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Each college has a monthly limit of 25,000 SMS segments, shared among Recruitment, Marketing, and Student Affairs. When sending SMS campaigns, messages are divided into segments, each charged individually, so understanding message segmentation is essential to managing costs. 

Note

Additional SMS pricing is $15.00 for every 1,000 additional segments per month.

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🗨️ SMS

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Segmentation

Expand
titleWhat is an SMS segment? Why SMS Segments Matter?

In SMS campaigns, messages are divided into segments, each incurring a charge. Each college has a shared monthly limit of 25,000 segments among the Recruitment, Marketing, and Student Affairs teams. If this limit is exceeded, the college is responsible for additional costs.

Phone carriers use segments to batch and bill text message deliveries. SMS (Short Messaging Service) restricts message length based on the encoding type:

  • GSM-7 Encoding: Supports up to 160 characters of basic text per segment.

  • UCS-2 Encoding: Allows up to 70 characters per segment when emojis or certain special characters are used.

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Expand
titleCalculating SMS Segments

SMS messages have a basic limit of 160 characters using GSM-7 encoding or 70 characters with UCS-2 encoding. When these limits are exceeded, phones can still send longer messages by breaking them into smaller segments.

Note: Replying to messages in the SMS Inbox does not count toward the segment total (messages sent).

Message 1 (GSM-7): 160 characters of basic text per segment.

Message 2 (UCS-2): 70 characters per segment when emojis or special characters are used.

  • Text: Good evening, <Name Personalization> from [Insert College Name]. Are you still interested in attending in the Spring? Classes are open for January and February start dates today! Reply STOP to unsubscribe.

  • Message Length: 207 characters

  • Calculation: 207 characters / 160 characters = 2 segments

  • Recipients: 500 contacts

  • Total Segments: 2 segments × 500 contacts = 1,000 segments

  • Text: Good evening, <Name Personalization> from [Insert College Name]. Are you still interested in attending in the Spring? 📙 Reply STOP to unsubscribe.

  • Message Length: 148 characters

  • Calculation: 148 characters / 70 characters = 3 segments

  • Recipients: 800 contacts

  • Total Segments: 3 segments × 800 contacts = 2,400 segments

Resource: Use an SMS Segment Calculator Resource to determine the exact segments for your messages based on encoding and message length.

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Expand
title2. Create an Attention-Grabbing SMS Campaign

Write Actionable SMS Copy

  • Know your character count. While HubSpot allows a 300-character limit SMS messages max out at 160 characters—if you exceed the 160 count, your text message will be sent as two separate texts. Get to the point quickly, and use links (and link shorteners) to fill out the details of your message.

  • Say hello! Send a welcome message to any new contact. Clearly state who you are and why you're messaging to provide valuable context.

  • Get to the point: By keeping messages brief, recipients can easily read and act on the information on smartphones, watches, and digital assistants like Siri.

  • Don’t overdo it: SMS is a high-cost communication channel. Reserve SMS for use cases that are deeply personalized and/or express urgency.

  • Be transparent: Consistently reintroduce your brand, purpose, and message frequency.

  • Opt out: Every message should include the option to opt-out.

  • Personalize your copy: Tailor SMS communication using personalization tokens to automatically insert relevant details like a student’s name, program interest, or other preferences, creating a more meaningful connection.

How to Use Personalization Tokens

  1. Add personalization to your message by clicking Personalize.

  2. Click the Type dropdown menu, then select the type of personalization token to insert.

  3. Click the Property dropdown menu to select which property value to pull into the message body.

  4. Enter a default value that can be used for any contact without a value populated for the property, then click Insert.

image-20241016-194733.png

For more details on how to use personalization tokens this, you can explore the Create and Send SMS Messages in HubSpot resource guide.

Good SMS Examples

image-20241011-221422.pngimage-20241011-221452.png

Write Actionable SMS Copy

  • Know your character count. While HubSpot allows a 300-character limit SMS messages max out at 160 characters—if you exceed the 160 count, your text message will be sent as two separate texts. Get to the point quickly, and use links (and link shorteners) to fill out the details of your message.

  • Say hello! Send a welcome message to any new contact. Clearly state who you are and why you're messaging to provide valuable context.

  • Get to the point: By keeping messages brief, recipients can easily read and act on the information on smartphones, watches, and digital assistants like Siri.

  • Don’t overdo it: SMS is a high-cost communication channel. Reserve SMS for use cases that are deeply personalized and/or express urgency.

    • Be transparent: Consistently reintroduce your brand, purpose, and message frequency.Opt out: Every message should include the option to opt-out

  • Personalize your copy: Tailor SMS communication using personalization tokens to automatically insert relevant details like a student’s name, program interest, or other preferences, creating a more meaningful connection.

    1. Add personalization to your message by clicking Personalize.

    2. Click the Type dropdown menu, then select the type of personalization token to insert.

    3. Click the Property dropdown menu to select which property value to pull into the message body.

    4. Enter a default value that can be used for any contact without a value populated for the property, then click Insert.

    Good SMS Examples

    4.
    Expand
    title3. Create an Attention-Grabbing SMS Campaign
    .

    How to Use Personalization Tokens

    image-20241016-194733.pngImage Removed

    For more details on how to use personalization tokens this, you can explore the Create and Send SMS Messages in HubSpot resource guide.

    image-20241011-221422.pngImage Removedimage-20241011-221452.pngImage Removed

    Send a Test SMS Message

    Testing SMS messages is crucial to ensure that the content such as personalization tokens display correctly, review for proper formatting and test that links in the SMS work. Testing helps you avoid errors and improve engagement. For more details, you can visit HubSpot's guide: Send Test SMS Messages.

