When creating your SMS engagements for Standard SMS campaigns as well as SmartSMS campaigns, there are various tools at your disposal that can help to make sure your campaigns are deployed in the most efficient manner.

Use Stagger Send to split large campaign sends into smaller batch sizes. This is especially helpful in managing large volumes of contact leads or follow-up queries you may receive from your campaign.

Step 1 - From your campaign dashboard tap on Create SMS Engagement or Create SmartSMS Engagement to set up your SMS. Select Create Bulk Send (Current Data) from the options presented.

Step 2 - Complete the specifications of your SMS, including the SMS Text copy and Targeting (as explained in the section below), and tap on Next.

Step 3 - On the next page, give your SMS engagement a name under Batch Name and enter your Send Time.

Step 4 - Tap on Change Stagger Rule, then select the Number of batches as well as the number of Minutes Apart each batch should deploy.

You can choose to break your deployment into batches of between 2 and 10. How many batches you need will depend on the number of contacts in your campaign database. We recommend splitting batches into 50-60 000 contacts per 15-minute intervals.

Then, set the interval frequency of your batches, between 15 minutes and 2 hours apart. The bigger your number of contacts per batches, the greater the time interval we suggest.

Tick the Exclude Time box to prevent batches from being deployed in specific window periods, such as 8 PM to 8 AM. This can help to prevent engagements from being delivered to customers outside of the agreed regulations and restrictions for the country in which they reside.

Step 5 - Tap on Cost Estimate to view your campaign send expense breakdown.

Step 6 - Then tap on Send to load your campaign setup information and Create to finalise.

Step 7 - Your new engagement will reflect on your campaign dashboard.

Send engagements to specific market segments within your customer database without having to create individual lists.

Step 1 - From your campaign dashboard tap on Create SMS Engagement or Create SmartSMS Engagement to set up your SMS. Select Create Bulk Send (Current Data) from the options presented.

Step 2 - Complete the specifications of your SMS, including the SMS Text copy and Use brand stop list, etc. Then, tap on the blue Customise Targeting button.

Step 3 - Under the Customise Targeting window, tap on Targeting (highlighted in blue) to add new rules.

Then, select your target type from the dropdown menu and tap on Add Parameter. You can choose from Customer Data or Access Data, and these relate to column headings within your database.

Your new parameter will now display in the window alongside the condition set. You can add multiple conditions within a parameter by tapping on Add new condition (highlighted in blue) or remove conditions from the set by tapping on the bin icon. Tapping on the x in the condition frame will remove the entire parameter.

Tap on the dropdown in the centre condition box (the comparison operator) to select your data conditions in the final condition input (box three) as follows:

=: The targeting is exactly the same as the final condition input.

not: The targeting is anything except the final condition input.

from: Starting from a specific point e.g. the letter 'F'. or a number e.g. '2'.

fromTo: Exists between two data points e.g. from 'F' to 'N'.

startWith: Any data starting with the final condition input will be targeted, e.g. '1'.

The final condition input box determines the specifics of what data you'll be targeting. This can be any set of alphanumeric characters of your choosing.

As an example, in the set featured below, we have our Customer Data set to City. The parameter of the targeting is that it is = to 'Cape Town' OR 'Johannesburg'. Meaning, only data matching the column for City and 'Cape Town' or 'Johannesburg' in your database will be included in your campaign send.

You can include multiple parameter sets by tapping the Add Parameter button.

Once you have added in all your parameters and set your conditions, tap on the blue Next button.

Step 4 - On the next page, give your SMS engagement a name under Batch Name and enter your Send Time.

Step 5 - Change Stagger Rule as explained in the section above if needed.

Step 6 - Tap on Cost Estimate to view your campaign send expense breakdown.

Step 7 - Then tap on Send to load your campaign setup information and Create to finalise.

Step 8 - Your new engagement will reflect on your campaign dashboard.

Create smaller test batches before sending them to your intended customer list. This is helpful for proofing your campaigns and making any changes before the final deployment.

Step 1 - From your campaign dashboard tap on Create SMS Engagement or Create SmartSMS Engagement to set up your SMS. Select Test Campaign from the options presented.

Step 2 - In the next window, choose to Add Testers or Import from File.

Add Testers allows you to manually Add New Testers in three ways:

In all three instances, you will need to enter the cellphone number of the test recipient in the Contact Number field. Repeat the process for each individual campaign tester. Once you have populated the required fields, tap on Save.

Import from File allows for uploading of a pre-populated campaign tester database:

Step 3 - Your new Campaign Testers information will display in the next window:

When you are satisfied with your list, tap on Create Test Batch to finalise.

Step 4 - On the next page, give your SMS engagement a name under Batch Name and enter your Send Time.

Step 5 - Change Stagger Rule as explained in the section above if needed.

Step 6 - Tap on Cost Estimate to view your campaign send expense breakdown.

Step 7 - Then tap on Send to load your campaign setup information and Create to finalise.

Step 8 - Your new engagement will reflect on your campaign dashboard.