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SMS ​

Besides WhatsApp, Midlr can send ordinary text messages (SMS) to your contacts' phones. SMS is a separate channel: it doesn't use your WhatsApp business number, WhatsApp templates or WhatsApp's approval. It's useful for reaching customers who don't use WhatsApp.

SMS is available for selected businesses only. If you don't see SMS in your sidebar under Messages, contact support.

Before you start ​

  • You need a phonebook with the contacts to send to.
  • You need an approved SMS sender and an approved SMS template (below).
  • You need money in your SMS Wallet. Each campaign is charged from it.
  • To add money to your SMS Wallet, contact Midlr support.

Set up SMS senders ​

The sender is the name your customers see as the "from" of the SMS, for example MYBRAND.

  1. In the sidebar, under Messages, click SMS, then SMS Templates.
  2. Open the Senders tab.
  3. Click Add Sender.
  4. Enter a Label (a name for you, like "Main Sender") and the Sender ID (what customers see).
  5. Click Add Sender.

The Midlr team reviews every new sender. Its status shows as Pending, then Accepted or Rejected. If it's rejected, hover over the badge or open the sender to see the reason.

Sender ID rules differ from country to country.

Create SMS templates ​

An SMS template is the text you send. Unlike WhatsApp templates, it has no pictures or buttons.

  1. On the SMS Configuration page, open the Templates tab.
  2. Click New Template.
  3. Enter a Template Name, for example "Welcome Message".
  4. Write the Message Body. To add a variable, type it in double curly braces, like {{name}}, or click a chip next to Insert: to add it where your cursor is.
  5. Check the Preview. It shows the length and how many SMS parts the message uses.
  6. Click Create Template.

The Midlr team reviews every template. It shows Pending, then Accepted or Rejected (with a reason). Only accepted templates can be used in campaigns.

Message length

A single SMS holds 160 characters. Longer messages are split into several parts, and each part is charged. If your message has non-Latin characters (for example Arabic) or emojis, each part only holds 70 characters. The preview shows {count} chars until next part so you can keep the message short.

To change or remove a template, use the edit or delete icons in the Actions column.

Send an SMS campaign ​

  1. In the sidebar, under Messages, click SMS, then SMS Campaigns.
  2. Click Launch SMS Campaign.
  3. Pick the Phone Book to send to.
  4. Pick the SMS Sender. Only accepted senders are listed.
  5. Pick the SMS Template. Only accepted templates are listed. {{name}} and {{phone}} are filled in automatically from the phonebook.
  6. Optional: tick Schedule for later and pick a date and time.
  7. Optional, under Tracking:
    • Delivery tracking: know which numbers received the SMS.
    • Link click tracking: track every tap on a link in the SMS. Links in your template are replaced with short tracked links, so make sure the template contains a link.
  8. Check the Cost Estimate. It shows the number of Recipients, the Est. Total (USD), and a Breakdown by country.
  9. Click Launch SMS Campaign (or Schedule SMS Campaign).

WARNING

The cost is taken from your SMS Wallet. If the wallet doesn't have enough, you see Insufficient balance. and can't launch. Recipients in countries with No pricing are not included in the estimate. They're charged to your wallet later.

SMS campaign statuses ​

StatusWhat it means
PendingWaiting to start.
ScheduledWill start at the time you picked.
ProcessingMessages are going out now.
PausedStopped for now. You can resume it.
CompletedEvery message has been sent.
CancelledSomeone stopped it. Unsent messages were discarded.

In the campaign list, use the buttons in the Actions column to Pause, Resume or Cancel a campaign. Pausing stops sending after the current batch.

Read an SMS campaign report ​

Click a campaign to open it. At the top you see:

  • Total Recipients
  • Sent: handed to the phone network.
  • Delivered: confirmed received by the phone (only with delivery tracking on).
  • Failed: could not be sent.
  • Success Rate
  • Link Clicks (only with link tracking on)

The tabs below show more detail:

  • Messages: every SMS with its phone number, status, Sent At and Delivered At times, and link clicks.
  • Link Tracking: each tracked link, its total clicks, and the first and last click.
  • Batches: how the campaign was split up and how each batch did.
  • Logs: a timeline of what happened while sending.

Need more help? Open a support ticket from inside Midlr.

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