Applies to: All (Users, Managers, & Admins)
Overview
Text messages in Endear have character limits to ensure high deliverability and avoid triggering SPAM alerts. The length of your message depends on the type of characters you use.
Character Limits
Endear supports two types of text message character limits:
Standard messages (typically 600 characters, but may vary by brand)
Messages using standard English letters, numbers, and basic punctuation
Standard keyboard symbols like %, &, $, !, ?, and @ do not reduce your character limit
Messages with special characters (typically 240-260 characters)
Any message containing emojis (😊, 🎉, ❤️)
Letters with accents or diacritical marks (ö, é, ñ, ü)
Non-Latin scripts and characters (including Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, and other languages that use extended character sets)
Special symbols (©, ™, ✓, •)
Why Are There Different Limits?
These limits are industry-wide SMS standards, not Endear limitations. SMS carriers use different encoding methods. Once you include even one special character, emoji, or non-Latin character anywhere in your message, the entire message must use a different encoding, which reduces your available character count.
How to Maximize Your Character Count
If you need to write a longer message:
Remove any emojis or special symbols
Replace accented letters with their standard equivalents (é becomes e)
Use standard English letters and basic punctuation only
Important Notes
If you attempt to send a message that exceeds the limit, you'll see an error message
Note: Merge fields that expand when sent will not prevent messages from being sent, even if they push the final message over the limit
Including Images in Text Messages
Images do not count toward your character limit. However:
Images must be smaller than 800 pixels wide to be sent
Each product or Story counts as one image
Single images are sent as MMS (visible in the message thread when possible)
Multiple images are automatically delivered as links
Due to global carrier limitations, images may not always render in the message thread, but will always be available through a link
Including images does not increase the cost of sending texts
Visual Example of SMS Message
Here's how messages of these lengths appear to your recipients:
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