字母 (zìmǔ) means "letter" as in a letter of the alphabet, not a written message. It is used when discussing alphabetic characters, spelling, or writing systems.
英语有二十六个字母,你都能背出来吗?
Yīngyǔ yǒu èrshíliù gè zìmǔ, nǐ dōu néng bèi chūlái ma?
English has twenty-six letters; can you recite them all?
孩子们正在学习认字母,每天练习写几个。
Háizimen zhèngzài xuéxí rèn zìmǔ, měitiān liànxí xiě jǐ gè.
The children are learning to recognize letters and practice writing a few each day.
这个密码必须包含大写字母和数字。
Zhège mìmǎ bìxū bāohán dàxiě zìmǔ hé shùzì.
This password must contain uppercase letters and numbers.