Help
Log in

Setting up and creating SMS marketing campaigns with Shopify Messaging

You can create SMS marketing campaigns in Shopify Messaging to send text messages directly to customers in supported countries who opt in to receive SMS marketing from your store. You can set up your target countries before creating a campaign, or during the campaign creation process.

Before you create your first SMS marketing campaign, you should complete the following actions:

On this page

Setting up countries for SMS marketing

Before sending SMS marketing campaigns, you need to set up the countries that you want to market to. You can also complete this setup when you create your first campaign. To review the countries that you can send SMS marketing messages to using Shopify Messaging, refer to Supported recipient countries for SMS marketing campaigns.

The setup and verification process depends on the countries that you want to send marketing to:

  • Europe and United Kingdom: For the United Kingdom and the list of supported countries in the European Union, you need to configure an alpha-numeric sender name. You can create and send campaigns immediately after you set up your sender name.
  • Canada and United States: To send SMS marketing campaigns to Canada or the United States, you need to fill in the toll-free registration form to set up a toll-free sender phone number. Toll-free registration can take 2 to 5 business days, and you receive an email when verification is complete. Your toll-free sender number is randomly assigned and is for delivery purposes only. You can't receive customer replies to your toll-free sender number.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click Settings > SMS.

  3. In the Targeted countries for SMS marketing section, click Add countries.

  4. Select the countries that you want to send to, and then click Next.

  5. Depending on the countries that you're sending to, do the following:

  • For the United Kingdom and countries in the European Union, fill in the Create sender name field, and then click Done.
  • For Canada and the United States:
    1. In the Provide company information for US and Canada toll-free registration form, complete the fields in the Contact information, Business information, Privacy policy, and Terms of service sections.
    2. Click Next.
    3. Review the Set up your sender information page, and then click Done.

Troubleshoot toll-free registration rejection

If your toll-free registration is rejected, then a banner displays in your Shopify admin, and you receive an email explaining the reason. Review the following table of the most common rejection errors, and suggested solutions:

Common errors for SMS toll-free registration
Error messageCommon causesSuggested solutions
"Age verification"You sell products on your store, such as alcohol or other restricted items, that require you to verify your customers' age.
  • Add an age verification app to your store that verifies your customers' date of birth.
  • If you already have an age verification app on your store, then ensure that it either requires users to enter their full date of birth (MM/DD/YYYY) or uses a third-party age verification service. A simple checkbox or confirmation button isn't accepted.
"Business email requires an official domain"The email address that you provided doesn't use an official business domain. Personal or free email addresses, such as Gmail or Yahoo, might not be accepted unless they display on your online store as a legitimate contact method for your business.
  • Update your toll-free registration application with an email address that uses your business domain, such as contact@yourbusiness.com.
  • If you must use a free email service, then ensure that it displays on your online store's contact page as an official contact method.
"Contact must be a business representative"The contact name provided for SMS registration doesn't appear to be an actual person authorized to represent the business. Generic names or titles such as "Admin," "Support," or incomplete names aren't accepted.
  • Provide the full first and last name of an authorized business representative.
  • Ensure that the contact person listed holds an official role within the business.
  • Don't use generic titles, roles, or partial names.
"Could not validate business information"Your business information couldn't be verified, such as your business name, address, website URL, website email, or business contact information. This could be because the information didn't match what displays on your online store, or because the website URL that you provided wasn't available, or a generic placeholder was provided.Review the following business details on your form to ensure that they match what displays on your online store:
  • Business contact name
  • Legal business name
  • Business contact email
  • Business phone number
  • Business address

After you follow the instructions to resolve the error, you need to resubmit your verification form. If there are no steps to resolve the issue, then contact Shopify Support.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click Settings > SMS.

  3. For the country where verification was rejected, click Manage.

  4. Ensure that the fields on the toll-free verification form are accurate, and then click Resubmit form.

Create an SMS marketing campaign

You can create an SMS marketing campaign using Shopify Messaging. Before you schedule your message to send, send a test to confirm that your message's functionality, appearance, and any personalizations work as expected. You can send up to 25 test messages per week.

Your store name and an unsubscribe URL are included in each campaign by default. You can send SMS marketing campaigns only to customers who have opted in to SMS marketing. Learn more about collecting customer contact information.

Steps:

  1. From your Shopify admin, go to Apps > Messaging.

  2. Click Create campaign.

  3. Select SMS, and then select an SMS template.

  4. In the Campaign name field, enter a name for your campaign. This name doesn't display to your customers.

  5. In the Message section, select the customer segment that you want to send your message to, and enter the text for your message.

  6. Optional: To replace special characters in personalized values to avoid exceeding your character count, select Replace special characters such as é and ç in personalized values. Learn more about message character counts.

  7. Optional: In the Links section, select Shorten links to shorten the URLs in your message.

  8. Optional: To test your SMS message:

  9. Click Send test.

  10. In the dialog, enter a phone number in the Phone numbers field.

  11. Click Send test.

  12. When you're ready to schedule your message, click Schedule send.

  13. In the dialog, select a send date and send time outside of quiet hours for the countries that you're sending it to, and then click Schedule send.