How do I make a QR code that opens a ready SMS to my number with a contest keyword?

Why a code lifts entries

In a contest on a poster or a pack, every manual step loses you entrants: opening messages, typing a twelve-digit number, then spelling the keyword right. The code turns that into one scan and one tap. There is a bonus for you too: the keyword arrives written the same way from everyone, so no entries get lost to a typo or an extra space.

What the tool writes

With the number +966 50 123 4567 and the Arabic keyword اشتراك (subscribe), the tool strips the spaces from the number and builds this text:

SMSTO:+966501234567:اشتراك

The content is 32 bytes and the symbol 25 modules wide. With the English keyword JOIN it would be 24 bytes, and the symbol the same size. So a short Arabic keyword costs you almost nothing here.

The steps

1. Open the QR code generator and choose 'SMS'.
2. Type the number that receives entries in international form, so it also works from non-Saudi SIMs.
3. Put the keyword alone in the message, without greetings that lengthen it and make entries harder to sort.
4. Scan the code with two different phones and send a test message from each to confirm it arrives.
5. Print under the code: 'or text JOIN to' followed by the number, for anyone whose phone does not handle the code.

Things to check before launch

• The number really receives SMS. Some unified or landline numbers do not.
• The message costs the customer whatever their plan charges, so do not promise free entry unless you are sure.
• The contest terms are clear and printed or linked, which is entirely outside the code.