Enable SMS/MMS for Airship

This article explains how to configure SMS and MMS in SmarterSends after the Airship email integration has been successfully connected.

The existing Airship App Key, Master Secret, OAuth credentials, region, and Real-Time Data Streaming configuration will also be used for SMS and MMS. You do not need to create a separate Airship API integration.

Before you begin, you’ll need:

1. An Airship project that has been provisioned for SMS.
2. At least one sender ID configured in that Airship project.
3. SMS recipients registered and opted in to the selected sender ID.
4. The Airship email integration connected in SmarterSends.
5. Access to SmarterSends as an account owner.
6. Provision SMS in Airship

Airship must provision your project before it can send SMS or MMS messages.

Contact Airship Sales, Airship Support, or your Airship Account Manager to:

1. Enable SMS messaging for your project.
2. Provision or migrate the sender ID you intend to use.
3. Enable MMS for the sender if you plan to send multimedia messages.
4. Configure any required opt-in and opt-out keywords.

A sender ID is the number or identifier recipients see when they receive a message. Depending on your country and use case, this may be a long code, short code, toll-free number, or alphanumeric sender.

Sender provisioning may take time. Airship notes that some short-code migrations can require up to eight weeks.

Airship SMS setup documentation:
https://www.airship.com/docs/developer/api-integrations/sms/getting-started/

2. Locate Your Airship Sender ID

If you do not know which sender IDs are configured for the project:

1. In Airship, go to Messages -> SMS Keywords.
2. Select Create New Keyword.
3. Open Settings.
4. Open the SMS Sender menu.
5. Review the long codes and short codes configured for the project.
6. Copy the sender you want SmarterSends to use.
7. Exit without saving the new keyword unless you intended to create one.

Enter the sender ID exactly as it is configured in Airship. If Airship displays a country prefix with a short code, include that prefix.

An Airship project can contain multiple sender IDs, but SmarterSends uses one configured sender ID for its SMS and MMS campaigns. Recipients must be opted in to that specific sender.

Airship sender documentation:
https://www.airship.com/docs/developer/api-integrations/sms/senders/

3. Configure SMS in SmarterSends

In SmarterSends:

1. Go to Integrations.
2. Open the SMS/MMS integration.
3. Select Airship as the SMS Provider.
4. Enter the Airship sender in the Sender ID field.

The sender ID must belong to the same Airship project configured under the Email integration.

4. Configure MMS

Enable MMS only if your Airship project and selected sender are provisioned for MMS.

When MMS Enabled is turned on:

1. SMS templates display an MMS Image URL option.
2. Users can select an image from the SmarterSends media gallery, enter a public image URL, or use an image Content Area.
3. A campaign containing an MMS image is sent through Airship as MMS.
4. A campaign without an image continues to be sent as SMS.

The image URL must be publicly accessible without authentication. SmarterSends and Airship must be able to retrieve the image over the internet.

Airship recommends keeping media files at or below 1 MB. Smaller files generally provide more reliable carrier delivery.

Airship MMS and media documentation:
https://www.airship.com/docs/guides/features/messaging/sms/

https://www.airship.com/docs/reference/messages/media-guidelines/

5. Configure STOP Language

The Stop Language field controls the compliance text appended to SMS and MMS messages created in SmarterSends.

For example:

Reply STOP to opt out

If a value is provided, SmarterSends adds it to the message on a new line.

Leave this field blank if Airship, your sender configuration, or another process automatically adds the required opt-out language.

The appropriate language depends on your sender type, country, program, and legal requirements. Confirm the required wording with your compliance team or Airship Account Manager.

Airship manages the actual opt-in and opt-out status for SMS channels. Adding STOP language to a message does not opt a recipient in or out by itself; the sender’s keyword configuration must also be set up correctly.

6. Include the From Name

Enable Include From Name in Message if you want SmarterSends to prepend the template’s From Name to every message.

For example, a template with a From Name of “Example Company” will begin with:

Example Company:

Disable this option if the sender ID already clearly identifies your organization or if you want to conserve message characters.

The From Name and STOP language both count toward the final message length.

7. Configure Maximum Message Length

Maximum Message Length controls how many characters users can enter in the SmarterSends SMS editor.

The default value is:

160

SmarterSends allows values between 160 and 800 characters.

Messages longer than a single SMS segment may be divided into multiple segments and billed as multiple messages per recipient. Emojis, accented characters, and other Unicode characters may reduce the number of characters that fit into each segment.

Remember that the following content can contribute to the final delivered length:

1. Template text.
2. From Name.
3. STOP language.
4. Personalized merge values.
5. URLs before Airship shortens them.
6. Configure Link Tracking

Enable Link Tracking to have Airship shorten eligible URLs and record SMS click events.

