What are shortcodes and how to use them?

Shortcodes boost your text broadcasting campaign with fast delivery and brand recognition. Let's explore what they are and how to use them.

Shortcodes are everywhere - on the radio when you’re sending in a song request, on TV, when you’re entering a competition or voting for your favorite contestant. Of course, you also see them on the posters like – “Just text WIN to 39666,” – but how can you use them for your outreach?

Shortcodes are a unique 5 -6 digit code and could reach a large audience through SMS and MMS without worrying about getting blocked or filtered. With Long codes( 10 digit numbers), you can only send one message per second, whereas Shortcode allows sending large numbers of messages at a consistent rate with much higher throughput than long numbers.

In the US, it legally requires a two-way number for customers to be able to unsubscribe. Also, in long codes, you are only allowed to send a small volume of messages. Sending many messages from the same number could result in blocking or filtering that number. In contrast, Shortcode is allowed to send an unlimited number of messages per month.

Since we know that a dedicated Shortcode is quite costly and required around six weeks for approval, we give you all the benefits of a shortcode with Keywords. Keywords are cheap to rent and could be used to get OPT-INs from your supporters/contacts to receive messages from your campaign periodically. Keywords are currently available for use in SMS signup and SMS Broadcast campaign. 

Renting a keyword is easy. First, you need to fill up a form and provide a few details like your contacts/OPTed-IN, the sample of messages you will send, a support number, and a website URL for your contacts to reach. To remain compliant with CTIA guidelines, this is a mandatory step.