What is a destination number?
In SMS marketing, a destination number is a phone number that receives a text or multimedia message.
For example, when your business sends a marketing SMS or MMS, your subscriber’s phone number is the destination number. And if you set up a phone number your recipients can reply to, your business phone number is also a destination number.
What makes a destination number valid?
For a subscriber’s destination number to be valid, it needs to be active, in the correct format, and associated with a device compatible with receiving SMS and MMS messages (i.e., not a landline).
Valid destination numbers are vital for reaching your intended audience. Invalid, deactivated, or incorrect numbers can result in undelivered messages, which can affect your SMS deliverability rates.
How to keep your SMS list clean
Maintaining a clean SMS list with valid destination numbers can help you keep your deliverability rates high. Here are 3 ways to keep your SMS list in top shape:
- Review error messages: For example, go through your list to identify recipients who have persistent “Device Disconnected” error messages or other deliverability issues. Consider excluding these numbers from your SMS list or managing them separately from your active audience list.
- Build an unengaged segment: Group people who aren’t engaging with your SMS messages or with your website. Try to re-engage this segment by sending to them one time a month, giving them a chance to opt out in every message.
- Merge duplicate profiles: Repeat destination numbers on your list can negatively affect your SMS deliverability.
A marketing automation platform like Klaviyo can automatically detect and remove invalid phone numbers. Make SMS list management easy and sign up for Klaviyo today.