An SMS is a text-only message sent to a contact's mobile device. You can use ActiveCampaign to send SMS and email campaigns to communicate with your contacts.
This article outlines SMS expectations in ActiveCampaign and the steps to take before sending SMS/text messages.
Take Note
You must purchase the SMS add-on to use ActiveCampaign’s SMS feature.
Sending SMS/text messages for the first time with ActiveCampaign
If you send an SMS for the first time, your first few SMS messages will undergo a manual review process by the ActiveCampaign Compliance team.
This review by ActiveCampaign can take up to two business days (Monday through Friday). Once the messages are reviewed, your account will be cleared to send SMS messages. If you attempt to send during this time, your messages will be paused until the internal review is complete. Any paused messages will then be delivered with a delay.
Setting up your SMS Sending Credits
If you’re the Primary Account Admin or a user with billing permissions, you can purchase additional SMS sending credits for your account. To learn more about purchasing SMS credits, please visit Purchasing SMS credits.
View a list of supported countries, along with the number of credits used per message.
Are your recipients located in the United States?
To use SMS, you must comply with specific regulations set by mobile carriers like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. One such regulation is “Application-to-person 10-digit long codes,” or A2P 10DLC.
If you intend to send messages to recipients located in the United States, you are required to register for A2P 10DLC. Please note that the 10DLC registration process should take two business days to process & verify your registration information.
To learn more about A2P 10DLC, please visit FAQs and Glossary for A2P 10DLC
Are your recipients located in the United Kingdom?
Under new Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines implemented by UK carriers in 2024, businesses must register and verify their identities to enhance customer protection. Compliance with these guidelines ensures adherence to legal requirements, improves efficiency and deliverability, and strengthens sender reputation.
If you intend to send messages to recipients located in the United States, you are required to register your business. Please note that the registration process can take 3-10 business days to process and verify your registration information.
Additional resources about SMS sending requirements and best practices
To better ensure the deliverability of your SMS messages, you need to make sure you are complying with SMS sending requirements and best practices and ensuring that all of your contacts have agreed to receive SMS marketing messages from you.
Opt-in is especially important, as there are consequences for sending SMS communications without explicit customer consent. General consent to receive messages is not considered a valid opt-in; customers must take specific action to opt in for SMS communications.
Please review the additional articles to learn about required opt-in and opt-out considerations, correctly identifying your business to the recipient, and several additional tips to help improve your overall SMS deliverability.