Understanding Special and Non-Special Characters for SMS Campaigns

In the world of SMS marketing, the type of characters you use can significantly impact your campaign's reach and cost. This blog post explores the differences between special and non-special characters, how they affect SMS messages, and best practices for maximizing efficiency in your SMS campaigns.

The Importance of Character Types in SMS

SMS marketing remains a powerful tool for engaging customers due to its high open rates and immediate impact. However, understanding the intricacies of character encoding is essential to ensure that your messages are delivered as intended and within budget.

Non-Special Characters

Non-special characters are the standard characters that are commonly used in most texts. These characters are part of the GSM-7 encoding standard, which includes the following:

• Uppercase and lowercase English letters (A-Z, a-z)

• Digits (0-9)

• Common punctuation marks (e.g., period, comma, exclamation point)

• Certain special characters (e.g., @, $, &, +)

GSM-7 encoding allows for up to 160 characters in a single SMS message. This encoding is efficient and cost-effective, making it ideal for standard messages.

Special Characters

Special characters are outside the GSM-7 encoding standard and typically require UCS-2 encoding. Examples of special characters include:

• Characters from non-Latin alphabets (e.g., Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic)

• Emojis and symbols (e.g., 😊, ❤️, ✔️)

• Specific punctuation marks not included in GSM-7 (e.g., curly quotes, non-breaking spaces)

Using UCS-2 encoding significantly reduces the character limit per SMS to 70 characters. This reduction can increase the number of SMS segments required, thus increasing the cost of your campaign.

Impact on SMS Campaigns

Message Length and Segmentation

When special characters are used, reducing the character limit means your message might be split into multiple segments. For example, a 160-character message using only GSM-7 characters is sent as one SMS, but the same message with special characters might be split into three SMS segments, increasing costs.

Delivery and Display

Special characters can sometimes cause display issues on recipients' devices if not supported. This can lead to a poor user experience and potentially reduce engagement rates.

Best Practices for SMS Campaigns

1. Know Your Audience: Understand the preferences and language of your audience. If your audience prefers messages in a language that requires special characters, plan your campaign accordingly.

2. Test Messages: Before launching your campaign, test how messages appear on various devices. Ensure all characters are displayed correctly and the message remains within an acceptable length.

3. Use Emojis Sparingly: While emojis can add a personal touch, they should be used sparingly to avoid unnecessary segmentation. Consider the context and relevance of each emoji to your message.

4. Optimize for Length: Craft concise messages that convey your key points without exceeding character limits. Use abbreviations and common acronyms where appropriate to save space.

5. Monitor Costs: Keep an eye on the cost implications of using special characters. If budget constraints are a concern, prioritize messages that use GSM-7 encoding.

6. Provide Value: Ensure that every message offers value to the recipient, whether through exclusive offers, important updates, or personalized content. This approach helps justify the cost of additional segments when necessary.

Conclusion

Understanding the difference between unique and non-special characters in SMS campaigns is crucial for effective communication and cost management. Marketers can optimize their SMS campaigns for maximum impact and efficiency by following best practices and being mindful of character usage. You may download the symbols document for SMS here.