Algeria AgencyDirect marketing
Bulk SMS
The one channel that reaches a handset with no app and no connection — short, dear per message, and almost always read.
SMS is the lowest common denominator of the telephone: it arrives on a basic handset exactly as it arrives on a smartphone, with no app installed and no data connection. No other channel has that coverage, and it is the only serious reason to choose this one.
It gets read, and it gets read quickly. That is both an advantage and a trap: a message reaching somebody who was not expecting it registers as an intrusion far more than an email does, and the irritation attaches to your name rather than to the channel. Discipline matters more here than anywhere else.
Technically it is constrained. A standard SMS holds 160 characters — but the moment it contains an accent or an Arabic character the encoding changes and the limit drops to 70. A sentence written “Réservé aux clients fidèles” therefore costs twice a sentence written without accents, and nobody notices until the invoice.
Bulk sending goes through routes declared with the operators, under a registered sender name. That is not a formality: a send outside those routes is filtered, arrives erratically, or does not arrive — and you pay for it either way.
What we usually find
- Your customers are not on social media and you have no way of telling them anything.
- You have been sending texts from an office handset, one at a time.
- Your messages arrive from an unknown number, so nobody replies.
- You do not know how many of your messages were actually delivered.
What changes
Complete coverage of your list
Every live number is reachable, whatever the handset or the state of the connection.
A recognisable sender
Your company name in place of an anonymous number, which changes the reply rate outright.
A delivery record
What arrived, what did not, and which numbers should come off the list for good.
What you get
Sender name registration
Declared with the operator routes so the message displays under your name rather than a number.
Number normalisation
Mixed formats, missing dialling codes and duplicates corrected before the send, not after.
Writing to the constraint
The message is written to fit a single SMS, accents included or deliberately avoided.
Unsubscribing that works
A removal instruction inside the message, and a suppression list honoured on every send.
Scheduling by time of day
A commercial text at ten at night costs customers. The send hour is decided, not left to chance.
Attribution to the sale
A code to present, a tracked short link, or a question at the counter, so a figure attaches to the send.
How we work
Prepare the list
Cleaning, international format, removal of unreachable numbers and of anyone who asked to leave.
Register the sender
The displayed name is declared and approved before any send. Without it the message comes from a stranger.
Write and test
One message, one action, and a trial send to a handful of numbers to check how it actually displays.
Send and account for it
Delivery, removals and attributed sales, set against the real cost of the messages sent.
Is this the right fit for you?
This is for you if
- You hold a list of customer numbers and have a dated offer to announce.
- Some of your customers use no messaging application at all.
- Your message fits in a sentence and calls for one simple action.
This is not for you if
- You want to send images or a layout. SMS carries text and nothing else.
- You have no consented list. An unsolicited send damages your name.
- You want to communicate often. The per-message cost makes frequency expensive and the audience weary.
What we commit to
Declared routes only
We use no workaround. A filtered send is paid for and wasted, and it puts your name in question.
The real cost before the send
Segments per message, size of list, total. You approve a figure rather than an estimate.
Removal is honoured everywhere
An unsubscribe request applies to all your sends, on every channel, without exception.
SMS in Algeria: coverage and constraints
The Algerian handset base is overwhelmingly mobile, and a considerable share of a local business’s customers have neither a social account nor a usable email address. The phone number is often the only detail you hold about them — and SMS the only way to use it.
Commercial sending goes through routes declared with the three operators, under an approved sender name. That circuit has a cost and a lead time; it also has the merit of making delivery measurable, which an improvised send from an ordinary SIM never does.
Encoding is the most common local trap. A properly accented French message and an Arabic message both fall outside the standard alphabet, which cuts capacity by more than half. We write knowing that: either the message fits, or you know exactly why it costs double.
Frequently asked questions
What does a send cost?
The price is per delivered message, multiplied by the number of segments. Accented or Arabic text often exceeds one segment, so the same send can cost twice as much depending on how it is written. We give you the exact total before it goes, not an order of magnitude.
Can we show the company name instead of a number?
Yes, by registering a sender name on the operator routes. It is a prior step rather than a setting. Without it the message arrives from a number nobody recognises, and the reply rate collapses.
Can we send images or links?
Links yes, images no — SMS carries text only. A short link takes about twenty of the 160 characters available, which has to be allowed for when writing. If the image is essential to the message, another channel suits it better.
What do we do with numbers that never respond?
Delivery records distinguish a dead number from a recipient who simply does not react. The first comes off the list, because you pay for it on every send; the second stays, because a quiet customer sometimes buys three months later.
How often can we send?
Rarely, and only when there is a reason. SMS is the most intrusive channel you have: it interrupts. A monthly send with a real offer lasts; a weekly one empties the list within months.
Is it legal to text our customers?
To your own customers, within an existing commercial relationship and with a way to opt out, yes. To a bought list or one collected without consent, no — Law 18-07 governs approaches of this kind and the retention of personal data. We do not take that risk on your behalf.
How to start
Send us an extract of your list, however rough: we will tell you how many numbers are genuinely usable and what a send would cost.
If the arithmetic does not favour it we will say so — SMS is dear per message and is only worth anything on a living list.
What we have written on this subject
Let us talk about your project
A free audit, no commitment: we look at your online presence and tell you what is holding it back.
- Declared routes only
- The real cost before the send
- Removal is honoured everywhere