SMS/MMS

The SMS node sends a text message to every contact that reaches it in a flow. It is the action node you use to deliver SMS content in both One-Time and Recurring flow campaigns.

This page covers only what is specific to the SMS node — selecting content, sending options, and contact extension. For creating the campaign, scheduling, and selecting the audience, see One-Time Flow Campaigns or Recurring Flow Campaigns.

Prerequisites

Before adding an SMS node, make sure that:

• The SMS content you want to send has been created and published in Content → SMS. Contents still in Draft state cannot be selected — publish the content first.
• Your audience contacts have mobile (GSM) numbers and SMS permission. Contacts without permission are skipped automatically at send time unless your delivery settings say otherwise.

Add the node to the flow

1. On the flow canvas, drag the SMS node from the Actions panel onto the canvas. The node is named SMS Send automatically, and a Wait node is attached after it so you can chain follow-up steps.
2. Connect the node after the Audience node (or after any decision/wait node in your flow).
3. Double-click the node to configure it. Configuration has two steps: 1 – Content and 2 – Settings.

Step 1 — Select the content

When you select a content, the right panel shows a phone preview of the message with:

• Sender name — the originator the message will be sent from.
• Message text — including personalization placeholders (for example {%=$Contact.name%}) exactly as they will be resolved per contact.
• Length and SMS count — the character count and how many SMS parts the message will be billed as (for example Length: 243 · No Of SMS: 4). Check this before sending — personalization values, special characters, and Unicode letters can increase the number of parts per contact.

Click Next to continue to the settings step.

Step 2 — Configure the settings

Contact Extension

A contact can store more than one phone number using contact extension attributes (for example a primary and a secondary number, or numbers collected per brand).For a comprehensive guide on configuring this feature, please visit the Configuring Contact Extensions page.

• Send to default — the message goes to the contact's primary phone number. This is the right choice for most campaigns.
• Use contact extension — select one or more extension attributes from the list, then choose:
  • Send to first available — the message goes to the first selected attribute that has a value for that contact.
  • Send to all — the message goes to every selected number the contact has.

If you choose Use contact extension, you must tick at least one attribute — otherwise the node shows the warning "Please select a contact extension" and cannot be saved or tested.

Test and save

1. Click Test. The Test SMS Template window opens with an example message rendered for a real contact from your audience — personalization placeholders are filled with that contact's actual values, and the final length/SMS count is shown. Click Show Another to preview a different contact, and Send Test SMS to deliver the test to the example number. Always test before publishing.

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   A [Test] tag is added to the beginning of the message to indicate that it is a test SMS. If adding the tag would exceed the character limit, the SMS is sent without it.

2. Click Save to close the node.

3. Complete the rest of the flow — every path must end with an End node — then publish as described in One-Time or Recurring Flow Campaigns.

Example: a flash sale with an SMS follow-up

A marketer is running a 48-hour flash sale and wants to reach contacts who miss the email announcement:

1. In a one-time campaign, drag the Email node after the Audience node and select the Flash Sale Announcement content.
2. Add a Wait node (1 day), then an Engagement Split checking opened Flash Sale Announcement.
3. On the "No" branch, drag an SMS node, name it Flash Sale SMS, and select the Flash Sale SMS content — a short message with the contact's name, the discount code, and a shortened link to the sale page.
4. Keep the defaults on the settings step: duplicate removal on, contact extension on Send to default; close both branches with End nodes.
5. Click Test on the SMS node, check the rendered message and SMS count for a few contacts with Show Another, save, and publish.

Contacts who miss the email still get the offer before the sale ends — and because the SMS node deduplicates phone numbers, nobody receives the same promotion twice.

Troubleshooting