Q. Why do emojis take up so many character spaces? My character limit went from 160 to 70 after adding an emoji.

A. The reason for the reduction in available characters is that an emoji is actually referenced by a code of numbers and letters.

Q. Can I send an SMS campaign with a GIF?

A. Currently, SMS campaigns only support text. No gifs. However, if this is a feature you're interested in, please reach out to our support team and let them know of your interest 😊

Q. Is it possible to send photos in an SMS?

A. Currently it isn't possible to add photos in an SMS. If this is something that would benefit your store, please reach out to our support team and ask them to put through a feature request.

Q. Is it possible to include links in my SMS campaign that will link to my email campaign?

A. Currently is not possible to link to an email campaign from an SMS campaign. However, you can add links to your website.

Q. Do you shorten links using Bitly for SMS campaigns?

A. No, we do not use Bitly to shorten links for SMS.

Q. Can North American merchants use short links in SMS campaigns?

A. It is recommended that North American merchants do not use short links in their SMS campaigns.

Q. I want to send a campaign to my customers asking them to leave a review. Can I have them send this to an inbound number?

A. Currently, there isn't a way to receive inbound text messages. However, if this is a feature you're interested in, please reach out to our support team and let them know of your interest 😊

Q. For merchants based in the UAE, can SMS campaigns be sent in the store's name?

A. UAE restrictions prevent SMS from going out in the store’s name. Messages are overwritten to ensure delivery. If UAE retailers wish to customize their sender name, this article.

Q. What number will be used to send SMS campaigns to customers?

A. Different numbers are used depending on the merchant's region and time zone.

Q. I've created an Automation with both SMS and email steps. If a customer unsubscribes from say SMS and not email, will they still receive messages from the flow?

A. Customers will enter an Automation if they meet the trigger conditions. If a customer doesn't accept marketing for one type of communication, they will simply skip that step. Marsello performs a marketing check prior to the message going out (in case of opt-outs since initially entering the flow) to ensure customers receive only the messages they are after.

Q. What is the character limit for SMS?

A. The character limit for SMS is 160 characters. Please note that emojis will take up more characters.

Q. Is it possible to create custom segments for SMS campaign purposes or do campaigns go out to all customers who accept SMS marketing only?

A. Yes, you are most welcome to create your own SMS custom segment for your campaign.

Q. What happens when a customer opts out of SMS marketing, does it redirect to an update preferences page for SMS as well? Or just unsubscribe them?

A. When a customer opts out of SMS marketing, they will be redirected to a customer portal where they can choose to opt out of marketing:

1. Loyalty notification automation

2. Marketing emails

3. SMS

Q. How can I check to see if a customer accepts both email and SMS marketing in the app?

A. Under the customer's Marsello account, check the subscription settings and see if the "unsubscribe from SMS marketing" check box is selected. If it is not, the customer is currently subscribed. It is possible for customers to accept email marketing and not SMS marketing.

Q. Does the SMS feature offer any unique short code capabilities?

A. Currently, the SMS feature does not offer unique short code capabilities. However, if this is a feature that would help your store, please reach out to our support team and they will submit a feature request on your behalf.

Q. My timezone is in EST and I wish to send a SMS campaign to customers at 10am EST, would this be considered a safe sending time?

A. All campaigns sent in the United States are sent in PST.

Q. Can I send a test SMS campaign to myself outside of the safe sending times?

A. Yes, you can send test SMS campaigns outside of safe sending times. Please be sure to schedule to live campaign during the safe sending period.

Q. If a campaign is set up in Australia AUS (for example) and some customers within the segment are based in the UK, will the email wait until after 8 am to send the email to the customer, or will this send an email to the customer at the scheduled time, even if this is midnight for the person in the UK?

A. The email will be sent at the 8 a.m. Australian time in this scenario - we only have safe sending times for SMS which can only be sent at waking hours for the US: https://help.marsello.com/hc/en-us/articles/900004314686-SMS-Marketing-Compliance-Introduction

Q. My store is based in Hong Kong, how many credits will it cost to send an SMS campaign?

A. Merchants based on Hong Kong will be charged 2 credits per SMS sent. A complete listing of credit cost per SMS message sent by location is available in your Marsello app admin.

Q. I have 200 customers that I would like to send an SMS campaign to. It looks like this will cost 200 credits but I only have 100 credits on my account. Will the campaign be partially sent?

A. The campaign will not be sent out to customers as there aren't enough credits to cover it.

Q. When do SMS credits expire?

A. All SMS subscriptions come with a 30-day rollover period for unused SMS credits. For example, if you purchased 100 credits on June 1 and use 50 by June 30, the remaining 50 credits will remain valid until July 30.

Q. Can I add multiple SMS credit bundles to my plan?

A. Currently, merchants may have only one SMS subscription per Marsello account at a time.

Q. What currency will my SMS subscription be charged in?

B. Marsello SMS subscriptions are charged in USD.

Q. Why has my SMS automation been paused?

A. Marsello merchants using SMS are encouraged to be mindful of the total number of available credits on their SMS plans. As SMS automations are sent to customers, the corresponding number of credits will be deducted from their balance. Should a merchant's SMS credit balance dip below 0, any enabled SMS automation will be paused.

Once the SMS credit balance is replenished, you will need to manually re-enable their SMS automation.

Q. Will I receive a reminder email about any rolled-over SMS credits that are about to expire?

A. Currently, there isn't a feature that will notify merchants by email about rollover credits due to expire. However, if this is something that will benefit your store, please let our support team know and they will submit a feature request on your behalf.

Q. I am a CBD merchant, can I send marketing messages via SMS?

A. Unfortunately, CBD merchants aren't able to send marketing messages via SMS. This also includes those instances where a merchant runs a store as a separate business. Carriers are becoming increasingly stricter and will pick up the CBD from your address and will block all SMS campaigns from going out regardless of CBD items not being advertised.

Q. My store sells vape products and I'd like to send an SMS campaign. Can I do that if my content doesn't include any wording around the vape?

A. They cannot. When the networks check for SHAFT content, they don't just read the wording of the message, unfortunately, and can go as deep as scraping the store to check what kind of content is being marketed.

Safer to block all merchants who are SHAFT regardless of how they intend to use SMS

Q. What are the new Automation under the SMS template library?

A. Marsello has over 10 prebuilt SMS Automated flows including referral program automation, loyalty automations, the Say Happy Birthday Automation and Google Review.