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SMS marketing through Brevo is one of the highest-ROI channels in the platform — and one of the most regulated. The setup that converts and stays out of legal trouble is different from what 'looks' simple in the UI. Here's the build.
Who this is forOwners adding SMS to their Brevo marketing mix, especially in EU (GDPR), US (TCPA), or UK (PECR) jurisdictions. If you already have email signups, SMS-on-top can lift revenue 10-20% — but ONLY with proper consent collection.
What you'll need
Step 1
Brevo top menu → SMS → Activate. Add credits (Brevo SMS is pay-per-send, not subscription). Pricing varies by country.
Brevo top menu → SMS → Activate.
Add credits via Account → Plan & billing → SMS credits. Brevo SMS is pay-per-message, with prices varying by destination country (US ~$0.015/msg, UK ~$0.04, France ~$0.06, India ~$0.005).
For a 2K-contact campaign at $0.015/msg, budget $30/campaign minimum. Higher in regulated markets.
Note the daily sending limit: Brevo throttles new accounts to a few thousand SMS/day until reputation builds, similar to email.
Step 2
Different countries require different sender registration. US: 10DLC brand + campaign registration. EU: alphanumeric sender ID. UK: same as EU plus ICO compliance.
US (most strict): SMS → Settings → 10DLC Registration. Register your business with The Campaign Registry (TCR) through Brevo. Submit business EIN, address, brand identity, use case. Takes 1-3 weeks. Without this, US carriers block your messages or charge punitive surcharges.
EU/UK: SMS → Settings → Sender ID. Register an alphanumeric sender ID (e.g., 'Yourbrand') — appears as the From on recipient's phone. Approved by Brevo in 1-3 business days.
Other countries: each has rules. India requires DLT registration. Canada has 10DLC-like rules (CSA). Australia requires sender ID or short code. Brevo's docs cover per-country requirements.
Do NOT skip this step. Sending without proper sender registration = messages blocked or surcharged 5-10x, OR (in US) a TCPA violation.
Step 3
SMS consent ≠ email consent. Add a separate SMS opt-in checkbox on every form, with clear language about what you'll send.
Contacts → Settings → contact attribute → add SMS_CONSENT (BOOLEAN) and SMS_CONSENT_DATE (DATE) attributes. These prove consent if audited.
On signup forms (Brevo's or your website's): add a SEPARATE checkbox for SMS opt-in. Language must be specific: 'I agree to receive marketing SMS from Yourbrand. Up to 4 messages/month. Reply STOP to unsubscribe. Msg & data rates may apply.'
Do NOT bundle SMS consent with email consent. Don't pre-check the box. Don't make SMS opt-in a condition of purchase or signup. These are TCPA violations in the US and GDPR violations in EU.
Capture phone numbers in E.164 format (+1 for US, +44 for UK, +33 for France). Brevo will reject malformed numbers but won't fix formatting.
For existing contacts without documented SMS consent: send an EMAIL asking them to opt in to SMS via a form. Don't auto-add to SMS just because they have email consent.
Step 4
SMS → Campaigns → Create a campaign. 160 characters max for one segment (longer = 2-3 segments = 2-3x cost).
SMS → Campaigns → Create a campaign.
Name: '2026-05-26 — Flash Sale.' Same naming convention as email campaigns.
Recipients: segment to SMS_CONSENT = true. Exclude any segment without documented consent.
Message: 160 characters max for single-segment SMS. Going over splits into 2-3 segments, each charged separately. Brevo shows segment count + cost as you type.
Must include: brand name + opt-out instruction. Format: 'Yourbrand: 20% off today only. Shop: https://link.co/sale. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.' That's 78 chars — leaves room for offer.
URL shortener: use a branded short link (Bitly, Rebrandly, your own) — looks more trustworthy than t.co/random. Brevo doesn't shorten automatically.
Send time: SMS sees same time-of-day patterns as email. 10am-6pm local time. NEVER send before 8am or after 9pm — TCPA violation.
Step 5
Automations → Workflows → SMS trigger. Cart abandonment SMS converts 5-10x better than email cart abandonment.
Automations → Workflows → Create a workflow → Custom.
Trigger: e-commerce event 'abandoned_cart' (requires Shopify/WooCommerce integration to fire this event into Brevo).
Filter: contact has SMS_CONSENT = true AND has a phone number. Skip otherwise.
Wait: 1 hour after the trigger (faster than email cart abandonment).
Action: Send SMS → 'Yourbrand: You left items in your cart! Complete in 24h for free shipping: [short link]. Reply STOP to opt out.'
Goal: 'made_purchase' event → exit workflow on goal completion (so they don't get the SMS after buying).
Activate. Expect 5-12% conversion rate on cart-abandonment SMS — typically the highest in the SMS program.
Step 6
SMS → Settings → Inbound. Configure auto-responses for STOP (unsubscribe), HELP (info), and inbound replies (route to support).
SMS → Settings → Inbound messages.
STOP keyword: configured by default. When a recipient texts STOP, Brevo auto-unsubscribes them and sends a confirmation. Don't disable this.
HELP keyword: configure auto-reply with your brand name + customer service contact. Example: 'Yourbrand: Help is available at hello@yourbrand.com or +1-555-0100. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.'
Other inbound messages: route to your support tool (Brevo Inbox, Help Scout, Zendesk via webhook) or your customer email. Don't ignore inbound replies — TCPA requires honoring stop requests in any language/keyword.
Test: text STOP to your sender from a test phone. Confirm unsubscribe within 30 seconds + confirmation message back.
