SMS Marketing Campaigns

• You are solely responsible for complying with all SMS marketing regulations, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
• By using this service, you agree to release and indemnify MyTime from all claims, penalties, demands, actions, proceedings, costs, and/or damages arising from your use of SMS marketing.
  

 CONTENTS

• Opting-in & Opting-out
• Sending Content
• Quiet Hours
• Terms & Conditions & Privacy Policy
• Configure & Send SMS Marketing Campaigns

Opting-in & Opting-out

• Clients must opt in to receive SMS marketing campaigns. When the "Client Marketing SMS Opt-In" template is activated in Automated Messages and a client is created with the Marketing SMS checkbox selected on their profile, a text message will be sent asking the client to confirm that they want to receive SMS marketing.
• Clients will not receive any marketing campaign SMS until they reply YES to the confirmation message.
• If the client’s information is edited, the phone number is changed, or the marketing SMS checkbox is unchecked, the confirmation process must be restarted.
• Once a month, both automated and manual campaign SMS messages will include the “Reply STOP to unsubscribe” message. If the client responds with STOP, they will be unsubscribed.
• Reply messages such as STOP, UNSTOP, or UNSUBSCRIBE will unsubscribe the client by default. Learn more about Twilio guidelines here.

Sending Content

Opt-ins: When creating your opt-in message for your campaign, make sure your clients know that they're joining an SMS marketing list. You must include the following information: 

(i) Business/Program Name
(ii) STOP Instructions
(iii) HELP Instructions
(iv) Frequency (v) Message and Data Rates May Apply
(vi) Link to Terms & Privacy Policy. We have provided a generic template as a reference.

Quiet Hours

SMS marketing campaigns can only be sent between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM in the recipient’s time zone. MyTime automatically enforces this restriction. 

Terms & Conditions & Privacy Policy

MyTime provides a generic, compliant Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy, but this text can be edited in the “Client Marketing SMS Opt-In” template on the Automated Messages tab.

Configure & Send SMS Marketing Campaigns

Things to know:

• By default, MyTime automatically includes clients with a mobile phone number on file who have double opted in to receive SMS marketing campaigns. Clients who have not double opted in or do not have a mobile phone number on file are excluded from the recipient list.
• When sending SMS campaigns in MyTime, you can specify additional delivery methods using the “Deliver By” option:
  • Use if Available: The selected method will be used for delivery if available (e.g., the recipient has the required contact information and has not opted out).
  • Never Use: The selected method will not be used under any circumstances, even if no other delivery options are available.
• SMS Segment Calculation & Billing:

  • SMS costs are calculated per segment, not per message. Carriers treat each segment as a separate message for delivery and billing, so every segment is counted and charged individually. This billing method is determined by carriers and is not specific to MyTime.

  • Segments per message are based on length and encoding

  • Encoding Standards 

    • GSM Encoding:

      • GSM-encoded messages (standard letters, numbers, and symbols) allow up to 160 characters per segment. 

      • If the message is longer than 160 characters, it will be split into concatenated segments of 153 characters each.

    • UCS-2 Encoding:

      • UCS-2 messages (special characters, emojis, or non-Latin alphabets) allow up to 70 characters per segment. 

      • If the message is longer than 70 characters, it will be split into concatenated segments of 67 characters each.
        

      • Even a single emoji forces UCS-2 encoding, reducing per-segment capacity and potentially doubling the number of segments.

    • Note: Concatenation headers are hidden data that let the recipient’s phone reassemble multiple segments into a single message.

  • Each recipient receives their own copy, so the number of segments per message is multiplied by the number of recipients to calculate billing. Example: A 2-segment message sent to 50 recipients counts as 100 billable segments. If each segment costs $0.02, the total cost would be 100 × $0.02 = $2.00.

  • Learn more about SMS segments & billing here.
• In Marketing > Campaigns > Sent, you can view:
  • The names of SMS marketing campaigns sent
  • The number of clients each campaign was sent to
  • The number of SMS messages that bounced
  • Note: SMS messages typically bounce when the phone number on file is invalid.
    
• Images cannot be sent in an SMS campaign

Let's now look at how to send an SMS marketing campaign:

1. To get started, navigate to Marketing > Automated Messages > Transactional  
2. From there, open the “Client Marketing SMS Opt-In” template under Client Engagement
3. Ensure you follow the guidelines noted here when editing the template.
4. After making your changes, save the template and activate it. Once activated, any new client with the Marketing SMS checkbox selected on their profile will automatically receive a text message requesting confirmation to receive SMS marketing. If a client has not responded or if they are an existing client, you can resend the opt-in message using the Resend Request button or send a Marketing SMS Opt-In Campaign to prompt them to opt in. Please ensure compliance with SMS marketing regulations when sending opt-in requests. Learn more here.
5. Next, go to the Campaigns tab and then select “Text Message.” Here you can use information from an existing email template or create your own. ou can specify a preferred delivery method using the "Deliver By" option:
   • Use if Available: The selected method will be used for delivery, provided it is available (e.g., the recipient has the required contact information or has not opted out).
   • Never Use: The selected method will not be used under any circumstances, even if no other delivery options are available.
6. 
7. After making the necessary adjustments to your campaign, click on the "Next Select Recipients" button 
8. By default, MyTime will automatically select the clients who have a mobile phone number on file and have double opted in to receive SMS marketing campaigns. If a client has not opted in, they will not appear in the recipient list. Once satisfied with your recipient list, click on the Send button.
9. On the Campaigns Sent tab under the Sent Text Message Campaigns section, you will be able to view all SMS campaigns that were sent.
10. Clicking "Hide" prompts a pop-up confirmation: "Are you sure you want to hide this campaign?" Selecting "OK" hides the sent campaign from the interface.
    

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Related Articles:

• Mass SMS Marketing Opt-in
• SMS Segments & Billing
• Customizing Marketing Campaigns
• Campaign Filters
• Delivery Method for Campaigns
• Marketing Campaign Templates
• Direct / Indirect Bookings & Revenue Generated by Marketing Campaigns
• SMS Usage Report