messages are clear, effective, and within budget.

Standard SMS Character Limit (160 Characters)

The standard SMS character limit of 160 characters dates back to the early days of mobile communications. This limit was determined by Friedhelm Hillebrand, who found that most sentences and questions could fit within this length, making it an efficient standard for text communication. In an SMS, each character counts, including letters, numbers, spaces, punctuation, and special characters. This constraint forces marketers to be concise and direct, which can be a benefit when crafting messages intended to capture attention quickly.

The Impact of Exceeding 160 Characters

When an SMS exceeds 160 characters, it is automatically split into multiple messages, a process known as message concatenation. This can lead to several issues:

• Delivery Issues: Messages may arrive out of order or get jumbled, leading to confusion for the recipient.
• User Inconvenience: Long messages can be inconvenient for users to read, especially if they arrive in separate parts.
• Increased Costs: Sending multiple messages increases the cost, especially in bulk SMS campaigns, as each segment is charged as a separate message.

Understanding these potential pitfalls is crucial for maintaining the integrity of your communications and managing costs effectively.

Understanding Unicode Text Message Length Limit

Unicode characters, such as emojis and non-Latin scripts, reduce the SMS character limit to 70 characters. This is because Unicode characters take up more space than standard GSM characters. Using Unicode characters can add a creative and expressive touch to your messages but requires careful management to avoid exceeding limits. Each Unicode character, including emojis, uses more data, reducing the number of characters you can include in a single message. This is particularly important when targeting international audiences or using emojis to enhance engagement.

Multipart SMS Messages

Multipart SMS messages split a long message into several smaller messages, each acting as a separate SMS but designed to be read as a continuous text. This process involves:

• Automatic Splitting: When your message exceeds 160 characters, your SMS service automatically breaks down the message into smaller parts. Each part is sent as a separate SMS but reassembled on the recipient’s device to appear as a single message.
• Reserved Characters for Reassembly: Each segment is slightly shorter to include headers that ensure the messages are reassembled in the correct order.

While multipart SMS messages allow for longer texts, they come with the risk of higher costs and potential delivery issues, making it essential to craft your messages carefully.

Best Practices for Effective SMS Communication

Use Abbreviations and Symbols:

• Abbreviations like “info” for “information” and “pls” for “please” save space.
• Symbols like “&” for “and” and “$” for “dollars” can be useful for shortening messages without losing meaning.

Use a URL Shortener:

• Long URLs consume valuable character space. Using URL shorteners like bit.ly or goo.gl helps conserve characters and makes your messages look cleaner.
• Some SMS marketing platforms offer built-in URL shorteners, adding convenience and tracking capabilities.

Using Emojis in Text Messages:

• Emojis can add personality and emotional context to your messages, making them more engaging.
• However, because each emoji counts as a Unicode character, their use reduces the overall character limit. Use them sparingly to avoid exceeding the limit.

By following these best practices, you can maximize the efficiency of your SMS campaigns, ensuring that your messages are concise, engaging, and cost-effective.

MMS Messages: When Text Limits Aren’t Enough

MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) allows for messages up to 1,600 characters and supports rich media like images and videos. MMS is ideal for situations where more detailed information or visual content is necessary. Some benefits of MMS include:

• Engaging Visual Content: Sending images or videos directly to users can capture attention more effectively than text alone.
• Enhanced Information Delivery: MMS allows you to provide more detailed information that might require more space than a standard SMS.
• Brand Reinforcement: Including branding elements like logos and colour schemes can enhance brand recognition and consistency in your communications.

Although MMS can be more expensive than SMS, the ability to include rich media and longer texts can justify the cost in many marketing scenarios.

CTA: Boost Your SMS Marketing with Qnvert

Optimize your SMS marketing campaigns with Qnvert, your ultimate partner in customer engagement. Qnvert’s Omni Channel Customer Engagement Platform offers customizable solutions, data security, and seamless integration to ensure your marketing messages are effective and engaging. Whether you need to manage bulk SMS, automate workflows, or gain insights from customer data, Qnvert has you covered.

Book a demo today to see how Qnvert can transform your SMS marketing strategy and improve your customer engagement. Visit Qnvert to get started!

Conclusion

Understanding and optimizing SMS character limits is essential for effective communication and cost management in SMS marketing. Implement the best practices discussed in this article to enhance your SMS campaigns and ensure your messages are concise, impactful, and delivered as intended. For advanced solutions, consider using Qnvert’s Omni Channel Customer Engagement Platform to maximize your marketing efforts.

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