Note: SMS will be available for all clients around the middle to end of August 2024.
Text Messages > All Designs > Send Message
The Text Message Sending Page can be used to send one-time or recurring text messages to your CDP audiences.
Send a Text Message
Once you are satisfied with your text message design, click the "Send Message" button in the top right of the Composition Tool.
On the Sending Page, you may categorize the text in any configured campaigns.
Send To Section
- Select the Audience you intend to send this text message to. This drop-down is required. You may choose to refresh the Audience Counts to get an idea of the current size of the Audience (SMS Contactable records).
- If applicable, add a Seed list from the drop-down. A Seed list is a list of anyone who should receive the text message even if they are not in the original audience. For example, you may choose to seed company employees or managers.
- If applicable, add a Suppression list from. A Suppression list is a list of anyone who should not receive the text message even if they are in the original audience. For example, you may choose to suppress people who recently bought items from a sale announcement.
In this section, note the Estimated Credit Usage for the text message. The estimated credit usage is based upon the type of the message (SMS or MMS) and the anticipated segments of the message based on message length). You'll see estimated credit usage per recipient, so be sure to also note the size of the audience you intend to send to.
From Section
- Confirm or change the From Number for this text message. If you only have one number associated with your account, you'll only see one option here.
Use caution when changing between number types (Toll Free 800 or Local area code numbers). These changes have traffic deliverability and file size implications. Learn more about these different number types here.
Schedule Section
- Choose to Send Now or Schedule Send.
- For Scheduled Sends, select the start date & time and Recurrence, if applicable.
- Toggling the Send when data is available check box forces Ascent360 to ensure that data from the previous day is available within the Platform prior to attempting the text message send. This is especially helpful for audiences that rely on yesterday's data (Transaction Date = 1 day ago). If this box is checked, Ascent360 will attempt the text message send at the configured time; if data from the previous day is not available, Ascent360 will delay the send, checking every 30 minutes until data is available.
Quiet Hours
There are certain times when it's illegal to send SMS known as Quiet Hours. Quiet Hours depend on the current time of the recipient of the text message (not you, the sender). Some states have Quiet Hours that deviate from the Quiet Hours set in place by the TCPA.
Ascent360's global Quiet Hours range from 6PM to 10AM Mountain Time. If you are attempting to send or schedule a text message within this window, we'll warn you before proceeding.
For more on Ascent360's texting Quiet Hours, see What are Texting Quiet Hours?
