> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.brudcast.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Send your first SMS

> Send an SMS campaign from an approved sender ID: choose the audience, write the message, clear the send checklist, and send.

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By the end of this page you'll have sent an SMS campaign and know where to follow its delivery.

<Screenshot id="ss-sms-send-your-first-sms-hero-sms-block" alt="The SMS block in the campaign composer with an approved sender ID that sends to Nigeria, a message, and the counter showing 1 segment billed" />

<Info>
  **Before you start**, you need:

  * Credits in your wallet. See [Turn SMS on](/channels/sms/overview#turn-sms-on).
  * A sender ID approved in the countries you're sending to. See [Sender IDs](/channels/sms/sender-ids).
  * Contacts with a phone number and country. See
    [Countries and number formats](/channels/sms/overview#countries-and-number-formats).
</Info>

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create a campaign">
    Go to **Campaigns** and create a campaign. Give it a **Campaign name**, and under **Channels**,
    select **SMS**. See [Create a campaign](/campaigns/create-a-campaign).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Choose the audience">
    Select **Choose audience** and pick **Lists**, **Segments** or individual **Contacts**. Use
    **Don't send to** to leave people out.

    There's no SMS test send. For your first campaign, choose only your own contact, so the first
    message you send goes to your phone.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Pick the sender ID">
    In the SMS block, choose a **Sender ID**. The list shows approved sender IDs only. Under the
    field, Brudcast shows where it can send, such as "Sends to Nigeria".

    If it says "Not sendable yet", the sender ID has no approved country yet, and the campaign won't
    send until it has one.

    <Screenshot id="ss-sms-send-your-first-sms-03-sender" alt="The Sender ID field with an approved sender ID selected and the line Sends to Nigeria underneath" />
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write the message">
    Type into **Message**. Insert merge tags with the picker, and watch the counter for the number of
    segments. "Reply STOP to opt out" is added to the end and counts toward them.

    See [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Clear the send checklist">
    **Before you send** lists anything that would stop the campaign, including the sender and the
    **Credits** line, which shows the estimate next to your available credits. If you're short,
    select **Top up**.

    To see how the SMS estimate was worked out, hover over its rate. See
    [Send checklist](/campaigns/send-checklist).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send">
    Select **Send** to send now, or schedule it. See
    [Create and send a campaign](/campaigns/create-a-campaign).
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What happens next

* Messages go out in batches. Recipients who opted out are skipped and not charged.
* A message is charged when a carrier accepts it. Its delivery receipt usually arrives soon after.
  If none arrives within 24 hours, the message is marked expired.
* The campaign's results show messages sent, delivered and bounced, and the credits used. SMS has
  no opens or clicks.

See [Campaign results](/campaigns/results).

## Delivery statuses

| Status       | What it means                                                                |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `QUEUED`     | Brudcast has the message and it's waiting to go out                          |
| `SUBMITTING` | The message is being handed to a carrier                                     |
| `SUBMITTED`  | A carrier accepted the message. Brudcast is waiting for its delivery receipt |
| `DELIVERED`  | The carrier reported the message delivered to the phone                      |
| `FAILED`     | The message couldn't be sent                                                 |
| `REJECTED`   | The carrier refused the message                                              |
| `EXPIRED`    | A carrier accepted the message, but no final receipt arrived within 24 hours |

Some carriers accept a message and never send a receipt. Without a deadline the message would stay
`SUBMITTED` forever and its campaign would never finish, so after 24 hours it's marked `EXPIRED`. An
expired message may still have reached the phone. The status only means Brudcast never heard back.

A message is charged when a carrier accepts it, whatever happens next, expiry included. A message
skipped because the recipient opted out isn't charged, and isn't counted as a failure either.

### Why a message failed

| Reason                 | What it means                                                                                  | What to do                                                               |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Sender ID not approved | Your sender ID isn't approved in the recipient's country                                       | Check the **Coverage** column in **Channels > SMS > Sender IDs**         |
| Recipient opted out    | The number replied STOP to this sender ID                                                      | Nothing. Only the recipient can opt back in                              |
| Too many segments      | With merge tags filled in and the opt-out footer added, the message needs more than 4 segments | Shorten it. See [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content) |
| Invalid number         | The number isn't a valid phone number for its country                                          | Fix the number or the contact's country                                  |
| No route available     | Brudcast has no route to that destination                                                      | Email [support@brudcast.com](mailto:support@brudcast.com)                |
| Credits exhausted      | The wallet ran out during the campaign                                                         | Top up, then send the rest as a new campaign                             |
| Retries exhausted      | Every attempt failed, including retries after 5 seconds, 30 seconds and 5 minutes              | Usually temporary. Try again later                                       |

If a sender ID isn't approved anywhere, the campaign doesn't send any SMS at all. The send checklist
warns you before that happens.

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="No approved SMS sender identities yet." icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** you have no approved sender ID.

    **Fix:** [register one](/channels/sms/sender-ids) and wait for a carrier to approve it.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Not sendable yet, still under review. The campaign will not send until this sender is approved." icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the sender ID hasn't been approved in any country yet.

    **Fix:** wait for approval, or choose another sender ID.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="over the 4-segment limit, shorten the message" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** with the footer added, the message needs more than 4 segments.

    **Fix:** shorten it, or remove characters that switch it to unicode. See
    [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The campaign reaches fewer people than the audience" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** only contacts with an SMS identity are reached, and numbers that opted out are skipped.

    **Fix:** add phone numbers to your contacts, in E.164 such as `+2348000000001`, and set each
    contact's country. See [Add and edit contacts](/contacts/add-and-edit-contacts).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Messages to some countries bounced" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the sender ID isn't approved in those countries.

    **Fix:** check its **Coverage** in **Channels > SMS > Sender IDs**.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The campaign used more segments than planned" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** an emoji, curly quote or other character outside the GSM-7 set switched the message to
    unicode, the opt-out footer pushed it over a segment boundary, or merge tags expanded to longer
    values than you expected.

    **Fix:** watch the counter in the composer. See
    [Writing SMS content](/channels/sms/writing-sms-content).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The campaign stopped partway through" icon="circle-alert">
    **Why:** the wallet ran out, and the campaign stopped at the end of a batch.

    **Fix:** top up, then send the rest in a new campaign. Turn on auto top-up to avoid this next
    time. See [Credits and wallet](/billing/credits-and-wallet).
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Related

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Writing SMS content" icon="type" href="/channels/sms/writing-sms-content">
    Segments, the 4-segment limit, and opt-out keywords.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Write content for each channel" icon="layers" href="/campaigns/write-content-per-channel">
    Send SMS alongside email and push.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Campaign results" icon="chart-column" href="/campaigns/results">
    Follow delivery after you send.
  </Card>
</Columns>