Introducing Zoho Campaigns' own gateway for SMS campaigns

Introducing Zoho Campaigns' own gateway for SMS campaigns

We are excited to announce the launch of our SMS Gateway to send SMS through Zoho Campaigns. We have also made a few other changes in our current SMS Campaign model to improve your over all user experience.

These updates are planned with an aim to expand our product's potential by catering to the needs of businesses interested in both email and SMS marketing. 

Zoho Campaigns' Own SMS Gateway


Right now we are integrated with thirteen third party applications, to support the SMS sending process for the users. However, these third party integrations create an extra signup step for you to send SMS campaigns and manage multiple bills.
 
To overcome this hindrance and to improve the user experience, we are partnering with a vendor & offering our own SMS gateway.
 
With this, you can send SMS campaigns to mobile numbers in the US and Canada without any hassle.
In future updates we are also planning to include India and multiple countries from the EU region.



Improving the user experience of SMS Campaign feature 




1) Efficient way to manage Mobile number within Zoho Campaigns 

a) SMS field standardization 

The "Mobile number" will be the default field to store the contact number. We will also eliminate the phone number and country selection steps from the SMS creation process.
 
Moreover, the standardization of the contact number field will:

a) Simplify the SMS creation process
b) Make the identification of phone number duplication process easier
c) Effectively maintain SMS channel unsubscribe & DND registry for phone numbers 
d) Reduce the data processing time
e) Ensure organized storage and easy tracing of contact numbers
 
b) Contact number will be mapped to "Mobile Number"

In our current model, during the contact addition process the " email address" has always been the default field to add contact's email address. Henceforth, " Mobile number" will also be shown as a default field to add their contact number. 

c) Recommended to import mobile number with area code

You can add contacts without an area code, but you won't be able to send SMS campaigns to those contacts. We advise that you update your contacts' phone number along with the area code in the Mobile Number field to send SMS campaigns without any hiccups.
 
Accepted format for Mobile Number field : +1 967899090
 
Numbers like 9289098909 will be added, but won't be included for campaign sending, as the area code is missing.


2) Unsubscribe from all SMS marketing communication

Zoho Campaigns ensures that email recipients have the entire control over acceptance and denial of email campaigns through unsubscription option.

This similar best practices will be implemented in the SMS Campaign, with the introduction of the " Unsubscribe" option. With this, contacts can easily opt out from receiving SMS communications.



3) Option to add sender address during SMS creation process


Sender address is the first thing a receiver looks out for, in order to ensure that the communication is received from an authentic source.

So, we will support Long code & Alphanumeric sender address format in this update. And soon we will also support short codes.

So, SMS Campaign users can now select the Sender address format supported in their respective country.
 
We will help our users with the registration process to obtain the respective sender address format from within the product.
 

4) Prepaid, add-on-credit-based pricing

We will be following a pre-paid credit based pricing model for SMS. The user has to separately purchase the required add-on credits to send SMS Campaign.The credits will be automatically added on a recurring basis after every billing cycle.The purchase of credits from 1K to 1M can be made online.
 
Credits per SMS
 
US/ Canada-  4 credits

 

a) Can the un-used credits be carried forward to the next billing cycle?

​In case, if the user has any un-used credits in a particular billing cycle, then the un-used credit will be carried forwarded to the next billing cycle.


b) How to procure long codes?

Long codes will be a separate recurring add-on. To begin with, US/Canada long codes will be 1$/month.

Know more about SMS Campaign pricing

Note: The SMS updates will be made live only to the new users. Existing users can migrate to the new update only after 45 days from the launch date.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Tip of the week 03 - Sending emails in batches

      Today's marketers not only want their email marketing to be efficient, but also smart. For an email campaign, you may think you have all the essential elements for lead conversion—a big mailing list, an attractive template design, and the most-engaging message content, but after hitting the ‘send’ button, you may not get the expected conversions. Wondering why? Here’s one of the major reasons. Many marketers miss out on sending the email campaign the right way. Did you know that you should not be

    • Tip of the week 04 - Know about your recipients' 'prime open time.'

