Did you know that SMS has sending speed limits?
Depending on the type of phone number you have and your setup, you may need to consider your throughput to make sure your messages get delivered in time...
Especially when running live events and sending time-sensitive reminders.
In this article, I'm going to walk you though how it works and everything you need to know!
What Is SMS Throughput?
SMS throughput, or SMS speed, refers to how fast you can send messages with your phone number.
While messages are queued immediately, phone numbers have sending limits on how fast the messages go out.
Most people don’t even know this exists, and therefore sometimes their time-sensitive campaigns aren’t delivered in the right time, lowering performance.
This is especially important to understand if you have big lists, and are running live events like webinars where you need messages to be delivered in a short window, so that your attendees show up on time!
What Are Typical SMS Sending Speeds?
The sending speed you have depends on various factors, and there are reasons we do things differently at Roezan (vs other providers) to help with this.
Most people have a very slow sending speed of 1MPS (1 message per second), but you can achieve much much higher rates.
10DLC Throughput
The most common type of number businesses use is 10DLC (10 Digit Long Code) - essentially a normal looking phone number.
The default sending speed for 10DLC is 1 MPS (1 message per second)*, or more clearly 1 segment per second.
*Some competitors display throughput how many messages / segments per MINUTE, so be careful when comparing.
1 MPS (60 messages per minute) is pretty damn slow… And this is the default speed that MOST people have.
Now, in many cases, it doesn’t matter that much, because often for typical SMS conversations, or small broadcasts, this is totally fine. Not all broadcasts are time sensitive (need to be delivered in a 10 min window).
If you have a small list, or you’re not doing live events, also not a huge deal.
But once you start having a decent size list, and you need the messages to go out at a certain time, it can start to be a problem.
For example, here’s an illustration of how long a broadcast would take at 1MPS:
You can see, even if you have a list of 1000 contacts, and you send a live event “we’re starting now” reminder, it will take 17 minutes for it to complete, which is too long.
The KPI standard that I set is that for time-sensitive events is that the messages should be delivered in 10 minutes or less. Much above that, you either need to adjust your scheduled sending time OR you need to look into an alternative.
Upgrading 10DLC
10DLC is capable of upgrading sending speed, but it depends on various factors, and if you want really a decent sending speed you are at the mercy of external organizations rating your “brand score.”
A Great Alternative For Marketers: Toll-Free
There is a better alternative in the case you’re doing time sensitive events, which is to use a toll-free number (what we use at Roezan) which with Roezan starts at 3X the speed!
Toll-Free Throughput
Toll-free phone numbers also have varying sending speed, and not all are the same.
For example, some competitors offer 2MPS, or approximately 120 messages per minute.
With Roezan our default sending speed is 3MPS, or 180 messages per minute.
This is often adequate for most brands.
Remember sending speed is most important with time-sensitive events, because this is the only time you REALLY need the messages to be delivered in a specific period of time.
And for most brands, even if you have a big phone list, the way it works is that:
1) You send promotions to your big list to get people to register for your event
2) A portion of that lists actually registers
3) The smaller “registrant” list is the only the list that requires the time-sensitive reminders
Here is an illustration of how long it takes for reminders to go out at 3MPS
You can see it starts getting out of KPI at around ~2,000 event registrants.
Keep in mind when I say 2,000 event registrants, I mean 2,000 opted-in, valid phone numbers.
Not everyone that registered for events always gives their phone number, and even all the phone numbers collected are not often all correct, functioning numbers.
What To Do If You Have a Big SMS List
If you consistently are getting more than 2k valid phone numbers for your events / time-sensitive promotions (by “time sensitive” I mean needs to be delivered in 10 min or less)...
There are still great options!
Unlike 10DLC which requires external vetting, with toll-free numbers at Roezan we can offer to upgrade your speed.
We can upgrade any package to a 20MPS+ speed for a fee, and with our “Hero Plus” package, 20MPS+ throughput speed upgrade is included at no additional cost.
Here’s an illustration of what 20MPS looks like:
If you see this tops out around 12k messages at 10 min.
If you have a webinar with 12k opted in active phone numbers, it will likely be a banger!
What To Do For Even Bigger Lists
If you’re running even larger events (more than ~12,000 registrants with phone numbers) or have large throughput needs, we can also accommodate that!
We can also offer 50MPS throughput, and that looks like this:
Short Codes Throughput
Short codes (5 or 6 digit phone number) can also be an option for increasing throughput, however we don’t recommend short codes in most cases.
They are often unnecessary, very expensive (thousands of dollars extra), and require a prolonged registration process.
Contact us and we can help you determine what’s the best plan for you.
Suggestions For Optimizing Sending:
There are a few things to keep in mind when planning your promotions and time-senstive texts:
Send via SMS not MMS for time sensitive reminders.
We highly suggest sending time sensitive reminders as SMS not MMS as MMS is slower than SMS.
Send 1 segment messages for time sensitive reminders.
If you send multi-segment messages, it will double your sending time!
The Message Queue
When you send messages, they will queue and you will be limited by your sending speed. So it’s a good idea to take this into account if you’re planning to send multiple messages in succession.
For example, if you sent a “we’re starting in 10 min” and then a “we’re starting in 5 min” blast - you would want to consider how long the first message would take, because it must complete before the 2nd broadcast starts going out.
This isn’t super common, but good to keep in mind that all messages will queue.
Keep your lists clean!
You don’t want fake or bad phone numbers clogging up your sending times.
At Roezan we automatically clean your lists for you and auto-opt out any unsubsribes.
Conclusion
Understanding SMS throughput is vital is you’re running live events and time-sensitive reminders, especially if you’re running large events.
If you have any questions hit us up!
P.S. We make it SUPER EASY to automate event SMS reminders with our Event Reminders feature. Check it out:
