Review your SMS settings

You will learn

Learn how to review and edit your SMS settings to fit your business needs.

Before you begin 

Before you can get started, you need to have set up SMS. Once done, the SMS settings page will populate. 

Review the SMS settings page

1. Click your account name in the bottom left corner.
2. From the dropdown, click Settings.
   
   
3. Click SMS.

Here, you'll see an overview of your account, including:

• How many SMS subscribers and messages you've sent in the last 30 days
• The total throughput for all of your sending numbers 

Note that if you have both a toll-free number and a branded sender ID (also called an alphanumeric sender ID), the throughput shown is the sum of the throughput for both numbers. 

You can customize your sending number, message add-ons, keyword responses, opt-out language, sending settings, and conversion tracking settings.

To subscribe to your own SMS program, sign up via a form or text "JOIN" or any other subscribe keyword to the number assigned in your SMS settings tab (the latter approach does not work in the UK or Australia). This allows you to monitor and test SMS as you get started.

Sending numbers

Your SMS numbers are listed in the Sending Numbers section.  

For details about sending numbers, check out the following articles: 

• US and Canadian sending numbers
• UK, Australian, and New Zealand sending numbers

SMS message add-ons

There are two sections that you can edit within Message Add-Ons: organizational prefix and opt-out language. These pertain to terms that are prepended and appended to your text messages.

• Organizational Prefix
The Organizational Prefix is your business name. It should be the word or phrase customers recognize as your business title. Prefixes are optional but highly recommended because, unlike emails, text messages don't have a built-in way to identify the sender. This prefix allows customers to understand that this text came directly from your store.
• Opt-Out Language
Opt-out language is the phrase added to the end of a message that gives customers the option to opt out of further SMS communication. This is similar to the unsubscribe language in emails, which helps to limit negative customer experiences and make sure you don't get marked as spam.

Opt-out language must include STOP in the message and is required in some jurisdictions.

Keyword responses

Keyword responses are SMS messages that are automatically toggled on to respond to customers who answer one of your messages. Note that you cannot add links in most editable responses. 

Keyword responses do not apply to branded sender IDs.

Keyword(s)	Default text	Can you edit the response?	Details
YES, Y	[Organization name]: Thanks for signing up for updates! Text HELP for help; STOP to opt-out. Msg & data rates may apply, frequency varies.	Yes	Only applies with double opt-in after someone confirms they want to subscribe. This message does not apply to branded sender IDs (e.g., in the UK and Australia).
HELP and INFO	[Organization name]: For help reach us at [your email].	Yes	This message sends when someone requests more information or help from you via text.
STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT	NETWORK MSG: You replied with the word "stop" which blocks all texts sent from this number. Text back "unstop" to receive messages again.	No	The recipient’s carrier sends this message after someone opts out.
START, UNSTOP	NETWORK MSG: You have replied "unstop" and will begin receiving messages again from this number.	No	The recipient’s carrier sends this message when someone who previously unsubscribed opts back in.  Note: You must have a list titled "SMS Subscribers" for the keywords to work.

The image below shows what you can expect from a certain response.

All of responses are mandatory within Klaviyo except for When no keyword is recognized. 

The text within keyword responses can be edited to fit your brand and desired content.

You can also add custom subscribe keywords. For instructions, read How to Add, Update, or Delete Custom Keywords.

Edit a mandatory keyword response

1. Click the pencil icon to the right of the response you want to edit
2. Edit the content in the popup modal
   1. Only use plain text, as emojis are not supported in these messages
3. When your message is ready, click Save.

For the response that is triggered when no keyword is recognized, you can choose to forward the SMS message to an email address of your choice. Again, click on the pencil icon to the right of that keyword response for a popup to appear. Here, you are able to toggle this feature on and off, and edit the contact information that will receive these forwarded messages, as pictured below.

Quick responses

Quick responses allow you to create and store responses you can use in your SMS conversations. In the SMS settings page, you can search through your existing quick responses or add a new one. 

For more information about quick response, please see How to create and use quick responses.

SMS sending settings

There are two aspects to the settings for SMS sending: 

• Smart Sending
• SMS Quiet Hours

Smart Sending 

Smart Sending allows you to limit the number of SMS messages someone will receive in a given period of time. Klaviyo sets the default window of time to 24 hours, although you can adjust this.

It is best practice to enable Smart Sending to ensure that customers are not overwhelmed with messages from your business, especially if you're sending emails in addition to text messages.

SMS quiet hours

Klaviyo's SMS quiet hours limit when flows can send SMS messages to recipients. Quiet Hours are based on the country code for the recipient, meaning texts to those in Canada will send at very different times than to those in Australia. By default, Klaviyo's SMS Quiet Hours are from 8 p.m. to 11 a.m. (using Eastern Time in the US and Canada, BST for the UK, and Australian Eastern Time in Australia). 

This is beneficial for two key reasons:

• Providing a better customer experience
• Sending at only compliant times

Text messages actively ping the recipient's phone, so they're more intrusive than email or social media messages. Quiet hours helps you avoid texting subscribers at odd hours of the day, leading to more positive customer interactions.

Quiet hours is also a key part of SMS compliance. In the US, for example, the TCPA forbids sending anytime before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m., and in Florida, it is further restricted to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The default window ensures that your messages can only send at compliant times, regardless of where the recipient lives and their time zone. 

Tracking settings

The Tracking Settings section of your SMS page details your desired conversion window for messages. This means that purchases will be attributed to an SMS message that was received and clicked in this timeframe.

The default is 24 hours, but you can customize this timeframe to reflect your desired conversion window. The maximum is 720 hours. 

Callout: Note that Klaviyo's conversion timeframe is shorter than others' to provide a more realistic timeframe. However, if you are seeing a large dip in conversions, try to extend this timeframe if you want to compare 

Company information

The Company Information section contains an option to turn on virtual contact cards and the following details about your organization: 

• Company or organization name
• URL for your website
• Company email address 
• Logo
• Company phone number
• Address

Import SMS unsubscribes

In the SMS settings page, you can bulk unsubscribe people from SMS by uploading a CSV file. This is useful when cleaning your SMS list, as it's better to unsubscribe someone than delete their profile.

Read this article on how to bulk unsubscribe SMS profiles.

Additional resources

• Getting started with Klaviyo SMS and MMS
• Understand SMS sending numbers
• Understand how Klaviyo billing works