Two jobs, two kinds of traffic
Promotional SMS sells or announces: offers, events, campaigns. Transactional SMS supports an action the user already started: OTP, payment confirmation, order update, balance notice.
Mixing them carelessly hurts delivery reputation and confuses customers. Yoola SMS supports both patterns from one platform — you still need to choose the right content and timing.
Promotional SMS
- Examples: discount weekend, church concert, school open day marketing
- Often limited to reasonable daytime windows (e.g. business hours)
- Should go to people who expect marketing from you
- Keep frequency moderate; scrub opt-outs
Transactional SMS
- Examples: OTP, “payment received,” “order shipped,” “loan due per your agreement”
- Needed outside marketing hours when the event happens
- Must be accurate and tied to a real account event
- Higher expectation of speed and reliability
Practical rule for Ugandan SMEs
If the user would be surprised to get the message, treat it as promotional. If the user would be blocked in their task without the message, treat it as transactional.
On Yoola SMS
New accounts can start with campaign sending from the dashboard. API users sending OTPs and alerts should follow the transactional/API guidance in the docs and keep templates clean. Same credit wallet; different operational discipline.
Compliance mindset
- Do not buy random number lists for “promotions”
- Identify your organisation in the message or Sender ID
- Honour stop requests
- Financial and health claims must be truthful
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