A single emoji, curly apostrophe or long dash can switch your whole SMS into Unicode mode, where one SMS holds 70 characters instead of 160. The same message can then cost two or three times as much.
The invisible culprit: smart quotes
Emojis are easy to spot. Smart quotes are not. When you type a message in Word, Google Docs, WhatsApp or a phone keyboard, a plain apostrophe often becomes a curly one, and two hyphens become a long dash. They look nicer, but to the phone network they are special characters.
| What you typed | What it looks like | Plain version |
|---|---|---|
| Apostrophe | ’ | ' |
| Double quotes | “ ” | " |
| Long dash | — – | - |
| Ellipsis | … | ... |
What it costs
Take a 140-character reminder to 10,000 customers in Uganda at UGX 25 per SMS:
- Plain text: 1 SMS each, 10,000 SMS, UGX 250,000.
- One curly apostrophe: 3 SMS each, 30,000 SMS, UGX 750,000 before VAT.
The message looks identical to the reader. The bill does not.
How to fix it
- Paste your message into the Yoola SMS calculator.
- If it shows "Special characters (70/SMS)", read the tip underneath. It lists the exact characters causing it.
- Press "Fix it for me" to swap curly quotes and long dashes for plain ones.
- Check the new SMS count, then send.
When an emoji is worth it
Sometimes it is. A promotional message for a shop or restaurant may earn more replies with an emoji than the extra SMS costs. The point is to make that a decision, not an accident.
Check your next campaign in the free calculator before you press send.
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