SMS Brand Registration
What is it?
SMS Brand Registration refers to the requirement for all A2P(application to person) 10DLC(standard 10-digit long code) phone numbers to register their brand and their message campaigns with the campaign registry in order to not be filtered by the carriers.
1. Why Is This Happening?
It all comes down to Spam texting. Right now, text messaging has a really high open rate and carriers are working to protect this channel by requiring brand and campaign registration that will identify who you are and why you are texting people.
2. What Does This Mean For You?
This means that unregistered A2P 10DLC texting is essentially ending. Any messages you attempt to send after August 31, 2023 will be 100% filtered by the carriers and go undelivered if you do not register your brand.
3. What Do You Need To Do?
Coming soon, when you launch your WAVV messenger you will be met with a registration pop-up screen. You will need to fill out the information requested in the forms. WAVV will then take your information and begin the registration process for you. We strongly recommend that you complete registration as soon as possible to prevent any interruption to your messaging campaigns.
4. What Information Is Required To Register?
You will need to provide information about who you are, and what you are sending over text. This will require that you provide information on your business for example, business name, physical address, business type, industry, EIN (If you don't have an EIN, then you can register as a sole-proprietorship without providing an EIN), messaging campaign description, sample text messages, etc.
5. Campaign Approval Best Practices
To help your campaigns get approved, here are some best practices that you can use.
Avoid Forbidden Message Categories.
When you are asked to provide a description of your messaging campaign, you should avoid mentioning the following forbidden message categories:
| Category |
Examples |
Notes |
High-risk Financial Services |
Payday loans, short term high-interest loans, third-party loans, student loans, cryptocurrency |
Third-party refers to any party other than the one which will service the loan. |
Third-party lead generation services |
Companies that buy, sell or share customer data |
|
Debt collection or Forgiveness |
Third-party debt collection, debt consolidation, debt reduction, credit repair programs. |
Third-party debt collectors may send transactional messages that consumers have directly opted in to; however, they cannot use SMS as a channel to collect a debt. |
"Get Rich Quick" schemes |
Deceptive work-from-home programs, Risk investment opportunities, Pyramid schemes. |
|
Illegal Substances |
Cannabis, CBD, Fireworks. |
Cannabis is federally illegal in the United States, and are not permitted to use SMS/MMS messaging in the US. |
Prescription Drugs |
Drugs that require a prescription |
|
Gambling |
Casino apps, gambling websites. |
Gambling is prohibited in the US on all number types. |
"S.H.A.F.T." use cases |
Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco. |
Tobacco, and alcohol messages are only permitted on toll-free. Firearms, and vaping are prohibited. |
Be Consistent.
Make sure you submit Campaign registrations with accurate and consistent data:
| Best Practice |
Examples |
Consistency in brand, website and sample messages |
If you brand name is ACME, your website is www.acme.com, but your sample messages say, "Here's your one-time passcode for logging into www.contosos.com", your campaign will be rejected. |
Consistency in sample messages and use cases |
If you register a marketing campaign, but sample messages say, "Here's your ont-time passcode:123456", you campaign will be rejected. |
Make sure you submit real, working websites |
If you say in your opt-in flow that users agree to receive messages on your website and provide a website address that does not function, your campaign will be rejected. |
Make sure you create as few duplicative brands and campaigns as possible |
Excessive brands with the same EIN and excessive campaigns with the same campaign attributes may be seen as high-risk and may result in campaign rejection |
If you wish to send templated messages, please make sure to indicate the templated fields in sample messages with brackets, to help reviewers better identify which parts are templated |
For example, please write “Dental check due for [Mary Doe], Visit [www.contoso.com] to schedule an appointment or call [123-456-7890]” |
Include Consumer Consent
Make Sure your Use Case includes consumer consent before sending messages:
| Best Practice |
Examples |
Make sure consumer opt-in is collected appropriately |
If you indicate you collect opt-in via text messages, but your sample messages say “Hi, is this the owner of 123 Oak street? I’d like to discuss how I can help you sell your property”, it is clear that you have not collected appropriate consent before sending messages and your campaign will be rejected. |
Make sure opt-in language is available on your website if you indicated in the “message flow” field that a consumer opts into your campaign on your company website |
If your brand Acme uses its website, www.acme.com, to collect phone numbers but your website does not contain opt-in language such as “By providing your phone number, you agree to receive text messages from ACME. Message and data rates may apply. Message frequency varies.”, your campaign will be rejected. |
We recommend having opt-out language in at least one of your sample messages |
For example, please consider adding language such as “Please reply STOP to opt out” in one of your sample messages |
These recommendations are not exhaustive and should not be taken as a guarantee that by following them you'll be approved. Consider them a baseline for what information you should be providing. If you registration does fail, you will be notified by email, as well as prompted with a message the next time you launch WAVV messenger.
