Meet the big upgrade of Apifonica’s SMS Campaigns functionality
We are happy to announce the new and extended functionality of Apifonica’s SMS Campaigns. We’ve added features that simplify campaign planning and make it easy to personalize messages for each recipient. Here’s what’s new about the SMS Campaigns.
Message creation experience like no other
SMS is a channel with strong regulations - from GDPR-related rules to the length of the message. A single off-limit character doubles the cost of the message, which is quite an issue if you’re sending thousands of SMSs. To help our customers get rid of unpleasant surprises, we’ve developed tools that analyze your messages while you’re creating them and give you tips on how to lower the costs.
Optimize the cost of SMS campaigns
To help you minimize the costs of your mass SMS campaigns, we’ve added a message details section and a cost predictor.
Message details feature analyzes characters in your message and uses color codes to highlight symbols that may affect the length of your SMS unexpectedly. If you use symbols that count as more than one character in a standard GSM classification, you will know about it instantly and will be able to make changes where necessary.
Once your campaign is created, you will see the campaign cost prediction based on the geography, message length, and number of recipients.
Personalize messages for each recipient
Now you can insert variables to the content of the message. Variables allow to personalize messages - for example, address each recipient by name, or send a unique promo code to each contact.
Automatically shorten your links on send
In SMS marketing, every character counts. So using an SMS shortener that shrinks links to 20 characters is always a good idea. In the new SMS Campaigns interface, you may shorten links in just one click. There is no need to switch between tabs or use 3d party shorteners - just click the “Shorten'' button, and links will be shrunk automatically. Unlike regular URLs, short links are trackable - you will see how many clicks they have generated.
Import your contacts hassle-free
You may import phone numbers in a local format - Apifonica will convert them into international format automatically. Also, we’ll check your contact list for duplicates and invalid phone numbers and exclude them from the campaign. Meaning, you won’t pay for messages that cannot be sent.
Helpful tip: After importing your contact list in .csv or .xls, map the variables which you used in your message with the columns present in your spreadsheet.
Integrations
Apifonica’s SMS Campaigns interface offers an easy and transparent way to create your campaigns. But mass SMS marketing is not only about setup. It is also about having data from different sources in one place. And that’s where integrations come into play.
Using integrations with Salesmanago, Optimove, or Exponea, you can launch SMS campaigns and get reports directly from the CRM that you use in your company. For details, log into your Apifonica profile and check out the Integrations section.
SMS Campaigns by Apifonica - the best prices and cost monitoring
Unlike many other bulk SMS providers, Apifonica doesn’t rely on 3-d party services to deliver messages. That’s because Apifonica is an SMS aggregator itself. Meaning, we can offer the best SMS routes at the best pricing for many international destinations.
What’s next for SMS Campaigns?
We keep upgrading the SMS Campaigns functionality, aiming to make SMS marketing as simple and straightforward as possible. In the nearest future, the Reports section will be enhanced with clean, intuitive graphs to help you gain more insights from your campaign performance.
Mix SMS with voice for major impact
At Apifonica, we strongly believe that the best communication channel is the omnichannel. Paraphrasing Al Capone’s saying, you can do more with SMS and voice than with just SMS. That’s why we’ve built a platform that allows businesses to use both voice and SMS as building blocks for their B2C comms. By mixing voice and messaging in a single automated communication workflow, our clients achieve remarkable results, both in customer engagement and business process optimization. This level of connection between voice and text allows automating not just campaigns but whole processes in HR, Sales, or Marketing.
So how can I set up my first SMS campaign?
To launch your SMS campaign with Apifonica, log into your account, select SMS Campaigns in a sidebar and follow the instructions. Please note you need an Alpha Name (alphanumeric sender ID) to send mass SMS. If you don’t have a registered Alpha name yet, you can create it right from the SMS Campaigns interface.