    • Open the Editor: While drafting your SMS, go to the top right corner of the editor and click on Send test message.

    • Choose Recipients: In the right panel, click the Choose one or more numbers dropdown menu. Select phone numbers of team members who have added their number to HubSpot. If needed, you can enter a phone number manually by typing the full number including the country code.

    6. Send or schedule your message

    When you're ready to send or schedule your message, click the Send or schedule tab.

    • Configure your recipients

    Expand
    title4. Configure Your Recipients

    To configure your SMS recipients in HubSpot:

    1. Select Recipients

    2. Click the Send to dropdown menu

    and choose

    1. .

      1. Choose the desired lists or individual contacts to

    include in

      1. add them to your recipient list.

    Only contacts set as Marketing Contacts will be eligible to receive SMS messages.

    Manually Set Contacts as Marketing:

    1. Go to your Contacts in HubSpot.

    2. Select the contacts you want to mark as "Marketing."

    3. Click the Actions dropdown and choose Set as marketing contacts

    Automatically Set Contacts as Marketing Using Workflows

    1. Create a new workflow or use an existing one.

    2. Add an action to Set contact as a marketing contact within the workflow.

    3. This will automatically designate contacts as marketing contacts when they meet certain criteria, helping you streamline your marketing efforts.

    • Review your SMS scheduling options

    By default, you can only send SMS messages from 8 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. in contacts' local time zones. This applies to individual SMS campaigns as well as sending an SMS message via a workflow. If you attempt to send or schedule a message outside of this period, HubSpot will defer sending your message until waking hours begin in the subscribers' timezone.

    • Send now: Your message will be sent immediately.

    • Schedule for later: You can schedule your SMS to be sent at a specific date and time.

    Understand SMS quiet hours

    Expand
    title 4. Send a Test SMS Message

    Testing SMS messages is crucial to ensure that the content such as personalization tokens display correctly, review for proper formatting and test that links in the SMS work. Testing helps you avoid errors and improve engagement. For more details, you can visit HubSpot's guide: Send Test SMS Messages.

  • Open the Editor: While drafting your SMS, go to the top right corner of the editor and click on Send test message.

    • Choose Recipients: In the right panel, click the Choose one or more numbers dropdown menu. Select phone numbers of team members who have added their number to HubSpot. If needed, you can enter a phone number manually by typing the full number including the country code

    2. Ensure Contact Eligibility:

      1. Marketing Status: To receive SMS messages, contacts must be set as marketing contacts.

      2. Valid Phone Number: The contact's phone number should be properly formatted and valid. For U.S.-based numbers, this means starting with +1 and totaling 11 digits (e.g., +1-480-555-5555).

      3. Opt-In Consent: The contact must have opted in to receive SMS messages for the associated subscription type.

    Expand
    title5. Send or schedule your message

    When you're ready to send or schedule your message, click the Send or Schedule tab.

    • Configure your recipients

      • Click the Send to dropdown menu and choose lists or individual contacts to include in your recipient list. Only contacts set as Marketing Contacts will be eligible to receive SMS messages.

    Manually Set Contacts as Marketing:

    1. Go to your Contacts in HubSpot.

    2. Select the contacts you want to mark as "Marketing."

    3. Click the Actions dropdown and choose Set as marketing contacts

    Automatically Set Contacts as Marketing Using Workflows

    1. Create a new workflow or use an existing one.

    2. Add an action to Set contact as a marketing contact within the workflow.

    3. This will automatically designate contacts as marketing contacts when they meet certain criteria, helping you streamline your marketing efforts.

    • Review your SMS scheduling options

    By default, you can only send SMS messages from 8 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. in contacts' local time zones. This applies to individual SMS campaigns as well as sending an SMS message via a workflow. If you attempt to send or schedule a message outside of this period, HubSpot will defer sending your message until waking hours begin in the subscribers' timezone.

    • Send now: Your message will be sent immediately.

    • Schedule for later: You can schedule your SMS to be sent at a specific date and time.

    Understand SMS quiet hours

    ...

    Expand
    titleAccess the Conversations Inbox and Viewing SMS Conversations

    Access the Conversations Inbox

    1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to CRM > Inbox

    2. Select the dropdown menu next to Maricopa > Select Maricopa SMS Inbox

      Image RemovedImage Added

    3. From there, you should be able to view your college inbox. All SMS replies will be found here.

      Image RemovedImage Added

    Viewing SMS Conversations

    • All SMS messages received from marketing campaigns will appear in the inbox. Each message will display details such as the sender’s phone number, contact information, and the content of the SMS. To better manage conversations, you can create custom views by filtering conversations based on specific criteria. For example, you can create views for unassigned conversations, high-priority inquiries, or messages from specific channels (like SMS).

    To create a custom view for SMS messages:

    1. In the bottom left, click the Actions dropdown menu, then select Create a view.

    2. In the right panel, enter SMS for the view name, then click Next.

    3. In the Filter type section, select Conversations properties.

    4. In the search bar, search for and select Source.

    5. Click the is “is any of dropdown menumenu”, then search for and select SMS.

    6. Click Apply filter, then click Create view.

    The new view will appear below the other default inbox filters and views.

    image-20241016-201834.png

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