Start with a small set of useful events
Order confirmation, collection reminders and service updates are good places to start. Write down the event that triggers each message, its recipient and what the recipient should do next. Keep promotional campaigns separate from service notifications.
Use email when a customer needs a receipt or longer instructions. Use SMS for short, time-sensitive information. Avoid sending the same notification through every channel unless the customer needs that redundancy.
Prepare your sender identity
Configure the sending identity before testing with real customers. For email, follow the domain verification instructions and add the supplied DNS records. For SMS, check the approval status of your sender name.
Send a test to a number or inbox you control. Confirm the sender, wording, links and reply instructions are clear. Never place passwords, wallet PINs or unnecessary personal information in a message.
Make delivery reliable
Record notification attempts against the business event that caused them. Give each event a stable identifier so a repeated request does not create a second notification. Queue sends where possible and handle provider errors explicitly.
A provider accepting a request does not prove the customer read it. Distinguish queued, accepted and failed states in your application. Use available delivery reports to investigate issues instead of repeatedly sending the same message.
Budget for actual usage
SMS length and character choices can affect the number of message parts. A campaign sent to many recipients can consume more units than the number of send requests suggests. Preview the message and check your allowance before launching a campaign.
Lynk offers messaging plans and add-ons; consult the current Messaging page for allowances and pricing. Monitor usage and delivery outcomes, and give customers a clear way to stop optional messages.