Sarbacane Campaigns: create my first SMS campaign

Don't have time to read the entire user guide before creating your first SMS campaign? We've put together a short guide to help you create your very first SMS campaign with Sarbacane Campaigns.

Necessary prerequisites for sending an SMS marketing message

A license to access Sarbacane Campaigns

You need a license to Sarbacane Campaigns to be able to send an SMS marketing campaign. Two licenses give you access to this application: the Sarbacane Suite license (which gives you access to all the applications in the Suite) or the Campaigns license (which gives you access only to the Campaigns and Contacts applications).

Here are a few resources to help you understand what a license is and how to obtain one:

• How does the licensing system work?
• What is a Suite license?
• How do I buy a license?
• How do I assign a license to a user?

Having SMS routing credits

You need SMS routing credits to start sending SMS campaigns.

You can purchase them from your account settings, in the "Account" section, then in the "Consumption" section at the bottom of the overview of your current offer.

Create your SMS marketing campaign

From the Sarbacane home screen, go to the Campaigns application. You will be redirected to the Sarbacane Campaigns home page.

To create a SMS campaign, click on the "Create" button in the "Create a new campaign" insert, or press the small red "+" in the left-hand side menu, then on "Create a campaign".

Click on "Select" in the "SMS Campaign" box.

You are then redirected to the first stage of campaign creation: importing contacts. From here, you can perform several actions:

• Name your campaign using the input field in the top left-hand corner.
• Assign tags to your campaign (accessible via the "properties" section of the action menu to the right of your campaign name).
• Define campaign sharing options (accessible via the "properties" section of the actions menu to the right of your campaign name)
• View and navigate the breadcrumb trail representing the creation stages of your SMS campaign (visible and accessible at each stage of creation)
  • Recipients to import your contacts
  • Message to create your SMS content
  • Tests to test your SMS campaign before sending
  • Send to choose the method you'd like to use to send your campaign

Import your contacts

The first step is dedicated to importing your contacts into your SMS campaign. You can import them in different ways:

• Import a list of contacts if you have already created a list in the Sarbacane Contacts application.
• Import behavioral targeting based on the behavior of your contacts in relation to your previously sent campaigns (send to openers or clickers of a given campaign).
• Import a file in xslx, txt or csv format. Please note that, to guarantee optimal processing of your import, we advise you to use txt or csv formats.
• Copy and paste an address list. Note that if you wish to copy and paste other columns with your address list, the accepted separators are ", "or ";" or tabs.
• Other import methods may be displayed, depending on the connectors available in your account (Salesforce or other).

Once you've chosen your import method, you can view your list of recipients in the form of a table and make any adjustments or analyses you wish.

Create the content of your SMS campaign

Select campaign type you want to create

On the right-hand side menu, you can choose the type of campaign you wish to create: marketing or notification (this will determine, among other things, whether you wish to add a "STOP" message at the end of your message).

Write the content of your SMS

Enter the content of your message directly into the box provided, right on your smartphone screen.

As a reminder, an SMS message contains 160 characters, equivalent to one SMS routing credit. You can send messages longer than 160 characters. However, you will be charged 1 or 2 extra credits, depending on the length of your message. The maximum message length is 450 characters. Keep in mind that certain links, dynamic fields, STOP mentions or special characters may consume more characters and cause you to use up more credits than expected. Learn more about SMS credit consumption.

You can choose to personalize the sender of your SMS (i.e. display your brand name as the sender) or leave the sender as default (a short number will be displayed instead of the sender's name).

You can link a form or landing page to your SMS by inserting a link to them. Your SMS then becomes an enriched SMS, with no impact on the cost of your campaign.

Test your SMS campaign

Before sending an SMS marketing message or notification, it's a good idea to carry out some tests to make sure that the message is displayed correctly and that your link works (if you've added one to your campaign).

Sarbacane Campaigns checks

Sarbacane Campaigns proposes a list of checks to be carried out before sending your message, to remind you of the important elements to remember:

• Check the type of campaign sent (marketing or notification)
• Check and/or modify the sender name you've configured
• Make sure all your links are working properly
• Check your tracking settings (enable / disable behavioral tracking, geolocation, campaign tracking in Google Analytics)

Send a test

Once you've done the initial checks, make sure everything's working properly by sending your SMS campaign to yourself and other colleagues. To do this, click on the "Send a test" button on the right-hand side of your screen in the "Test" step.

Then enter the telephone numbers you wish to test.

Send your SMS campaign

Once you're ready, you can choose to send your SMS in different ways:

• Send immediately: send your campaign immediately
• Delayed sending: schedule your campaign to be sent at the date and time of your choice.
• Timed sending: divide your campaign into smaller batches at the pace of your choice - an ideal option for keeping your team's workload under control.