Create and Customize SMS Messages

Goal

Create an SMS message in Mapp Engage and enhance it with personalizations, links, or coupon codes.

Prerequisites

• SMS messaging is an extra feature in Mapp Engage. Ensure that its setup in your system is complete.

• To use coupons:

  • Generate alphanumeric coupons in a shop or CRM system.

  • Import the coupons as a TXT or CSV file into a coupon list in Mapp Engage. See Import Coupons Into a Coupon List.

Procedure

Step 1 - Type

1. In the main navigation, click Create New > Message > SMS Message.

2. Enter message information and click Create.

Step 2 - Content

1. Enter your SMS text in the input field.

   • The current character count appears beneath the input field.

   • The system displays the number of SMS segments required for sendout.

2. (Optional) Add content:

   • Personalization

     • Click Personalization.

     • In the pop-up, search for or create a personalization.

     • Drag and drop the placeholder into the message.
       Example: <%${user['FirstName']}%>

       Note: Personalization fields and Mapp Engage Variables are dynamically replaced with actual values at the time of sendout. As a result, the character count shown in the editor may not reflect the final message length. Each recipient may receive an SMS of a different length depending on the personalized values.

   • Links

     • Add plain-text links (e.g., www.example.com). Do not use HTML tags.

     • Click Shorten Links to reduce character count.

     • (Optional) Add placeholders to the shortened URL.
       Example: https://mre.li/3koE09CW?email=<%user.Email%>

     Mapp Engage offers link shortening to optimize your SMS content. For details, see Add Links to SMS.

   • Coupons

     • Click Mapp Engage Variables.

     • From the Category drop-down, select Coupon.

       Note: Character count adjusts at sendout based on actual coupon length.

3. Expand the Advanced Options section.

4. In the SMS Encoding area, choose the desired encoding:

   • 7-bit (GSM ISO 8859-1): Up to 160 characters

   • 16-bit (UTF-8): Up to 70 characters, required for special characters

5. Preview the message to ensure that everything displays correctly.

6. Click Prepare Sendout.

Step 3 - Configuration

This step defines how and when your SMS message is sent. You choose the target group, schedule or send immediately, apply segmentation, and optionally save the message for repeated or automated use.

For details, see SMS Message Creation: 3 - Configuration.

Step 4 - Summary

1. In the Summary step, you review all message settings and see the message preview.

2. Click Prepare Sendout to return to the previous step, where you can edit the message.

3. Click Send (if Message Transport was set to Immediately), or Schedule Message (if Message Transport was set to Schedule).

Best Practices

• Use short links to save space and improve readability, especially on feature phones.

• Avoid direct link tracking in SMS; use analytics tools on landing pages instead.

• Use placeholders to tailor messages, but keep in mind variable lengths can affect the final message count.

• Only alphanumeric coupons can be used—barcodes are not supported in SMS.