If you are using the 'Send SMS' screen, we will use the character count of the first entry in the contact list.
For example:
Andrew is the first name in the contact list, so when the text [Firstname] is added, the character counter has 6 added, no longer 11.
This is the same for the 'Quick SMS' screen.
The limitation of this is that if the contact list contains a name greater than 6 characters, the character counter will not be changed.
You can click the blue play button beside your preview message to cycle through different names. (Highlighted in the photo above with the green square)
If the character count is important to you, we recommend confirming the count using the name with the most characters.
Extra Resources:
- Character counter
- How many characters can I have in my SMS?
- Blog: SMS Templates
- Blog: How to Write SMS for Marketing - 5 Mistakes to Avoid
- Blog: Master List of Emoji's for Your Business
- Blog: The Ideal Character Length for SMS, Email and Social Media