Boost Marketing with SMS Messages in HubSpot

Marketing Automation

Posted by Asphia Khan on Sep 22, 2023 11:54:11 AM

If you're looking to boost your marketing efforts and engage more directly with your customers, HubSpot's SMS tool can be a powerful asset.

With this tool, available to Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise subscribers, you can draft and send personalized SMS messages, schedule them for specific times, and even allow recipients to opt out automatically. The tool is only available in the US as of now.

Few Things to Consider

Before you dive into creating SMS messages, there are a few key things to consider:

Subscription: Make sure you have a Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise subscription.

Consent: Always secure explicit consent from your contacts before sending SMS messages. Learn more about collecting and managing consent in this article.

SMS Access Add-On: To use the SMS tool in HubSpot, you'll need to purchase the SMS Access add-on. Check the Add-ons section of the Product & Services Catalog for pricing and details.

Creating an SMS Message in Hubspot:

Here's how to create an SMS message in HubSpot:

Access the SMS Tool: Log in to your HubSpot account and navigate to
Marketing > SMS.
Create a Message: In the top right corner, click 'Create message.'
Edit Message Content: On the left side of the editor, you can edit the content of your message. You can add links, emojis, and special characters, and personalize your message using contact properties.

Personalization: Make your message more engaging by personalizing it with contact details. Choose a personalization token and select the property value to include. Click "Personalize" to insert personalization tokens and pull in property values.

Opt-Out Message: By default, an opt-out message is appended to your message. Recipients can respond with "STOP" to unsubscribe automatically. You can customize the opt-out prompt text if needed.

Preview Your Message: Review how the text message will appear to your recipients on the right side of the editor. You can preview how personalization tokens render and how your message appears on devices with different font sizes or in dark mode.
Settings Tab: Click the "Settings" tab to configure:

Internal Name: Edit the internal name of your message.
Language: Change the language of the default opt-out text.
Campaign: Associate your SMS message with a HubSpot campaign.

Factors that increase message segment size

As you draft your SMS message, keep in mind that the following content may increase the number of message segments:

Personalization tokens (e.g., a contact's first name)
Emojis (e.g., 🐈)
Special characters (e.g., Unicode characters, symbols, etc.)
Quotation marks (e.g., "). Note that you should opt for apostrophes instead of quotation marks, when possible.

Sending a Test Message

To ensure your message looks and works as expected, you can send a test message to yourself or a team member, by following these steps:

Step 1: In the top right of the editor, click "Send test message."

Step 2: Choose recipient(s) from the dropdown menu, including verified phone numbers or manually enter a number.

Step 3: If you included personalization tokens, select a contact to confirm how the token will render in the test message.

Scheduling Your Message

When you're ready to send your SMS message, or if you want to schedule it for a later time, follow these steps:

Click the "Send or schedule" tab.
Configure your recipients by selecting lists or individual contacts to add or exclude from the recipient list.
Choose when to send your message:

Click on to

Send now: The message will be sent immediately.

Schedule for later: Send your message at a specific date and time.

Review and send your message or schedule it for later. Address any errors or warnings before sending.

Message Segments and Pricing

Keep in mind that if your SMS message contains more than 160 characters, it will be split into smaller segments for transmission. The same applies if you use non-GSM-7 characters like emojis or special characters. Understanding message segments is crucial for effective SMS marketing. Be mindful of message segment pricing and your monthly limit.

Analyzing Message Engagements

After sending your SMS message, you can analyze how contacts engage with it. HubSpot provides metrics such as delivery rate, click rate, and opt-out data. You can also review individual message performance and compare messages to improve future campaigns assess how your SMS messages perform:

Navigate to Marketing > SMS in your HubSpot account.
Click the name of a sent message to view performance metrics.
Review delivery rate, click rate, engagement funnel, and opt-out information.
Explore aggregated data and trends for all messages sent under the "Analyze" tab.

Our experts at BlueOshan can help you leverage this powerful tool of SMS messages in HubSpot to enhance your marketing strategy and engage more effectively with your audience.