SMS Text Channel
Setup
SMS, or "Short Message Service," is commonly referred to as a "text message." It consists of a short message (up to 160 characters) transmitted to a consumer's cell phone. Cheetah Messaging allows you to create and manage marketing campaigns with SMS, allowing you to engage with your customers by sending timely, focused messages.
Prerequisites
Before you can utilize Messaging's SMS Text Campaign features, you must have the following account information in place:
You must have a dedicated Short Code. A Short Code is either a five-digit or six-digit number that will appear as the "from number" on the consumer's cell phone when they receive your marketing message. Any company who wants to use SMS for marketing purposes must utilize a "Short Code." Short Codes are managed by external telecommunications providers. The Messaging Support Team can assist you with this process, and we will make the necessary configuration in the platform to link that Short Code to a Sender Profile in your client account (see Sender Profiles for more details).
If you want to use automated responses to your promotional Campaigns, you must set up the appropriate Keywords that you're expecting in the consumers' response (see SMS Keywords for more details).
Opt-in Welcome Campaign: The telecommunications companies require that you send a "welcome" message to consumers who opt-in to your marketing program via a text message response. Therefore, you must have an opt-in Campaign in place, as well as a Keyword Group containing the opt-in Keyword(s). See the Opt-in Welcome Campaign topic for more details on setting up this Campaign.
Double Confirm Opt-In Process: The telecommunications companies require that you utilize a "double confirm opt-in" method for consumers who wish to sign up for marketing messages. To set up this process, you must have two separate Campaigns in place -- a "confirm" Campaign and a "welcome" Campaign. You also need to create as a Keyword Group containing the opt-in confirmation Keyword(s). See the Double Confirm Opt-in Campaigns topic for more details on setting up these Campaigns.
Help Campaign: The telecommunications companies require that you provide a way for consumers to get technical assistance. Therefore, you must have a "Help" Campaign in place, as well as a Keyword Group containing the help Keyword(s). See the Help Campaign topic for more details on setting up this Campaign.
Opt-Out Campaign: The telecommunications companies require that you provide a way for consumers to opt-out of receiving marketing messages. Therefore, you must have an opt-out Campaign in place, as well as a Keyword Group containing the opt-out Keyword(s). See the Opt-Out Campaign topic for more details on setting up this Campaign.
Once you have all of these prerequisites met, your SMS Text channel setup is complete, and you're ready to start sending promotional messages through the SMS Text channel. See the Help topic Campaign Configuration: SMS Text for more details.