Welcome to the next episode of SMSAPI “Do it yourself” Guide. This time we will show you how easy it is to send SMS campaigns directly from your files.
Watch the video tutorial on how to send text messages from files
Importing a file
The process starts in the SMS gateway. The Numbers from file tab allows you to send bulk messages to the contact database from CSV, XLS, XLSX, ODS files. It is worth remembering that the maximum number of records in one campaign is 800,000.
Numbers from file – example CSV file
The condition of correct import is to upload the file only with phone numbers and prefixes in one column. To start the campaign, select or choose a sender name and enter the internal bulk name. Then add the file and create the content of the message with the addition of emoticons, shortened link, file or opt-out link.
Once the body of the message is ready, click “Next” and check the correctness of the settings in the summary. It is also possible to send a test message and save it as a draft.
Content and phone number from a file
The Numbers and content tab allows you to send personalized messages with various fields. The message content and recipient numbers are downloaded from the file. The maximum number of records in one campaign is 400,000.
Numbers and content from file – example CSV file
In the imported file, the first column should always be the recipient numbers, followed by the content. In this case, the file may contain personalized messages – individual for each number or the same for all numbers but with variables. It can be, e.g. a percentage of the discount granted, name, surname or any other value. Each of the variables must be entered in the third and subsequent columns of the CSV file. The number of columns with variables must correspond to the number of parameters in the text of the SMS.
Sending and preparing messages is done in the same way as for numbers from a file – it consists of selecting the sender name, entering the bulk name, selecting the file with contents and launching the campaign after checking the settings.
Next step: Birthday SMS and Periodic SMS
