SMS Campaigns

SMS is a high-impact dunning channel with open rates that significantly exceed email. Use it as a complement to email campaigns for urgent payment recovery reminders, especially on mobile-first audiences.

When to Use SMS

SMS works best as a secondary channel in a multi-step campaign. Common patterns:

• Step 1: Email with full context and payment update link
• Step 2: SMS reminder 48 hours later if the email was not opened
• Step 3: Final SMS with urgency before subscription cancellation

SMS is particularly effective for:

• High-value subscriptions where fast recovery matters
• Mobile-first customer bases
• Markets where email open rates are low
• Urgent reminders close to subscription cancellation deadlines

Creating SMS Templates

Navigate to Campaigns > Templates and click New Template. Select SMS as the channel. SMS templates only use the plain text body field (no HTML, no subject line).

Character Limits

SMS messages are segmented based on character encoding:

Messages exceeding the segment limit are split into multiple segments, each billed separately. The template editor shows a live character count and segment estimate as you type.

Tips for concise SMS copy:

• Lead with the most important information
• Use the short {{update_url}} variable (LostChurn auto-shortens links)
• Skip greetings and sign-offs
• Avoid Unicode characters unless targeting non-Latin audiences

Example SMS Templates

Payment reminder (127 characters):

{{merchant_name}}: Your {{amount}} payment failed. Update your card to keep your subscription active: {{update_url}}

Final notice (142 characters):

{{merchant_name}}: Last reminder — your subscription will be cancelled in 48 hours unless you update your payment method: {{update_url}}

Personalization Variables

SMS templates support the same personalization variables as email templates. The most commonly used in SMS are:

• {{customer_name}} — Customer's name
• {{amount}} — Failed payment amount
• {{merchant_name}} — Your company name
• {{update_url}} — Payment update link (auto-shortened)

Compliance

SMS dunning is subject to telecommunications regulations that vary by country. LostChurn helps you stay compliant, but you are responsible for ensuring your SMS usage meets local requirements.

Opt-In Requirements

• Customers must have explicitly opted in to receive SMS from your business
• LostChurn tracks opt-in status via the communication_preference table and will not send SMS to customers who have opted out
• Include opt-out instructions in your SMS (LostChurn appends "Reply STOP to opt out" automatically)

TCPA (United States)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act requires:

• Prior express written consent before sending automated text messages
• Honoring opt-out requests immediately
• Identifying your business in each message
• Sending only during permitted hours

Quiet Hours

LostChurn enforces quiet hours to prevent SMS from being sent during restricted times. The default quiet window is 9:00 PM to 8:00 AM in the customer's timezone. You can customize this per campaign.

GDPR (European Union)

For EU customers, ensure you have a lawful basis for processing phone numbers and sending transactional SMS. Payment recovery SMS generally falls under "legitimate interest" but consult your legal team.

Phone Number Formatting

LostChurn stores and sends to phone numbers in E.164 international format:

+[country code][subscriber number]

Examples:

• US: +14155551234
• UK: +447911123456
• Germany: +4915112345678

Phone numbers are sourced from the customer record in your payment processor. If a customer does not have a phone number on file, LostChurn skips the SMS step and logs a delivery failure, allowing the campaign to continue to the next step.

SMS Costs

SMS is billed per message segment. Costs vary by destination country and are passed through at cost with no markup. Typical rates:

Multi-segment messages are billed as multiple segments. You can view SMS costs in your billing dashboard.

Delivery Tracking

SMS delivery follows the same status lifecycle as other channels:

• Queued — Message is scheduled
• Sent — Message sent to carrier
• Delivered — Carrier confirmed delivery
• Failed — Delivery failed (invalid number, carrier block, etc.)

Note that SMS does not support Opened or Clicked tracking. Use the {{update_url}} click-through rate from your analytics to measure SMS engagement.

What's Next

• Email Campaigns — Set up email as your primary dunning channel
• Push Notifications — Add push as an alternative mobile channel
• Creating Campaigns — Combine SMS with other channels in a multi-step campaign