How to Create an SMS Message

  • Updated

The SMS Message Composer is where you build a message, pick recipients, and watch your credit usage before you send. Every change auto-saves to Drafts, and the composer warns you about any missing requirements so you never hit Send on an incomplete message.

Who does this: Marketing ops, demand gen, and campaign managers - anyone sending SMS
Time needed: 10-20 minutes to compose and review a message
Why this matters: SMS is pay-per-message and character counts matter. A message that drifts over 160 characters uses more than one Credit per recipient, and the Recipient Summary tells you whether the list you picked is eligible to receive anything at all. Knowing what the composer is telling you protects both your budget and your delivery rate.
In plain English: Pick recipients on the Recipients tab, write the message on the Message tab, watch the character count, add Opt-Out text, then send.

Open the composer

Go to SMS > Messages and click + Create SMS Message.

Create SMS Message

Changes are auto-saved. Drafts are listed on SMS > Messages > Drafts.

Recipients tab

The Recipients tab is where you define the Message Title, optional Description, and pick who the message goes to. Title and Description are for internal use in Act-On - recipients never see them.

Recipients tab

Adding recipients

Click + Add Recipients and select one or more Marketing Lists or Segments.

Note: Lists that cannot be used for SMS show an ineligible icon ineligible icon and cannot be selected. That means the list either has no Cell Phone field identified or has no phone numbers in it. See How to Identify the Cell Phone field on your Marketing List.

Select your lists or segments and click Submit.

Selecting Marketing Lists

Recipient Summary

Once recipients are selected, the Recipient Summary breaks down:

  • Selected Recipients
  • Recipients without a mobile number
  • Recipients who aren't opted in to SMS (not on the Opt-In List)
  • Duplicate phone numbers across all selected lists
  • Total eligible Recipients (selected minus duplicates, minus no-number, minus not-opted-in)
  • Percentage of eligible Recipients

Recipient Summary

Message tab

On the Message tab you compose, review, and send your SMS.

Message tab composer

SMS messages are plain text only. Changes auto-save as you work.

Tip: Undo changes to the Message Text with Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Cmd+Z (Mac).

Composer tools

The composer has three tools for generating message content:

Icon Tool What it does
Link Shortener icon Link Shortener and Tracker Adds a custom short link to the message. See How to Use the SMS Link Shortener and Tracker.
Personalization icon Personalization Inserts a merge field with a max length and fallback text. See How to Use SMS Personalization.
Opt-Out Text icon Add Opt-Out Text Adds "Txt STOP to OptOut" to the end of the message. Best practice is to include it on most messages and at least every 5th send to the same recipient.

Character count, concatenation, and Credits

One SMS is up to 160 characters. Messages over 160 characters use more than one Credit per recipient, based on the total length.

Track the character count in the bottom right of the message area. This count always accounts for the maximum length of personalizations and shortened links, so you know up front how many messages you are sending.

Concatenation preview. When a message exceeds 160 characters, it arrives either as individual messages (2 or more separate texts) or concatenated into a single longer message. Toggle this in the Message Preview to see how either option looks.

Concatenation preview

What is a concatenated message? Some (not all) mobile carriers group a long message into one delivered text instead of splitting it. When a message isn't concatenated, recipients receive multiple text notifications. Concatenation doesn't change Credit usage - it is a carrier delivery behaviour, not an Act-On setting.

Credits Summary

Shows your available Credits and the Credits this send will use. Credits are calculated by multiplying the number of recipients by the number of messages per recipient.

Credits Summary

Next steps

Once your message is written and reviewed, it is time to send. See How to Send an SMS Message.

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