How to turn on SMS in Klaviyo

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You will learn 

Learn how to enable SMS and, for those with subscribers in the UK and Australia, set up your alphanumeric sender ID.

Before you begin

You must turn on SMS before you can do any of the following:

  • Collect SMS subscribers
  • Import SMS contacts
  • Send SMS or MMS messages

If you have contacts in the UK or Australia, you will also need to activate your alphanumeric sender ID to collect or send to people in these countries. 

 

Enable SMS

  1. Click on the name of your organization in the upper right-hand corner 
  2. Select Account from the dropdown
  3. Navigate to Settings > SMS 
  4. Click Set up SMS for free
  5. Click Continue

Create your alphanumeric sender IDs (UK and AUS)

Alphanumeric sender IDs are the only way to send to people in the UK and Australia. They are free with your Klaviyo SMS plan and can be branded. However, you need to create your ID yourself. 

Requirements for an alphanumeric sender ID

Alphanumeric sender IDs must:

  • Be between 3-11 characters 
  • Contain at least one letter
  • Not have any special characters (e.g., ~, &, etc.)

Create your sender ID

  1. Navigate to Account > Settings > SMS
  2. Go to the Sending Numbers section
  3. Click the dropdown menu on the right-hand side of the alphanumeric number
  4. Choose Edit
    Sending numbers section showing the dropdown for an alphanumeric sender ID
  5. In the resulting modal, add your sender ID
    The modal where you can edit or turn off your sender ID
  6. Click Save

You'll now be able to gather and send to SMS subscribers in the UK and Australia.  

Turn off your alphanumeric sender ID

If you don’t want to send in the UK or Australia, you can turn off the alphanumeric number. Turning off your alphanumeric number means that you will not accidentally send to recipients in these countries, even if you have their consent. 

Since alphanumeric numbers are free, turning off this number does not affect your billing plan. 

  1. Head to Account > Settings > SMS
  2.  Locate your alphanumeric number under the Sending Numbers section
  3. Select the dropdown menu on the right-hand side
  4. Click Edit
    The Edit button in the actions dropdown for an alphanumeric sender ID
  5. Under Status, click the toggle so that it becomes Inactive
  6. Click Save

Turning off the alphanumeric number is effective immediately. 

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