SMS Workflow in Mapp Engage

Basic information & workflow

SMS is a key feature in the Mapp Engage multi-channel marketing tool. It allows you to use personalization, segmentation, and whiteboards to contact your customers with messages that will instantly be visible. SMS messaging generally achieves much higher open and response rates than other types of messaging. Get started by watching this short introductory video.

Prerequisites

SMS messaging is an extra feature of Mapp Engage. Before you can send SMS messages, you need to activate the feature in your Engage system. Contact your customer success or account manager for more information.

Before you start

Before you start, you need to consider how SMS should be set up in your Engage system. There are several possibilities. 

1. What method of communication are you going to use?

   • Shared short code with a keyword?

   • Dedicated short code?

   • Dedicated long number?
     For more information, see SMS Code Types.

2. How can contacts subscribe?

   • By sending an SMS message?

   • By signing up on a website or in-store?

3. How can contacts unsubscribe?

   • By sending an SMS message?

   • By changing preferences on a website?

4. Are subscribers allowed to reply to your SMS messages using Inbound Messages?

Work with your account manager to help you successfully set up the SMS channel. For more information, see SMS Providers & Setup Steps.

Procedure

A) Audience

1. Create a Group
   A group is a list of addresses to which you send messages. Groups allow you to organize your contacts in Mapp Engage. You can create as many groups as you want. A common and recommended use of Groups is per channel: Email, SMS, Mobile Push, Direct Mail, etc. But you can create other groups depending on the size of your contact list, sendout frequency, subscription/unsubscription setup, and other factors relevant to your business. 

   Documentation	Description
   SMS Best Practice	This article provides best practice recommendations for setting up SMS groups. Typically, separate groups for SMS and Email are recommended to accommodate differences in the way contacts are handled. The number of SMS groups that need to be created depends on the answers to the questions in the "Before you start" section above.
   Create a New Group	This article describes the basic procedure to create a group and a high-level description of available group settings.
   Define Group settings	In each SMS group, you must define the following parameters: Outbound Mobile Id: This is the equivalent of a From Address in Email. The value entered must be different for each group and depends on the method of communication that is used – shared short code, dedicated short code or long number. Inbound Mobile Id: Indicates how the recipients' replies, if enabled, are to be directed. As in the case of the Outbound Mobile Id, the value entered here must be different for each group and depends on the method of communication that is used. Thanks to this setting, the incoming SMS messages can be routed to the correct Mapp Engage group. Incoming Mobile Messages: Indicates how recipient replies will be handled. There are several possible options that depend on the methods of subscription/unsubscription that are used. For more information see SMS Code Types and SMS Reply Handling.

2. Import Contacts

   Before you start building your audiences, you need to get their contact data into Mapp Engage. Contact data are imported into groups. 

   Documentation	Description
   Import Mobile Numbers for SMS	This document describes the import procedure for contacts who are identified with a mobile number in the import file.  These pages also describe all the different ways of importing contacts into Mapp Engage: Manual import Automated import Import with Mapp Connect

3. Build your Audience
   Defining your target audiences is key to success in digital marketing. Mapp's Segmentation Builder is a tool that picks exactly those contacts from within your groups that you want to target with a specific message or campaign. Those contacts are put into segments which can be used across the platform.

   Documentation	Description
   How-Tos for Segmentation Builder	Here, you will find basic procedures, for example: Create a Segment Calculate the Size of a Segment Limit Segment Size Add a Segment to a Group Apply a Segment to an Automation
   Segmentation Builder Basics	Read this article if you are not yet familiar with Segmentation Builder. It clarifies the basic concept behind segmenting your contacts and explains the user interface of the tool. Here, you will also find a description of the available segmentation criteria: Contact Profile Related Data Email Activity Mobile Activity Web Activity Intelligence
   Use Cases for Segmentation Builder	This section shows you practical examples of segments with detailed configuration.

B) Message Setup & Sendout

1. Create an SMS Message
   Create the content of your SMS message, including personalization and links. Make sure you understand the limitations associated with SMS, especially with regards to encoding.

   Documentation	Description
   Create an SMS Message	This article explains how to create your SMS message using the supported features: Compose SMS Add Personalization to SMS Add Links to SMS Add Coupons to SMS
   SMS Format and Encoding	Here, you will find more details about the implications of using different encoding in your SMS message.

2. Preview & test Message
   It is good practice to preview the SMS message before the live sendout is executed and make sure it is rendered correctly.

   Documentation	Description
   SMS Message Preview (window)	This page describes ways to preview your SMS before sendout. You can simulate the effects of personalization, send the SMS to a test recipient and more. This way, you can ensure that your SMS message displays correctly.

C) Sendout

Before sending the message, Mapp Engage processes it according to all the parameters you defined in the previous steps. The relevant recipients are selected, and individual SMS messages are created for sendouts that include personalization.

D) Performance & Reporting

Just as with email, it is important to view the results of an SMS sendout to check deliverability.