Personalised SMS with the contact's name: variables, examples and pitfalls

The short answer: you write one text and each contact receives it with their own name. Put a variable such as {$contact_first_name} in the message with the Personalise buttons in the message step, and when it is sent each variable is replaced with that contact’s details. It only works for numbers saved as contacts, and a name with accents can add parts.

The variables

The first three come from the contact who receives the message; the rest come from the sender, that is, your account.

Variable	What appears in its place
{$contact_first_name}	The contact’s first name
{$contact_name}	The contact’s full name
{$contact_company}	The contact’s company
{$client_company_name}	Your company name
{$client_name}	The account name, in full
{$client_first_name} and {$client_last_name}	The account’s first and last name
{$remetente}	The message sender
{$data}	Today’s date

How to use them

1	Choose who you are sending to under Send, or in a New campaign: contacts or a group.

2	In the message step, use the Personalise buttons to put the variables into the text wherever the name should go.

3	Check the preview. It shows the message as it will arrive, with a sample name (“Ana”).

4	Check the parts and credits in the confirmation window, then send.

An example. You write once:

Hi {$contact_first_name}, your order has arrived. You can collect it until Saturday, 8am to 5pm. {$client_company_name}

Ana gets “Hi Ana, your order has arrived…”, Carlos gets “Hi Carlos…”, and the message ends with your company name. A message with the reader’s name and the sender’s name feels less like a campaign and more like a notice written for that person.

The pitfalls

Pitfall	Why, and what to do
Numbers without a contact	A number pasted into the send screen, but not saved as a contact, gets the text without the name. The system tidies “Hi ,” into “Hi,”, but the sentence still has to make sense without the name. For everyone to get their name, save them first: contacts and groups.
Names with accents	João, Conceição or Sebastião bring an ã or a ç, which can switch the whole message to Unicode: 70 characters per part instead of 160. See how many credits an SMS uses.
Long names	The name takes up characters. If the message is right at the edge of one part, a long name can push it into two. Leave some room.
Empty fields	Use {$contact_company} only if every contact in the send has a company filled in. The same goes for the name.
Wrong details	A name misspelt on the contact card reaches the customer misspelt. Fix it in Contacts before you send.

Always say who is sending. With the free NETMSG sender, your company name does not show on the phone: {$client_company_name} at the end of the message solves that. With a Sender ID the name shows as the sender, but signing the text still helps the reader.

Personalising is not permission. Putting someone’s name in a message does not make them a contact who agreed to receive it. Send only to people who gave you their number and agreed to get your SMS.

Try the preview with variables on the SMS page in My MozOut.

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