Aloware’s segment calculator helps you manage your messaging costs by showing exactly how many segments your text message will use. Additionally, it helps account for broadcast pricing fluctuations by analyzing the factors that may influence costs.
If you regularly send text campaigns, this tool is essential. It provides visibility into potential costs, allowing you to make adjustments before sending.
By using the segment calculator, you can save money while ensuring your messages reach customers effectively.
Why segment calculation matters
In SMS messaging, each message is broken into segments, typically 160 characters long for standard GSM characters. If your message exceeds this limit or includes emojis or special characters, it uses more segments, which can increase your costs.
Moreover, the number of contacts in your broadcast significantly influences costs, as each additional contact represents an individual message that incurs additional charges.
Aloware’s segment calculator helps you see how many segments your message will use, so you can adjust it accordingly and stay within your budget. Here’s how it benefits you:
Cost control - you can easily manage your budget by seeing how many segments your message will use and avoiding unnecessary charges.
Efficiency - optimize your message for maximum impact at the lowest cost.
Improved customer engagement - keep your messages concise and relevant to improve engagement, readability, and conversion rates.
How to use Aloware’s segment calculator
Go to Aloware’s segment calculator: https://app.aloware.com/sms-segment-calculator.
Input your message. Add your text in the message box.
See key details displayed:
Message detail
Segment count - the number of segments your message will use.
Message length - the total number of characters in your message.
Max segment length - the maximum number of characters allowed per segment based on the encoding.
Encoding type - whether your message uses GSM-7 (standard) or Unicode (for special characters/emojis).
Price detail
An estimate of how much your message will cost based on your current plan.
Encoded message and segments
Aloware also visually splits the message into different colors, so you can easily see how it’s divided into segments.
Best practices to manage SMS costs
Keep messages short - stay within the 160-character limit for standard SMS without special characters to avoid extra charges.
Use concise language - simplify your message without losing clarity to keep it within one segment.
Avoid emojis and special characters - these trigger Unicode encoding, reducing the character limit to 70 per segment and increasing costs.
Test before sending - use the Segment Calculator to test and refine your message to minimize costs.
Monitor performance - track the performance of your shorter, more efficient messages, and fine-tune your approach accordingly.
Target a focused audience - refine your contact list to ensure your messages reach only relevant recipients, reducing unnecessary expenses.
Why does pricing fluctuate when broadcasting a message?
Pricing fluctuations during SMS message broadcasts are a common concern, and they arise due to several calculable factors. These fluctuations are influenced by the number of contacts in your broadcast list and specific characteristics of the message content. Understanding these elements can help control costs effectively.
Factors Influencing Pricing
Number of Contacts
he broader your broadcast list, the higher the cost as each contact represents an individual message sent. Pricing is usually calculated per message per contact, so targeting a larger audience directly increases your total expense.
Message size and content
The size of your text plays a key role in determining the number of segments your message occupies.
Standard SMS messages are typically limited to 160 characters per segment for plain text. Messages exceeding this limit or containing special characters such as emojis or symbols may be segmented into smaller parts, each counted as an additional message.
This segmentation can significantly increase costs. For example, emojis and symbols often use a different encoding system (e.g., UCS-2 instead of GSM-7), which increases the message size and therefore the number of segments.
Practical tips to minimize costs
Avoid special characters - to keep costs manageable, ensure your text messages only use plain characters. Special characters like emojis, symbols, or non-standard punctuation can increase segment requirements and overall pricing.
Optimize message length - keep messages concise and within the standard SMS length of 160 characters whenever possible to avoid additional segmentation.
Target a focused audience - consider segmenting your contact lists to target only relevant recipients, reducing unnecessary distribution.
Understanding the impact of emojis and special characters
Using emojis or special characters (such as accented letters) changes your message’s encoding to Unicode, which limits you to 70 characters per segment instead of 160.
While emojis can boost engagement, they also increase costs, especially in large campaigns. Be mindful of how you use them to keep your costs under control.