      In today's market, the importance of customer behavior is astounding, with a vast amount of research and resources going into finding how customers make decisions. The process of persuading your customers to open your email and click on your call-to-action becomes easy when you understand the psychology behind their behavioral traits. Time to turn into a psychologist! Let's get to the basics—you want your emails to resonate well with your recipients. So, what's the primary thing involved here? It's

    • Zoho Campaigns Expert Diaries on SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube

      Hi email champs,  As email marketers, we find great lessons in each other's works—be it the subject lines that worked good, the design that was received well, or the CTA that had the maximum clicks. Email marketing encompasses a wide variety of topics spanning everything from creation and design to development and deliverability.  Here's when we from the Zoho Campaigns team found the need to build an email marketing community comprising of seasoned marketers and email geeks who can help each other

    • Email Deliverability Tip #3: Seal the deal with the preheader

      In the last post, we learned about the subject line. Today we'll be learning about the preheader. A preheader is the short text that follows the subject line in an email. The preheader is designed to hint at what your email message is all about. A good preheader should act as a second subject line and convince your contacts to open the email. Now, let's learn the best way to craft a preheader. Your subject line and preheader should work together and accurately convey the gist of your email. Keep

    • Tip of the week 15 - Add subscription-preferences option. Drive more engagement.

      If crafting content for emails, getting creatives done, and running email campaigns is your love, then unsubscribes are the heartbreakers.  You can save your emails from being unsubscribed/trashed by adding a proper subscription-preferences option in your emails (works best at the time of signup). Giving subscribers the option to choose what they want to receive from you and decide how often (frequency of the emails) your emails should hit their inboxes will increase the reach of your campaigns manifolds. 

    • Recent Topics

    • Undocumented System Variables

      Hi, The documentation that I'm aware of for Zoho Analytics system variables is found here. However, I don't see the system.timeline.date.from and system.timeline.date.to variables listed. Where can I find a list of all the system variables in Zoho Analytics

    • UK payroll entries

      Hey guys, Nett payroll payments are imported direct into the bank, using an external payroll system (will be glad for Zoho to have a UK payroll app) At present I have monthly recurring bills for HMRC which are auto entered & paid when due. This seems

    • Calculating Active Months and Recurring Monthly Revenue

      Hi everyone, as part of my offering I have a membership community that people pay monthly for. This is hosted on Squarespace. In my Zoho CRM I have added a field for the date a person becomes in active. This means there is a "closing date" which is the

    • Accounting on the Go Series:58-Effortless Compliance: Download XML for Invoices & Credit Notes on Mobile

      Hi there! In Mexico, XML files are crucial for electronic invoicing and fulfilling SAT (Tax Administration Service) requirements. These files ensure your transactions are accurately recorded and tax-compliant. Now, you don’t need to rely on the web app

    • Zoho Developer Community Monthly Digest - November 2024

      Hello everyone! Welcome back to the November edition of the Developer Community Monthly Digest. Dive in to explore the upcoming events, hands-on training sessions, exciting product updates, insightful discussions, and more to keep you informed and inspired!

    • Process FOR loop for subform items in the order of the manual sorting

      Hi Guys, I have searched everywhere and tried everything, but I still not able to resolve one particular challenge. I have a subform in my Invoice with rows for each item. I made it so that we can change the order of the items manually. I need to be able

    • Address Input and Map Functionality Challenges in Zoho: Need Advice

      I just started using the Zoho ecosystem for my business. Everything seems to be working fine, except for the map features built into the applications. It's quite difficult to input an address when creating a new lead. Some of you might suggest using extensions

    • Accounting on the Go Series-57: Effortlessly Add and Manage Bank Accounts from the Zoho Books Mobile App

      Hi all, Great news for our users in the US and Canada! Managing your finances just got a whole lot easier. Zoho Books has always made it seamless to integrate bank accounts and fetch feeds automatically. Now, we’re taking it up a notch—directly from the