When enabled, SmarterSends includes Airship’s link-shortening option in the SMS or MMS request. Airship generates a unique shortened URL for each recipient and publishes short-link click events through Real-Time Data Streaming.

For Airship to shorten a URL:

1. The URL must begin with http:// or https://.
2. The URL should be separated from the surrounding message by spaces.
3. Avoid placing punctuation immediately after the URL.

Airship’s dashboard-level SMS link-shortening preference does not control API messages. Use the Link Tracking setting in SmarterSends to enable it for SmarterSends campaigns.

Airship shortened links expire 60 days after the message is sent. Airship uses its standard short-link domain unless your project has a custom domain configured.

Airship link-shortening documentation:
https://www.airship.com/docs/developer/api-integrations/sms/link-shortening/

9. Save the SMS Integration

After completing the settings:

1. Click Test API Access.
2. Confirm the SMS integration displays as connected.
3. Click Save.
4. Return to the Integrations page.
5. Confirm that SMS/MMS displays Connected.

We strongly recommend sending a controlled test message before scheduling a live campaign. This confirms that the sender ID is valid and the test recipient is registered and opted in.

10. Prepare the Airship SMS Audience

Airship SMS recipients must be registered as SMS channels and opted in to the configured sender ID.

Opt-in status is sender-specific. A phone number opted in to one sender is not automatically opted in to another sender in the same Airship project.

Recipients can be added and opted in through Airship using:

1. A mobile-originated keyword.
2. An external consent form and the Airship API.
3. An Airship SDK.
4. A properly formatted CSV upload.

Airship requires recipients to provide the appropriate consent before receiving messages. SmarterSends does not override Airship’s channel opt-in status.

Airship opt-in and opt-out documentation:
https://www.airship.com/docs/developer/api-integrations/sms/opt-in-out-handling/

11. Send a Test SMS or MMS

To test an SMS campaign:

1. Open or create an SMS campaign in SmarterSends.
2. Select Send Test.
3. Enter the test recipient’s phone number, including the country code.
4. Send the test.

SmarterSends removes formatting characters such as spaces, parentheses, hyphens, and the plus sign before looking up the Airship SMS channel.

The test recipient must already:

1. Exist as an SMS channel in Airship.
2. Be registered under the configured sender ID.
3. Be opted in.

If the number is missing, registered under another sender, or not opted in, SmarterSends will not send the test.

To test MMS, the template must also contain a valid, publicly accessible image.

12. Build and Send SMS Campaigns

Airship Segments are used as SMS campaign audiences.

When building a campaign:

1. Select at least one Airship Segment as the audience.
2. Confirm that the Segment contains SMS channels opted in to the configured sender.
3. Add any suppression Segments that should be excluded.
4. Add a Seed Segment if required.
5. Review the final message, From Name, STOP language, personalization, links, and message length.
6. Send a test before scheduling or sending the live campaign.

If multiple audience Segments are selected, recipients matching any selected Segment are included.

Suppression Segments are excluded from the campaign.

Seed Segments are sent separately. Group contact restrictions apply to the primary live campaign audience but do not apply to Seed list sends or individual test sends.

13. SMS Reporting

SmarterSends uses Airship Real-Time Data Streaming to process available SMS and MMS events, including:

1. Dispatched messages.
2. Delivered messages.
3. Failed, expired, rejected, or undeliverable messages.
4. Short-link clicks.

Airship manages SMS compliance and opt-out events. Because those events do not always include campaign attribution, campaign-level SMS unsubscribe reporting is displayed as Unavailable in the SmarterSends Marketing Dashboard.

Troubleshooting

The SMS Integration Will Not Save

Confirm that Airship is selected as the provider and that a Sender ID has been entered.

Test Recipient Is Not Eligible

Confirm the number exists in Airship and is opted in to the exact sender ID entered in SmarterSends. Opt-in status for another sender does not qualify the number.

Airship Cannot Find the Sender

Confirm that the sender belongs to the same Airship project used by the SmarterSends email integration. Copy the sender exactly as Airship displays it, including any required country prefix.

SMS Sends but MMS Does Not

Confirm that MMS is enabled in SmarterSends, the Airship sender is provisioned for MMS, and the template contains a publicly accessible image URL.

Image Does Not Appear

Confirm that the URL can be accessed without authentication, redirects, cookies, or IP restrictions. Verify the file is a supported image and keep it at or below Airship’s recommended 1 MB size.

Links Are Not Shortened

Confirm Link Tracking is enabled in SmarterSends. Make sure each URL begins with http:// or https:// and is separated from surrounding text by spaces.

SMS Statistics Are Missing

Confirm the Airship Real-Time Data Streaming S3 integration is enabled and correctly configured under the Email integration. Verify that SMS delivery and short-link click events are included in the RTDS output.