SMS Character Limit: Best Practices for Concise and Impactful Text Messages
21 August 2024
Dhimant Vyas
Crafting effective SMS with a limited character count, whether personal or business, is annoying. You need to wrap up your thoughts and messages by considering the SMS character limit. It seems challenging to convey critical information in a limited SMS character count. Remember that exceeding the text message character limit of 160 characters would cost you a charge for two segments.
However, don’t worry!
We are here to guide you on maximizing these 160 characters and delivering the text message effectively.
Let’s first start by understanding the SMS character limit.
What is the SMS character limit?
The SMS character limit = the maximum number of characters a user can send in a text message through mobile. You can think of it as the boundary that decides how much content you can send in one SMS. Generally, this limit is 160 characters.
Why 160 characters?
A few decades ago, Friedhelm Hillebrand discovered that most questions and sentences generally fit within 160 characters. This finding set the 160-character standard limit for the SMS.
However, this character limit can vary based on factors like Unicode encoding and special character usage. If your text message contains emojis or Chinese characters, the SMS character limit is up to 70 characters.
Why?
This is because Unicode encoding needs more data than standard GSM-7 encoding. The reason behind it is that Unicode encoding typically consists of 16 bits or 2 bytes and standard GSM-7 of only 7-bits per character. So, Unicode-encoded messages have a lower character limit per SMS 70 characters as compared to GSM-7 160 characters. If your text message exceeds the SMS character count limit, it will automatically split the message into smaller parts.
Now, you must be wondering why you must keep an eye on this text message character limit.
There are three main reasons for this.
- To maintain the clarity and conciseness of text messages.
Generally, text messages are broken up into multiple segments when they exceed the character limit. Due to this, the text flow will get disturbed, potentially creating confusion for customers. - To improve the user experience.
When the user receives fragmented messages, it can be quite frustrating because sometimes the user will not receive all the parts simultaneously, leaving the message incomplete. However, receiving a single SMS will improve the readability and the customer’s overall user experience. - To Avoid extra cost
When your message is split into multiple parts, its cost will increase, and each part will be billed separately from your mobile carrier. So, if you use SMS as part of your overall marketing strategy, it can increase your SMS marketing cost.
What is GSM Character Encoding?
GSM means a standard message that contains a GSM character set ( letters from A to Z, numbers 0 to 9, and a few special characters like exclamation marks)
When the standard text message exceeds the character limit and is divided into multi-part messages, the 160-character limit decreases to 153 characters per segment (part). However, what about the remaining seven characters? The remaining seven characters are used for message segmentation and to ensure proper reassembly of multi-part messages.
You need to pay based on per part. Simply put, 1 part = 1 SMS credit.
Guideline for creating a standard message/multi-part message.
| Characters | Credit |
| 1 to 160 characters | 1 SMS |
| 161 to 306 characters | 2 SMS |
| 307 to 459 characters | 3 SMS, and so on… |
Typically, the standard GSM text message’s body limit is 5000 characters. When the message is delivered into the multi-part, 33 parts will be created.
How?
Here is the simple formula to understand it.
5000 characters/153 characters = 33 SMS credits
What is Unicode Character Encoding?
If your text message does not contain GSM characters, the maximum character length is decreased to 70 characters. The reason behind this is Unicode takes up more data. Unicode encoding includes mathematical signs, dashes, arrows, brackets, and non-Latin letters like Thai and Chinese.
Once you cross the limit of 70 characters, the message will be segmented into multiple parts. Each part will be of 67 characters. The remaining three characters will be used to create the sequence of messages.
Here are the guidelines for creating single or multi-part Unicode messages.
| Characters | Credit |
| 1 to 70 characters | 1 SMS |
| 71 to 134 characters | 2 SMS |
| 135 to 201 characters | 3 SMS, and so on… |
The total character limit in Unicode SMS is 5000 characters. So, 5000 characters/67 characters = 75 SMS credits.
GSM Vs. Unicode Character Limits
Let us briefly understand the GSM and Unicode Character Limit and how many SMS credits you need to pay for your text message.
How to Stay Within Text Message Character Limit and Communicate Effectively?
Here are a few best practices that you need to consider to stay within the text message character limit.
- Avoid using a long URL. Use the tiny URL so it will occupy fewer characters. Short url should be branded to your business and not using a public short url service.
- Do not blindly copy-paste messages directly from a word processor because it might contain some hidden Unicode characters. So, use a plain text editor while copy-pasting the content.
- Create pre-defined SMS templates using short words to communicate your message effectively by staying within the character limit. Do not use junk characters.
- Use emojis whenever you want to express more in a few words, but your character limit will be dropped to 70. So, use them wisely.
- Make use of symbols and abbreviations to communicate effectively by saving characters. However, you need to use them wisely to ensure your text message remains professional and to the point.
How does the SMS Character Limit Impact MMS Messaging?
We all know SMS has a standard 160-character limit. It seems like you have to fit a big story into the tiny tweet. Seems impossible? But you can do it. On the flip side, you can switch to MMS messaging. It will change the whole game. Through MMS, you can send images, videos, longer text, etc. However, you are mistaken if you think SMS character count does not matter in MMS.
Without any doubt, MMS can handle more content, but it still has limits. Generally, MMS has a character limit of 1600 characters. However, that does not mean you should start writing a novel! When you send longer text messages or add rich media, the message size will increase, affecting cost and delivery timing. Besides, sometimes, the larger messages get delayed and even fail due to network issues.
So, in simple words, MMS offers more flexibility than SMS, but you still need to be prudent and keep your messages concise. You can include videos and images and add more content, but ensure it improves the message rather than overwhelms it.
To Wrap Up
In summary, you must understand the SMS character limit for effective communication, especially when you are using it for SMS marketing. In short, SMS and MMS both have their strengths and limitations. So, use them strategically so you can convey the message effectively while managing the cost. If you are tired of the SMS character limit and want to extend text limit, we can help you out.
Textdrip has an extended text limit feature, which will let you go beyond the standard 160-character limit in a minimal amount. Using this feature, you can provide more information to your users, increasing clarity and improving your brand messaging. So, what are you waiting for? Try Textdrip’s free trial or book a demo and experience how you can pack more useful content in your messages.
FAQ's
| What is the standard SMS character limit? |
The standard limit is 160 characters including spaces and punctuation so Messages longer than this may be split or converted to MMS, depending on the recipient's device and carrier.
| Are there any tools available to help manage SMS character limits? |
Yes, many SMS marketing platforms like Textdrip provide features like extended text limits to help manage character limits in which often include character counters, message previews, and automated splitting of long messages into multiple parts.
| Does the SMS character limit affect spaces in a message? |
Yes, the SMS character limit includes all spaces, punctuation, and special characters Whether your message is in GSM or Unicode, every space counts toward the total 160-character limit.
| How do emojis affect the SMS character limit? |
Emojis can use 2 to 4 characters of your SMS limit, depending on the encoding that means a single emoji might count as multiple characters, so be mindful to avoid exceeding the 160-character limit.
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