    • Foreign currency Bank Account month end revaluation

      I have a question i have 2 bank accounts one in USD and the other in EUR , how to make the month end journal entries for exchange rate revaluation , also how to maintain the exchange rates daily on Zoho books for the foreign currencies . I made transfer

    • Zoho Forms Integration with Sign

      Hi there, following recent feedback that Zoho Sign is really not very useful friendly when using a mobile device I am exploring integrations with Zoho Forms. I have managed to create a form and integrate this into Sign pretty easily when a form is just

    • [Free Webinar] Creator Tech Connect Series - Product Release Updates in Zoho Creator

      Hello Everyone! We welcome you all to the upcoming free webinar on the Creator Tech Connect Series. The Creator Tech Connect series is a free monthly webinar that runs for around 45 minutes. It comprises technical sessions in which we delve deep into

    • Need code format to specify default values

      Can someone please direct me to the code syntax or the proper translation per the instructions circled below. These instructions don't seem correct.

    • A quicker way to provide accountants access to Zoho Books, similar to Xero and Quickbooks

      Hey guys, I'm finding the procedure to give access to an external accountant to Zoho Books less than ideal. Having to create an account by Zoho instead of myself, and then wait for it to be given a license to then pass to the accountant seems a bit time

    • Introducing color coding feature of picklist fields in Meetings

      Dear All, Greetings! As part of the ongoing UI enhancement, we are excited to introduce color coding of picklist fields in Meetings. 'Meetings' is a great way to collaborate with peers and stay productive. You can block the calendar, invite participants,

    • Importing old Invoices into Zoho Books - Hitting the limit

      I'm currently working on importing historic invoices and payments made records from one Zoho Books premium instance into another however i'm hitting the 25,000 per year limit issue, these invoices go all the way back to 2019, and i understand that generating

    • Accounting on the Go Series-56: e-Way Bill Module in the Mobile App – A Handy Solution for Indian Businesses

      Hello everyone, Managing e-Way bills just got more convenient with the Zoho Books mobile app! For businesses operating under the GST regime, e-Way bills are essential for tracking the movement of goods. Previously, you had to log in to the web app to

    • Why Zoho Campaigns have massive more limitations like other software?`

      Hello, it was a time we managed +300 zoho campaigns accounts. But after only 3 years we handle now only +70 accounts. The reason? Because other solutions integrate much faster new functions. And not only this: They do not only release a new function -

    • Limit tasks per due date

      I am trying to figure out a way to limit the number of Tasks users can set on any given due date. But the number of tasks will differ for different users. Example - User 1234 will be permitted 100 tasks on each due date User 5678 and User 9012 will be

    • ZOHO CRM API changing timestamp format

      I'm working on integrating ZOHO CRM API with USM anywhere. USM anywhere supports only a few timestamp formats. the current timestamp format( yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss±HH:mm) is not supported by USM. Is there a way I can change this format to for example(yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ss)?

    • Formula field update

      In a Blueprint, I have a stage called 'Plan inspection date'. At this point there is a fork, which depends on the number of days between now and the installation date. If there are less than 21 days, then the inspection should be planned urgently, if

    • Automating Employee Birthday Notifications in Zoho Cliq

      Have you ever missed a birthday and felt like the office Grinch? Fear not, the Cliq Developer Platform has got your back! With Zoho Cliq's Schedulers, you can be the office party-cipant who never forgets a single cake, balloon, or awkward rendition of

    • Accounting on the Go Series-55: Seamlessly Add New Vendors While Creating Transactions from Scanned Documents

      Hi there! We’ve made handling documents and vendors in Zoho Books even simpler. Now, when you upload a document and scan it, if the app detects a vendor that isn’t already in your organization, you don’t have to leave the page to add them manually. With

    • Surpress Zoho warnings in Customer Portal

      I'm experimenting with the Customer Portal. When I log in as a customer, this message shows up, completely covering the menu bar at the top. Can such messages be surpressed? I know, it is very easy to get rid of it, but when I demonstrated the portal

    • Default Sorting on Related Lists

      Is it possible to set the default sorting options on the related lists. For example on the Contact Details view I have related lists for activities, emails, products cases, notes etc... currently: Activities 'created date' newest first Emails - 'created

