In this article you’ll learn how to edit an SMS.
First, make sure you also get familiar with extended language encoding which may not be that much fun, but yet very important.
Edit SMS content
When clicking (Content) Edit on the settings page the editor will open and you can start adding your message.
To the left you have a preview of your message. The preview will try to build your message as close to the final SMS as possible, but if you use (modified) placeholders your preview may not be exact and the character count may vary from message to message depending on the content your placeholders will render.
Type your message in the text box to the right.
By clicking the Add bar you can insert other content than plain text:
When clicking Done editing the text box will close and you'll go to the content overview where you can add more content widgets and segments.
Personalization
You can personalize your SMS content by adding placeholders, you can add both plain contact data placeholders (Hello first name!) and snippets.
Added handlebars will be fully exposed (and editable) in the edit area to the right, but in the preview you will see a condensed version. Learn how to modify the contact data.
Note that handlebar modifications (if any) not will be reflected in the preview since this is fetched when the message is generated.
Placeholders for dynamic data will get a dotted line and be bold in the preview.
Dates
On Dates you can add different types of dynamic sendtime dates to your message. Whenever a message is generated, the placeholder will pick up the current date and render it in the message.
You can for example select Current day to dynamically render the day the message is generated.
Default language is English but you can modify this if you for example want to print "Jeudi " instead of "Thursday", learn how!
Added date handlebars will be fully exposed in the edit area to the right, but in the preview you will see your dynamic placeholder as your message would be if you sent it right now.
Dynamic data will get a dotted line and be bold in the preview.
Note that handlebar modifications not will be reflected in the preview, since this is fetched when the message is generated.
Emojis
Emojis are fun to use in text messages where images can't be used. Explore or search available emojis.
Just be aware of that you need to switch on the Extended encoding in order to display your emojis.
Links
There are two advantages for using the the built in URL shortener.
- This will shorten your added link to as few characters as possible i.e. yourdomain.com/(≈11 characters) while still secure and trackable. Example: yourdomain.com/r/zik0zjabc
Please note that longer URLs may need more characters so always send tests to verify the length of your content. - Symplify can track your clicks and see who has clicked on a link. But also you can add custom tracking to your links without creating a long URL.
Select Web page to shorten a link to your site or Dynamic Web to add a shortened link to a page made in Symplify.
The short link will use the domain selected in the sendout settings.
Some devices might not automatically not make your link clickable. That's probably due to that they don't recognize the top domain of your tracking domain. To fix this, you can add https:// in front of your shortlink.
Content segments
If you want to send variations of your SMS to specific groups within your main audience you can use content segments.
You'll then need to add widgets (text or link) to which you then add the segment(s) you want.
When you've edited your default text widget you will see the content overview where you find Add widget. Add the widget you want, text or link (you can select several widgets at the same time).
Segments can be added or removed in the content overview, by clicking on the funnel icon (
) or when editing your widget, under Advanced.
Note that the setting for language encoding will affect all content widgets within a sendout, even if the used character set may differ between content.
Previewing segmented content
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Content with segments will be highlighted in the preview but you can also hide specific content by clicking on the eye icon ( To preview based on segments, go to the top eye and select the segment(s) you want to view. Please note that hidden content still is a part of your sendout. It is only hidden in your preview. |
You might need to add spaces between content widgets, so evaluate this when previewing your different content variations.