Does Your SMS Deliverability Spell S-u-c-c-e-s-s or S-u-c-k-s?

Let's break the phrase down into parts to define it more easily.

SMS - deliver - ability.

SMS deliverability, therefore, is the ability of your marketing texts to reach (gets delivered to) the phones of your text subscribers and resonate with them.

Sounds simple, right?

You know the drill . . .

     First, create message.

     Next, add subscribers.

     Then press ‘Send.’

There you go, your work is done. You expect your text message to reach people’s phones. But your text message’s trip to your subscribers’ mobiles isn’t as simple as these three steps.

A few more things happen (not to mention regulatory parties involved) between the time you pressed ‘Send’ and your message reaching your subscriber’s phone. (Plus there's the hurdle of having your recipient clicking open you message. But this is for another post.) Knowing what these are is key to understanding why other SMS messages get delivered, while some don’t. This highly affects SMS Deliverability.

After hitting "Send," your message will go through at least 3 checkpoints. Fail in any of these checkpoints and they become chokepoints for your business text.

1- Failing the Marketing Platform Scan

Just like email service providers doing an initial scrutiny of your marketing emails, SMS service providers like Klaviyo also check your text messages to see if the texts abide by certain rules. This includes:

If you break any of these rules, that’s when SMS is not delivered.

Why the Compliance Vigilance?

Besides wanting to protect customers from unauthorized harmful messages, Klaviyo and other marketing platforms don’t want to get into compliance trouble with authorities.

Various governing bodies per country are keeping an eye on SMS making it a heavily regulated communication channel. That's why marketing platforms make it their responsibility to do initial checks.

Compliance requirements vary from region to region. For example, the US has the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). As its name implies, it’s formed to protect US consumers against unauthorized messages, including spam and other unauthorized ads. It charges between $500 and $1,500 for a single violation.

Now the TCPA rules may differ from those of Canada and Australia. That's why it’s best you know the what rules apply in the area(s) your market is in.

Now when your marketing platform (Klaviyo) puts your text in the clear, your message now proceeds to its next compliance check stop . . .  mobile service providers. 

2- Failing the Mobile Service Providers Check

Mobile service providers like T-Mobile also want to provide a good customer experience. That’s why they shield their customers from harmful messages. They do this by blocking messages that are non-compliant to regulations. T-mobile and friends will scan for banned terms and links leading to landing pages with forbidden content.

Deciding factors to determine whether or not your SMS gets delivered differ from one mobile carrier to another. They usually consider:

SMS and MMS Deliverability is just like Email Deliverability. It reflects whether or not your SMS recipients are happy with your messages. At the same time, it also shows whether or not mobile carriers like Verizon and AT&T are happy with how you’re making your recipients happy with your messages.

There may be no spam folder for text messages. But unengaged recipients can rat on you as spam. When that happens, your messages may not end up in spam jail, but the consequences can include carrier filtering and hefty fines. In fact, you could be answerable to the Federal Communications Commission, thanks to the CAN-SPAM Act of the US Congress.

Now, what if your mobile service provider flags your text?

Sometimes these providers may tell you why your message sending failed. But sometimes they don’t to keep fraudsters from unraveling how their systems work.

On the other hand, if your text message gets through the scans, it proceeds to the final hurdle - your subscriber’s phone.

3 - Restrictions in Your Recipient's Mobile

If your subscriber's phone is out of service coverage’s reach or is turned off, then expect a delay in SMS delivery.

Also, there could be a spam filter in some devices. So if you’ve not optimized your SMS message for deliverability, then it could end up in the spam folder and not the primary inbox. This will impact your SMS deliverability rates.

So how do you know if your SMS and MMS deliverability is faring well?

Here are Klaviyo's SMS Deliverability benchmarks.

SMS and MMS metrics are not far off from each other. A bit of difference can only be seen in MMS's slightly higher average revenue per recipient and slightly lower unsubscribe rate.

Source: Klaviyo

If figures in your your SMS Deliverability Reports are within these ranges, then kudos to you!

If not, don't worry. There are ways to boost these numbers.

So what must you do to pass SMS sending protocols and improve your SMS deliverability?

I’m unpacking SMS Deliverability Best Practices in a free mini course.

In this course, I'll reveal:

• 10 SMS marketing routines to make sure your SMS message lands in your subscribers' phones instead of in some SMS limbo
• 3 tactics/maneuvers/moves to make sure you avoid paying costly fines and penalties
• An instant trick to quickly improve your sender reputation
• Content to avoid so your message don't get flagged
• How to fetch and interpret your SMS Deliverability Reports in Klaviyo.

Interested?

Click here to sign up/get your copy.

No time to go through my free course and would like someone to help you with your SMS marketing?

Schedule a Discovery Call with me to see if I can help.