Mobile Messages

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    This document contains conceptual and procedural information on creating and sending mobile messages to your subscribers. You can use mobile messages to deliver information to a mobile device or to receive information from a subscriber. Mobile messages includes SMS messages, mobile landing pages, and emails targeted specifically to mobile devices.

    What Is an SMS Message

    SMS is a type of message delivered to a subscriber's cell phone or text-enabled PDA. Using the SMS message functionality, you can create:

    • Responses to MO (mobile-originated) messages, SMS messages originated by mobile phone users.
    • MT (mobile-terminated) messages, SMS messages that you send to a subscribers on a data extension using a publication list. Subscribers must opt-in before you include them on a list to receive SMS messages.

    The diagram below illustrates the infrastructure that supports the sending and receiving of SMS messages through the ExactTarget application. The diagram also shows the effects of a subscriber's opt-in and opt-out actions and the difference between domestic and international SMS processes. Click on the diagram for a larger view.

    NewSMSProcess.jpg

    Why Use an SMS Message

    SMS messages connect you directly to your subscriber via a mobile device in a timely fashion, so you can conceivably interact with your subscriber wherever they may be at any time. You can take advantage of this connection to provide information, offers, or opt-in messages wherever your subscribers may be at the time. SMS messages are less intrusive than voice messages and are shorter and more immediate than email messages.

    For example, you can use SMS messages to make breaking announcements to your subscribers, encourage them to send in votes or preferences, or have them sign up for your SMS or email mailing list while still in store or at an event.

    More information on SMS messages can be found at the links below:

    Short Codes

    To interact with your customers via SMS messages, you must register and use a short code to act as your primary contact point. MO users send SMS messages to your short code with defined keywords to obtain information or subscribe to lists, and you send SMS messages from your short code to your subscribers or clients.

    Private Short Codes and Shared Short Codes

    You can choose to send and receive SMS messages via two types of short codes. Private short codes belong to only you and allow you to take advantage of all SMS functionality. Shared short codes are less expensive, but there are more restrictions on their use within the ExactTarget application. Refer to the table below for an explanation of the differences between unique and shared short codes.

      Private Short Code Shared Short Code
    Definition Five- or six-digit number assigned to a single entity for use in sending and receiving SMS messages Five- or six-digit number shared across multiple entities for use in sending and receiving SMS messages
    How Keywords Work Can use any keyword and account for intentional or unintentional misspellings
    • Limited to 5 keywords per account (additional keywords can be purchased)
    • Must be registered by ExactTarget representative
    • No misspelling support
    Double Opt-In Can add users through a mobile device to a publication list for future MT sends Can add users through a mobile device to a publication list for future MT sends
    Triggered MT Sends Can send MT messages using data extensions and publication lists Can send MT messages using data extensions and publication lists
    Tracking Limited to messages sent Limited to messages sent
    AMPscript Full Support* Full Support*

    *Please test and verify your AMPscript before deploying it as part of a live SMS send

    Shared Keywords for Shared Short Codes

    If you use a shared short code, you can accept and respond to MO (incoming) messages. You create a keyword to identify the messages that are intended for your account from messages intended for other users of the same shared short code. When a user sends you a text message, the user includes the keyword before the verb and any nouns. For example, a movie theater chooses movie as its keyword. The theater posts signs to instruct moviegoers to text movie join newreleases to its shared short code in order to receive information on new releases. Your keyword must be unique among all the accounts that use the shared short code.

    Shared Short Codes and the STOP Keyword

    The ExactTarget application reserves the keyword STOP for use by MO subscribers to remove them from SMS sends from a client's short code. When the MO sends a STOP message to a short code, that subscriber will no longer receive sends on that short code.

    If the MO subscriber sends a STOP message to a shared short code, that STOP message applies to all clients using that short code. For example, if a client subscribed to SMS messages to Company A and Company B on the same shared short code, that client removes themself from both lists with an MO STOP message. Neither company can send SMS messages to the subscriber until that subscriber opts back in to an SMS send. The subscriber must opt in to each company individually if they wish to receive messages from both.

    You can allow subscribers to unsubscribe from only your list by requesting a shared keyword and defining that MO keyword with the type Unsubscribe from SMS publication.

    How to Use SMS Messages

    SMS interactions use MO and MT messages to communicate with your subscribers. 

    MO Keywords

    MO keywords are the tools you use to define your responses to the MO keywords that subscribers send to you. You can use AMPscript in message text, for example, to retrieve an SMS type content area and to set the next keyword to continue the SMS conversation.

    NOTE: Any MO message can only contain one verb, and that verb must be the first word in the MO message. Any words after that verb are considered nouns and do not affect the action of the verb.

    When you define an MO keyword, you provide the following information:

    • One or more verbs that the subscriber sends to initiate the conversation. For example, if you list QUIT,STOP as the verbs, whenever a subscriber begins a conversation with a QUIT message or STOP message, the system will use the MO keyword definition to decide what to do next.
    • The next keyword to look for to continue the conversation. For example, if you set up two MO keyword definitions, one for JOIN and one for Yes, you could select the Yes MO keyword as the next keyword for the JOIN keyword. When a subscriber sends an MO message with the JOIN verb, the system would execute the actions on the JOIN definition, and then wait for a Yes message to execute those actions. You can also set the next keyword in the body of the message using AMPscript.
    • The action type to specify what kind of activity is being performed when a subscriber sends this keyword. For example, "unsubscribe from an SMS publication" is an action type. The action type you select determines the rest of the information you provide for the keyword definition. For example, for the unsubscribe action type, you provide the success message to send if the subscriber unsubscribed from all publications, the failure message to send if the subscriber requested to unsubscribe from a publication that doesn't exist, and the success message to send if the subscriber unsubscribed from just one publication.
    • You can use AMPscript to retrieve verbs and nouns from messages using the MSG() and NOUN() variables.

