SMS Overview

Where to Find It

Navigate to Communication Channels → SMS in your Ambassador admin.

What You Can Use SMS For

Think of SMS as a quick, friendly tap on the shoulder. Common use cases include:

• Welcome messages after someone enrolls in your Ambassador program
• Referral and reward notifications — like when a referral connection is made or a reward is fulfilled
• Loyalty reward notifications — earned points, bonus points, or new tier achievements
• Available reward reminders to prompt advocates to redeem
• Promotional offers tied to campaigns, seasonal pushes, or special bonuses
• Any other program-related alerts your team wants to automate or send on demand

If the recipient is opted in, you can reach them — simple as that.

How SMS Works in Ambassador

SMS lives inside your Communication Channels and Automations so it fits naturally into your existing program setup.

SMS Templates — Go to Communication Channels > SMS to create transactional or marketing SMS messages, starting from a template or from scratch. Note: each template must be pre-approved before it can be sent.

Automations & Transactional Messages — Use automation triggers (like "Reward Approved" or "Advocate Enrolled") to automatically send essential updates and reward notifications.

Automations & Marketing Messages — Schedule or trigger promotional texts that keep your audience engaged and excited.

Audience Rules — SMS only sends to contacts who have opted in with a valid mobile number. If someone hasn't opted in, Ambassador will quietly skip them so you stay compliant.

SMS Metrics — Monitor performance in two places:

• Performance Center > Dashboards > SMS — Visual dashboards summarizing performance across programs and templates, plus a transaction-level view of individual SMS events
• Communication Channels > Communication Outcomes > SMS — A log of all automation SMS outcomes, including processing, completed, delivered, and rate-limited items

SMS Limit Queue — If you reach your monthly SMS limit, subsequent message attempts are queued for you to review and either send or cancel.

Getting SMS Set Up

SMS requires a plan and registration with Ambassador before it's available on your account. Here's the overall process:

1. Purchase an SMS plan through Ambassador Sales. Decide upfront whether you want one phone number (for both transactional and marketing) or two separate numbers (one each for transactional and marketing).
2. Provide your business information for Twilio sub-account setup. Approval can take up to two weeks.
3. Ambassador enables SMS on your account and sets your monthly message limit.
4. Plan your SMS strategy and create your SMS templates in Communication Channels > SMS.
5. Update your enrollment widgets to include an SMS opt-in field so advocates can consent when they join.
6. Create or update Automations with a "Send SMS" outcome and select the applicable template.
7. Configure webhooks (if applicable) to receive opt-out notifications so you can sync consent changes to your own systems.
8. Test your setup before enabling, and monitor performance after launch.

How to Send SMS Messages

1. Go to Communication Channels > SMS and create a new template (start from a template or from scratch)
2. To test how the message looks, click Send Test from the template editor — enter a team member's phone number in +[country code][number] format (e.g., +17346263333)
3. Create an Automation for your use case and add a Send SMS outcome at the appropriate step, selecting your template
4. Save and publish the automation, then enable it to test
5. Once confirmed, update any test-specific settings and enable fully

Tips for Effective SMS

• Keep it short and friendly — think "quick update," not "email in disguise"
• Personalize where it helps — use merge tags for name, reward amount, referral link, etc.
• Give a clear next step — e.g., "Tap your link to redeem your reward"
• Don't over-send — SMS is most effective when it feels timely and special
• Always test before launching — it's worth the peace of mind

FAQ

Who can receive SMS messages? Contacts in the United States or Canada who have opted in with a valid mobile number. International availability varies by carrier and country — talk to your Ambassador rep to confirm coverage for specific regions.

Does SMS work internationally? Yes, though availability depends on carrier rules in each country and some regions may not be supported. Contact your Ambassador rep to confirm which countries can be enabled for your account.

Can I see SMS performance? Yes. Go to Performance Center > Dashboards > SMS to view performance metrics and a transaction log for each SMS event.

How do contacts opt out? Recipients can reply STOP at any time. Ambassador will automatically update their SMS preference on their contact record. The available SMS preferences are: Unknown, Opted In, and Opted Out. Note: opt-in is all-or-nothing — contacts cannot opt in to transactional only or marketing only unless you have two separate phone numbers set up.

Do you support keyword opt-in? Yes. Contacts can text JOIN, SUBSCRIBE, or START to opt in. The contact must already exist in Ambassador with that phone number on their record.

Is MMS supported? Not yet. Let your Ambassador rep know if you're interested — they'll notify you when it becomes available.

Are messages sent from a shortcode or a phone number? From a dedicated phone number. Shortcode support is not yet available.

How are long URLs handled in SMS? Currently the full URL is included in the message. URL shortening is in development — let your Ambassador rep know if this is important to you.

Good to Know

• SMS preferences are stored on each contact record. You can filter and export contacts by SMS preference status from Audience > Contacts.
• Contacts should opt in to SMS during advocate enrollment, update your widget to include an SMS opt-in field or communicate your SMS number and the keyword opt-in.