    • Send email to all contacts related to a module

      My use case: I have a module named products, the records of which contains a related list of contacts associated with subscribing to that product. In cases where i need to trigger emails manually to give specific unprecedented updates of that product,

    • Custom Modules Support for Zoho Creator Integration

      The title says it all. We have to create custom coded widgets for every little thing because this is not supported. Zoho Creator does not support custom modules. Zoho Forms does not support Multi-select-lookups. The point of Zoho is to not have to code

    • C# SDK net8.0 compatibility

      The NuGet packages seem to be targeting .net4.6.1 only. Are there any plans to target .net8.0, which is the current LTS version? Which package should I be using to interact with the API when targeting .net8.0, if any? If the SDK does not readily support

    • Notifications

      I am facing a problem with notifications, the mobile crm app does not notify me at all for any mail, task, activity, ... etc., the web is slightly better as i can see a notification on the bell icon however with a delay from real time and without a sound,

    • Disable All

      I want to disable all the fields on the form when it loads.  I know there is a way to do this by listing all the fields as follows: disable Name; disable Address; disable City;  ... I have over 50 fields on my form and i am wondering if there is a single command or way to just disable all fields on load.   On load = disable All Thank you for any help.  

    • Zoho Mail - CRM Widget

      When I click on Associate this email to a contact within the CRM widget, I get "Oops! Something went wrong". This happen when I try to associate an email in a shared mailbox. The widget detect correctly the contact and show his informations from the CRM

    • Kanban View for Projects.

      At our organization, we describe active projects with various statuses like "In Proofing" or "Printing" or "Mailing". In the Projects view, one can set these project statuses by selecting from the appropriate drop-down. While this works, it's difficult to view and comprehend the progress of all of your projects relative to each other in a table. Creating a Kanban view for projects where I can move them from one status to another allows me to see where each project is in the order of our workflow.

    • Feature request - export as video

      Export presentation as video. I think that it would be super useful for many users. Thanks

    • Display Company Logos in Pipeline View

      To improve deal management and enhance usability, we propose adding the option to display the associated company's logo directly in the pipeline view. Currently, users can only see the deal owner's avatar, but having the company's logo would make it easier

    • Attention: Scheduled Maintenance at US DC on Dec 19, 2024

      Dear Bookings users, We would like to inform you that we've scheduled maintenance activity at our US data centers on Thursday, December 19th, 2024, from 5:30 PM to 5:45 PM PT. During this period, Zoho Bookings will be completely unavailable for the accounts

    • StatusIQ

      Please add StatusIQ to data sources. We using site24x7 and StatusIQ together and site24x7 integration is already there. Thanks and regards, Torsten

    • Set Display for Numbers/Currency/etc with Client Script/Customization in Canvas List Page

      Is it possible to set a display mask for a number/currency field using Client Script or customization? I have custom fields that I would like to keep the decimal places for calculation purposes, but do not need them displayed to the user. So 101.3568

    • Cross module filtering is now supported in CRM

      Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: This enhancement is being released in phases. It is now available in AU, JP, and CN DCs. Help resource: Advanced filters While the feature is being released in phases, you can also request for Early Access. Early Access

    • Filter Criteria - Default Option for text fields should be "Contains" and not the current default "is"

      When in a list view and filtering by an input text field it would be a lot more helpful to have the default criteria be "contains" instead of "is". The "is" criteria is too specific and I'm forever changing it to "contains" in order to use the filter

    • Getting email status through api

      Refer to code below for getitng status of mail sent through CRM any modules. You can get the subject as a key in each response, so if you want to filter a specific email you just put an if condition for that. Note that the status will be given as a JSON

    • Présentation d'une nouvelle fonctionnalité de webinar à la demande

      De nos jours, les gens s'attendent à un accès instantané aux informations et aux ressources, qu'il s'agisse de divertissement en continu ou d'apprentissage en ligne. Conscients de cette évolution, nous sommes ravis de vous présenter une nouvelle fonctionnalité

    • Next Page