Step 7
SMS → Statistics. Watch for: delivery rate (target 95%+), opt-out rate (under 2%), inbound replies (engagement indicator).
SMS → Statistics → click each campaign.
DELIVERY RATE: 95%+ healthy. Below 90% = carrier filtering (often sender registration issue or content flagged).
OPT-OUT RATE: 1-2% per campaign is normal; over 3% = content/frequency issue. Pause and audit.
CLICK RATE: 8-15% typical; lower if link is suspicious (long URL, random subdomain).
INBOUND REPLIES: watch for 'unsubscribe please' or natural-language opt-outs Brevo's keyword matcher might miss. Manually unsubscribe these.
Monthly compliance audit: random-sample 50 SMS recipients and verify SMS_CONSENT + SMS_CONSENT_DATE attributes are populated. If empty for any, investigate.
Common mistakes
Sending SMS without explicit SMS consent (assuming email consent covers it)
What goes wrong: TCPA violation in the US — $500-1,500 per non-consented message. Class actions hit $5M-50M for repeat offenders. EU GDPR enforcement: up to 4% of global revenue. Brevo will also suspend your account if complaints spike.
How to avoid: Always collect SMS consent separately. Add SMS_CONSENT attribute. Send only to contacts where SMS_CONSENT = true AND SMS_CONSENT_DATE is documented. For existing contacts, re-permission via email before sending SMS.
Skipping US 10DLC brand + campaign registration
What goes wrong: Carriers (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile) filter unregistered messages. Delivery rate drops from 95% to 30-50%. Or worse: $0.03-0.10 surcharge per message blowing your SMS budget 5x.
How to avoid: Register your brand with TCR via Brevo: SMS → Settings → 10DLC Registration. Submit EIN, business info, use case. Takes 1-3 weeks. Start the process BEFORE you need to send.
No brand name or STOP instruction in message body
What goes wrong: TCPA + carrier guidelines require both. Without brand: recipients don't know who sent it, complaint rate spikes. Without STOP: TCPA violation. Carriers filter your future messages.
How to avoid: Every SMS must include brand name + 'Reply STOP to unsubscribe.' Example boilerplate: 'Yourbrand: [offer]. [Link]. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.' Use a template snippet.
Sending before 8am or after 9pm local time
What goes wrong: TCPA quiet-hours violation in the US. $500-1,500 per message. Even outside US, sending late/early triggers high opt-out rates and complaints.
How to avoid: Schedule SMS only between 10am-6pm local time. Use Brevo's Send Time Optimization to handle multi-time-zone audiences. Never schedule for early morning or late evening.
Long URLs (5+ subdomains) or untrusted shortener (bit.ly with no brand)
What goes wrong: Carrier spam filters flag long/untrusted URLs. Delivery rate drops to 60-70%. Click rate also drops because recipients distrust unfamiliar shorteners.
How to avoid: Use a BRANDED short link: link.yourbrand.com via Rebrandly, or a Bitly Custom Domain. Looks trustworthy, improves delivery rate AND click rate.
Sending the same campaign to all SMS subscribers regardless of engagement
What goes wrong: SMS unsubscribe rate compounds fast. Sending to dormant SMS subscribers (no engagement 60+ days) spikes opt-out to 5-10% per send. Within 6 months, list shrinks 40-60%.
How to avoid: Segment SMS like email: engaged 30d (clicked any SMS in last 30 days), engaged 90d. Send broad campaigns only to engaged 90d. Run a sunset flow for unengaged 120d.
Recap
Done — what's next
How to set up a Brevo account from scratch (sender, DKIM/SPF/DMARC, GDPR)
Read the next tutorial
Hand it off
SMS is the highest-leverage AND highest-risk channel in your marketing stack. One compliance mistake on a 5K send = potential $2.5M-7.5M in TCPA fines. A specialist who's set up 20+ SMS programs builds the compliance + segmentation foundation in 4-6 hours that DIY teams often get wrong. Typical engagement: $500-1,000 at $14-16/hr.
See specialist rates
Brevo SMS works in 100+ countries. Pricing varies wildly: US ~$0.015/msg, UK ~$0.04, France ~$0.06, India ~$0.005. Check the per-country price in SMS → Pricing before campaigning. Sender ID rules also vary — some countries require pre-registration (US 10DLC, India DLT).
YES. In every major jurisdiction (US TCPA, EU GDPR, UK PECR, Canada CASL, Australia Spam Act), SMS consent is separate from email consent. You CANNOT assume email opt-in implies SMS opt-in. Collect SMS consent explicitly with a separate checkbox.
10DLC = 10-Digit Long Code. It's the US framework for high-volume SMS marketing from a regular phone number. Requires registering your business (brand) and each campaign type (use case) with The Campaign Registry. Without it, US carriers block or surcharge your messages. Required for any US SMS marketing in 2026.
Brevo: simpler UI for marketers, integrated with email/automation, no developer needed. Twilio: more powerful for developers, better for transactional + 2FA, but requires building your own campaign UI. For marketers: Brevo. For developer-heavy stacks: Twilio.
Pay-per-message pricing varies by country. US: ~$0.015 per SMS segment (160 chars). UK: ~$0.04. France: ~$0.06. India: ~$0.005. Long messages split into multiple segments — a 300-char SMS to US = 2 segments = $0.03. Budget conservatively: a 5K-contact monthly send program in US runs ~$75-150/month.
Yes, Brevo handles routing automatically. But: per-country pricing applies (your cost varies by recipient), sender ID compliance applies per country (you may need multiple registrations), and content rules differ (some countries require local language). Best practice: segment campaigns by country for cost predictability and content optimization.
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