š© Learning 2 - Salesforce Marketing Cloud SMS Tracking and Multi-Part Message Insights
This week I wanted to share some valuable learnings I gained from working on our Salesforce Marketing Cloud SMS tracking and deliverability.
Reflection #1: Did you know that the Ordinal attribute in the _SMSMessageTracking data view can help you count only the first part of a multi-part SMS? When messages exceed 160 characters, SFMC counts them as multiple sends. By using Ordinal = 0, you can count only the first SMS send, even if the message is split.
š” Hack Alert! To make sure you're tracking the actual number of SMS sent, filter using Ordinal = 0. This will give you a more accurate count when the message exceeds the character limit.
Reflection #2: When it comes to SMS character limits, any message longer than 160 characters will count as multiple SMS sends. For example, a 350-character message will count as 2 SMS sends per customer. To display the full message as one, use the Concatenate function, which activates once you select the From Name or Long/Short Code for the Business Unit.
š” Tip: This will ensure that the recipient sees the entire message as a single SMS.
Reflection #3: I came across an important insight about how SMS messages are counted when the message is split. In SFMC, if you send a message longer than 160 characters, the system counts each part of the message separately. For example, if you're sending a 350-character message to 100 customers, SFMC might count it as 200 sends (2 parts per customer). But with Ordinal = 0, it will only count 100 messages. This helps prevent inflated SMS counts.
Resources to Bookmark:
Note - these are just my observations and the official help documentation should always be referenced for accurate information.
I hope you found these insights and resources helpful. If you have any questions or want to share your own learnings, feel free to leave a comment below!