    Creating a response to an MO message with a shared short code includes the following steps:

    • Requesting a keyword to identify messages intended for your account in the ExactTarget application.
    • Contacting your ExactTarget representative to activate your keyword
    • Creating the MO keyword action
    • Assigning the action the name of the selected keyword
    • Defining the verb as the name of the selected keyword

    Creating a response to an MO message with private short code includes the following step:

    • Creating the MO keyword action
    • Naming the action with a descriptive label
    • Defining the verb used in the MO message
    NOTE: You must create a publication list prior to creating any double-opt-in SMS interactions.

    MT Keywords

    Sending an MT message (triggered SMS send) includes the following steps:

    Creating the SMS Message Content

    You can create an SMS-type content area in the my contents folder. You then select the content area when you create the SMS message interaction or retrieve the content area using AMPscript. The content that you create in an SMS content area can contain personalization strings. You can also include AMPscript in the message content. You can only use GSM 3.38 and UCS2 characters in SMS message content.

    Creating a Publication List

    Create a publication list to categorize the content of the message. Like a data extension, a publication list contains subscribers; however, a data extension is not necessarily specific to a particular type of message content. The publication list, alternately, is a category for the message content. For example, you might create one publication list to categorize messages sent as WEATHERALERTS and a different publication list to categorize messages sent as COUPONS.

    Subscribers can subscribe to or unsubscribe from a publication list for SMS messages using inbound messages. Subscribers who also exist in your account as email recipients can unsubscribe from SMS lists using the Subscription Center without unsubscribing from your email lists.

    When you send an SMS message to a list, the system delivers the message to all of the subscribers on the data extension you selected as well as all of the subscribers that opted-in to the publication list. If a subscriber unsubscribed from the publication list or from all SMS messages, the system does not deliver the message to that subscriber, even if the subscriber appears on the data extension.

    NOTE: You cannot include any spaces in the name of a publication list used as part of an SMS send. When creating your publication list, make sure you do not include any spaces in the name.
    NOTE: You cannot see the subscribers on a publication list through the application interface. You can request a report that contains the subscribers on a publication list.

    Creating a Data Extension

    NOTE: This step is required to send MT messages to a list of subscribers.

    Create a data extension to contain the subscribers to whom to send the message. The data extension must have the Used for Sending checkbox selected and contain a column for the subscriber key. If you have never sent an SMS message to the subscriber before, the subscriber's row in the data extension must also contain the phone number.

    NOTE: The system recognizes different formats of phone numbers (such as 1-555-555-5555 and 15555555555) as the same number and will honor opt-outs for those entries. This applies even if two different subscribers register the same mobile number and only one of those subscribers opts out of receiving mobile messages. This applies to all subscribers within a single account and all applicable business units.

    Creating an SMS Triggered Send Definition

    The SMS message interaction contains the name, external key, and description of the message to identify and describe the message in the application and with the API. When you create the message interaction, you select the SMS message content. The interaction also contains the publication list and the send classification, which provides the sender profile and the delivery profile for the message.

    When you create an SMS message interaction to send to a list, you identify the data extension to which to send the message.

    How to Initiate the SMS Send

    Follow the instructions below to initiate an SMS send.

    Initiating the Send through the ExactTarget Application

    If you have your own short code, you can send an SMS message to a data extension from the application interface. After the SMS message interaction is complete, you can select the interaction and click the Send button to send the message immediately.

    Initiating the Send with the API

    Using the API, you use the SMSTriggeredSend.Message field to define message content. You enter the content of the SMS message in the SMSTriggeredSend.Message field when you initiate the send with the API.

    Including the SMS Message in a Program

    If you have your own short code, you can send an SMS message to a data extension by including the message in a program. You can include the SMS Message in a program to send the message, put the message send in sequence with other messages and activities, and schedule the send to occur at a particular date and time.

    Tracking

    SMS triggered send tracking appears on the SMS message interaction. You can filter tracking data by job and date range. The system shows tracking detail for the following categories:

    • Subscriber Activity
      • Delivered
      • Undelivered
    • Status
      • Completed
      • Queued
      • Undeliverable
    • Deliverability
      • Soft
      • Hard
      • Total Bounces

    For MO tracking information, you can use two query activities:

    1. The SubscriberSMS query activity returns information on your subscribers.
    2. The PublicationSubscribers query activity returns information on subscribers contained in a publication list.

    You can also use AMPscript to pull information from your sends using the JobID of each send. These AMPscript functions can be built into a landing page or a custom UI, depending on your needs.

    ExactTarget can create custom reports for you that include the following information:

    • Total MO Messages Received
    • Total MT Messages Sent
    • Total MT Message Counts By Send Definition (both per individual send definition and overall)
    • MO Counts by Keyword (by individual keyword and by undefined keywords)
    • Total New SMS Opt-In Subscribers
    • Total New SMS Opt-Out Subscribers
    • Individual list Publication Counts
    • Keyword Reports (including mobile number and date sent)
    • Mobile Number Carrier
    NOTE: ExactTarget cannot retrieve information regarding a user's mobile device (such as iPhone or Blackberry).
    NOTE: Custom reports require a service engagement by ExactTarget specialists. Please contact your ExactTarget relationship manager for more information about obtaining customer reports.


    This page was last updated by Ryan Williams on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:48:55 GMT.

    If you require assistance with the ExactTarget application, please contact Global Support. If you wish to send Ryan direct feedback, fill out the form below:

     


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