Prerequisites
- SMS Templates in Zyntro — What a template is for, and when not to use one
Create an SMS Template
Name, message, tags, and a live preview on a phone.
Before You Begin
- The correct brand selected. Templates are saved against the brand you are working in.
- A clear reason to use a template rather than letting SI write the message
The editor has three columns: the form on the left, a phone mockup in the middle showing the message as it will appear, and the smart tag list on the right.
Nothing is saved until you select Save Template, and there is no draft state — a template is either saved or it is not.
Steps
Open the editor
Go to Brands > Brand Assets > SMS Templates and select Create New SMS Template.
Name the template
Put something recognisable in Template Name. This is what you will see in a dropdown months later, in a list beside every other template for the brand, so "Appointment confirmation" beats "SMS 1".
Write the message
Replace the placeholder text in Message Body with your message. The phone mockup updates as you type, which is the quickest way to see whether the message reads well at the width it will actually be read at.
Keep it short. SMS is read in a notification, so the first few words carry most of the message.
Add personalization with smart tags
The right-hand column lists the available tags. Select one to copy it, then paste it into the message where the value should appear.
Only a limited set of tags is replaced in SMS. The safest are {contacts.fname}, {contacts.lname}, {contacts.name}, {contacts.email} and {contacts.phone}. Tags from other groups are listed in the picker but are not replaced in an SMS — they reach the recipient as literal text, braces and all.
Check the part counter
Beneath the message box, Zyntro shows the character count, the number of parts, and which character set the message uses.
Messages are charged per part. Standard text fits 160 characters in a single part. If you include an emoji, a curly quote or an accented letter, the counter switches to Unicode and the limit drops to 70 characters for the whole message — often doubling the cost of a message that looked short.
Allow for what gets added later
The counter measures exactly what is in the box. Two things change at send time: smart tags expand to real values, which are usually longer than the tag; and a signature may be appended depending on how the message is sent.
If you are close to a part boundary, leave yourself room rather than trusting the count.
Save
Select Save Template. You are returned to the list, where the new template appears with its creation date and the start of its message.
Result
The template is saved against this brand and immediately available in the SMS broadcast builder, Send SMS to Contact, FLOW actions, form actions, board settings, webinar registration, the unified inbox and the mobile app.
Before relying on it, send one to yourself from Send SMS to Contact and read it on a phone. That is the only way to be certain about the length, the line breaks and whether your tags were replaced.
Troubleshooting
The message contains a character outside the standard set, which lowers the limit from 160 characters to 70 for the whole message. The counter names the character set it detected. Emoji, curly quotes and apostrophes pasted from a word processor, en dashes and accented letters are the usual causes.
Check you are in the same brand. Templates are per brand, and a picker in another brand will not list them.
Only a limited set of tags is substituted in SMS, and which ones depends on how the message was sent. See Smart Tags for SMS for the list that is safe to use.
