Why business SMS can be undelivered?

Building relationships with customers is an ongoing and responsible process, so you should pay special attention to maintaining its stability. For such businesses that have chosen SMS marketing as one of the channels for reaching customers, the question arises of ensuring the delivery of messages. After all, SMS is used not only as a channel for sending marketing messages, but also as an instant information delivery service. After all, some customers need to be reminded of the time of delivery or an appointment with a doctor, while others need to confirm payment for an expensive product. And if at least one message is not delivered to the user, thereby destroying the marketing strategy chain, then this can seriously affect the business process.

In this article, we have collected the most common and not so common reasons for SMS messages not being delivered and tips on how to fix them.

To start, the reasons why business text messages might not be delivered to users fall into two categories:

1. Reasons, the sources of which are on the user’s side.
2. Reasons, the sources of which are on the business side.

In case of non-delivery of SMS due to a reason from the first category, then the business can have little effect here, but the reasons for the other category are more dependent on you.

And so, let’s figure it out and start with the first category.

1. Reasons, the sources of which are on the user’s side.

• The user opted-out from the mailing list.

We already wrote earlier that you can only send messages to those contacts who have given their consent to this. In this case, they also have the opportunity to unsubscribe from it. Basically, this happens with the help of some kind of STOP word. If you, as a business, use services to send SMS, then when you unsubscribe from the mailing list, the system automatically recognizes this and stops delivering SMS to such numbers.

If you use the Sempico Solutions SMS service, then our platform automatically removes such contacts from the databases when mailing, in order to save your time and budget.

• The user is out of network coverage or in roaming.

If the mobile device is located in an area where the mobile network of its operator is not covered, then it is impossible to deliver an SMS message to such a phone.

• The user has blocked your phone.

Sometimes users themselves can cause SMS non-delivery, as they block the number from which they come. It is impossible to bypass such blocking, only send text messages from another number.

Make sure you’re not running an aggressive SMS campaign and don’t pester customers with excessive messages. Otherwise, the chances of being blocked are increasing.

• SMS content is recognized as Spam.

Network operators also maintain a customer-centric service, so they cannot allow Spam to be sent to their users. Therefore, they block the delivery of potential spam text. Each operator has its own spam definition criteria, but it is worth sticking to the basic rules: avoid links to dubious websites in the content, avoid a large number of words in capital case, moderate use of characters such as “!”, “*”, “#”, etc. , adhere to the set number of characters in SMS.

• Network operator failure.

Sometimes, during breakdowns, network operators turn off their customers so that they can be eliminated. At this moment, the delivery of SMS and calls is not possible.

These are the main reasons for the non-delivery status that can occur on the client side. Basically, it is difficult to prevent them, as these are external factors. But there is something that depends on you, as a sender, and such reasons can be eliminated:

2. Reasons, the sources of which are on the business side.

• The user number is incorrect or inactive.

It is impossible to deliver SMS to a phone number that is not used or does not exist. Of course, when a client shared his number with you, he could make a mistake, but the percentage of this is extremely minimal. Basically, the number can be deactivated or transferred to service with another mobile operator. By sending SMS to such numbers, you are faced not only with non-delivery, but also with draining the budget.

In order to avoid such costs for business, it is necessary to use HLR/MNP lookup services. It is these services that check the activity of numbers and their belonging to a network operator. Along with sending SMS, Sempico Solutions also performs an HLR/MNP lookup, so you don’t have to spend your resources looking for such services.

• Sending illegal or inappropriate content.

Each country has its own rules for sent content at the legislative level. Some of them are quite strict in a number of countries, such as Iran, the USA, etc. For the distribution of illegal content, you can be held liable before the law. Therefore, mobile network operators block the delivery of SMS with such content.

Before creating and sending SMS campaigns, study the rules of the country where you want to send and check your content for compliance.

• Problems with routes.

Routing can be another reason why a message cannot be delivered. Typically, SMS messages are sent directly to a specific phone number. However, this is not always the case. The SMS message may be sent to a network provider that does not allow delivery of the message. If there is no automatic redirect, the message may not be delivered. This is one of the most common reasons why users do not receive sent messages.

Sempico Solutions builds a routing mesh in such a way that any SMS is approved by providers.

Understandably, there are countless reasons why text messages may not reach the recipient’s phone. If you need to keep a group of users up to date via text, the best option is to use the SMS service of Sempico Solutions. Our solution can ensure that people who need information via SMS receive it.

Using our service, you can determine mobile numbers, create number bases and templates for SMS, schedule mailings, and so on. We can help you significantly reduce the problems you may have with your deliverability metrics and make sms advertising more efficient.