Themes every passing SMS program shares.
Across CTIA, GSMA, and The Campaign Registry, the same themes appear repeatedly in passable SMS programs. If your program design touches all twelve, the rest of vetting becomes a straightforward exercise of writing it down.
Readiness checklist 10DLC vetting guide
The twelve themes
- Use a real, consistent sender identity. Legal brand, DBA, website, email domain, privacy policy, terms, campaign description, and sample messages should all point to the same sender.
- Register the correct use case. Promotional messages, sales, coupons, limited-time offers, cart reminders, event promotions, fundraising appeals, and loyalty offers belong under marketing or promotional. Account notifications, order updates, and customer care belong under their own use cases.
- Collect consent before sending. Marketing requires explicit written opt-in: a web form checkbox, text-to-join flow, checkout opt-in, signed paper form, or another documented written method.
- Make the opt-in disclosure visible at the point of collection. Don't hide SMS consent inside the privacy policy or general terms.
- Make SMS consent optional on multi-purpose forms. If a form is used for checkout, account creation, quote requests, or lead capture, SMS opt-in must be optional and specific to text messages.
- Keep proof of consent. Store timestamp, phone number, source URL or form, disclosure shown, campaign or program name, IP address where available, and consent method.
- Use STOP and HELP consistently. Every program needs working STOP / opt-out and HELP / customer-care handling.
- Link to a privacy policy and terms. The privacy policy must say mobile opt-in data and SMS consent will not be shared or sold to third parties for marketing.
- Make samples match the campaign. The sample messages submitted with the application should be representative of the actual content. Mixed-use campaigns need samples for each sub-use case.
- Avoid public URL shorteners. Use your own branded domain or a branded short domain.
- Avoid disallowed and high-risk content. SHAFT-C topics, high-risk financial services, lead generation, affiliate marketing, lending, and age-gated content all require special care.
- Operate the program you registered. Actual sending behavior must match the description, samples, links, content attributes, and use case in the registration.
References
- CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices — baseline U.S. wireless messaging best practices.
- GSMA Mobile Spam Code of Practice — global anti-spam principles.
- The Campaign Registry — U.S. 10DLC brand and campaign registry ecosystem.