What is the price of an SMS campaign?

Are you considering using SMS for your communication campaigns but wondering about the costs? This article details the factors that influence the cost of sending your SMS messages.

Understanding the price of an SMS

SMS pricing varies according to several key factors that we will detail below.

Geographic location of recipients

The cost of an SMS can vary depending on the recipient’s carrier and destination country. On the SMS Partner platform, the rate is specified by country for greater simplicity. Billing is based on the phone country code of the recipient’s number (for example, +32 for Belgium).

Message length

The number of characters can affect the cost. A standard SMS allows up to 160 characters, but longer messages can be sent at an additional cost.

Don’t forget to include the mandatory “STOP SMS” notice to comply with marketing communications regulations.

Also read our article: Character limits for an SMS.

SMS message encoding type

The cost also varies depending on the encoding (UTF-8 or UTF-16), which affects the maximum number of characters (from 70 to 160).

Number of recipients

The cost is also tied to the number of mobile phone numbers included in your campaign.

Summary of SMS campaign costs

In summary, the routing cost of an SMS depends on the following factors:

• The number of recipients
• The destination country
• The message length
• The encoding used

Pricing specifics

The rates mentioned are based on SMS Partner platform practices. However, they may vary depending on the provider.

Platform subscription: some SMS solutions offer advantageous rates subject to subscribing to a monthly plan (not applicable at SMS Partner).

Sending restrictions: limits may be imposed and additional costs may apply depending on the type of message sent, such as alert or transactional SMS.

As a reminder, SMS messages are billed regardless of their delivery status. In other words, an SMS may be charged even if it is not actually delivered to the recipient. Learn more about the reasons that can prevent an SMS from being delivered.

Number verification to save money?

To reduce costs, it is advisable to verify mobile phone numbers before sending messages. Implementing number verification, also known as HLR (Home Location Register) verification, makes it possible to identify unassigned or inactive numbers. Once these numbers have been identified, you can remove them from your contact lists, enabling you to make significant savings on your SMS campaigns.