Message Deliverability: It’s not as simple as hitting “send”

When you hit send, you assume that your messages get delivered. But carrier complexities and changing rules can result in undelivered messages. So what can you do to give your message the best chance of making it to its intended recipient?

Our “Message Deliverability: It’s not as simple as hitting send” video series focuses on giving you a look behind the curtain of what really happens to your message on its way to the recipient. This first video takes a look at how carriers evaluate messages. So What Does Happen After You Click Send

When you click “send,” your SMS is translated into data. That data is sent across an elaborate web of interconnected carrier networks searching for the quickest path to the recipient. Once there, the data is translated back into words and is delivered.

As your message travels across this web of carrier networks, it’s checked for SPAM along the way. Carriers like Bandwidth use these checkpoints to protect consumers from receiving unwanted text messages in their inbox.

If your message looks, feels, or acts similar to SPAM, it’s possible that messages your customers want (and have requested) can inadvertently be blocked.

Each of these checkpoints may differ by carrier and can be subject to change at any time. in general though, they look at a common set of criteria:

• The Sender: Does this sender regularly send this type of message? Are messages from this sender regularly blocked?
• How they’re sending: Is the sender using the correct type of messaging?
• Message volume: Are they sending the right number of messages based on their message type?
• The Content of the message: Does the message have illegal content or disallowed link types?

In the messaging industry, you pay for every message you try to send, not what’s delivered. While industry rules continue to evolve and change, keeping these criteria in mind gives each of your messages the greatest chance of delivery success.

• Part 1: It’s not as simple as hitting “send”
• Part 2: A2P vs P2P Messaging
• Part 3: The 3 types of A2P messaging
• Part 4: The do’s and don’ts of business text messaging
• Part 5: How to measure your SMS delivery