One text blast to the wrong list can cost a small business more than a year of marketing. Federal law lets people sue over each unwanted message, and those claims multiply quickly across a list. Even so, plenty of owners start texting without a consent process, a plan for STOP replies or any proof on file. This guide covers text marketing compliance in the order you should set it up: consent, opt-outs, records and carrier rules.
If you’re still deciding whether to start, read our starter guide to SMS marketing first. And since this is practical guidance, not legal advice, have an attorney review your final opt-in wording.
Marketing Text or Service Text? Know Which Rules Apply
The rules depend on what a message does. A marketing text promotes something, such as a sale, a new service or a “we miss you” offer. Federal rules require prior express written consent for marketing texts sent with an autodialer. Courts disagree about which platforms count, so treat written consent as your standard for every promotional text.
Service texts are different. Appointment reminders, arrival windows and “your car is ready” updates are informational, so the consent bar is lower. Generally, a customer who gives you a number to book a visit has agreed to scheduling texts. However, that customer hasn’t agreed to promotions.
The gray area catches plenty of well-meaning businesses. Picture a dental office in Paramus that adds “Ask about our whitening special!” to its reminder texts. Regulators and courts tend to treat mixed messages like that as marketing. So text marketing compliance starts with keeping the two types apart.
How to Capture Consent That Holds Up
Prior express written consent has a specific legal meaning. Under the FCC’s TCPA rules, it’s a written agreement that bears the customer’s signature, and an electronic signature can count. The disclosure has to be clear and conspicuous. It also has to say that agreeing isn’t a condition of buying anything from you.
What your opt-in language should say
A good opt-in covers these points:
- Your business name, so people know who’s texting.
- What they’ll get (offers, reminders or both) and roughly how often.
- A note that message and data rates may apply.
- How to get help (reply HELP) and how to stop (reply STOP).
- A line saying consent isn’t required to make a purchase.
- Links to your texting terms and privacy policy.
Also, the checkbox should start unchecked and sit apart from your general terms. Pre-checked boxes and consent buried in a privacy policy are hard to defend.
Where to collect written consent
Collect consent where customers already deal with you: booking forms, contact forms and paper intake forms that carry the full disclosure. At the counter, a “Text JOIN for member offers” sign with the full disclosure works well, because the customer’s own text starts the record. A casual “sure, text me” at the register leaves you with no proof, though. And never buy a list, because consent has to authorize your business specifically.
Opt-Outs: Honor STOP Fast and Everywhere
Opt-outs are where honest businesses get tripped up. Federal rules treat replies like STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE as clear revocations. Other wording counts too, if a reasonable person would read it as a request to stop. So you must honor “please stop texting me” or “take me off your list,” even if your software misses it.
You have up to ten business days to process a request, but a good platform stops instantly. You may send one confirmation reply with no marketing in it. The rules presume that reply is fine when it goes out within five minutes.
Next, make the opt-out stick everywhere. Keep one do-not-text list that your CRM, booking software and any outside agency all check. FCC rules also call for a written do-not-call policy, trained staff and honoring each request for five years.
Picture a Hoboken gym texting from both its front-desk app and an email tool’s SMS add-on. A member who replies STOP in one keeps getting texts from the other. That gets expensive, because the TCPA lets consumers recover $500 in damages for each violation, and courts can triple that for willful ones.
Compliance Records Your Text Program Needs
If someone claims they never agreed, your records are your defense. After all, the burden of proving consent generally falls on you. So save proof at the moment of opt-in, when it’s easy.
| What to save | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Phone number, name, date and time of opt-in | Ties consent to a person and a moment |
| Where they opted in (form page, keyword or paper form) | Shows how you collected consent |
| The exact disclosure wording, with a dated screenshot of each form version | Proves what the customer actually agreed to |
| IP address or the original keyword text | Supports the electronic signature |
| Each opt-out, its wording and when you processed it | Shows you honored requests on time |
Store it in your CRM, not on one employee’s laptop. If your CRM can’t track consent, CRM customization can fix that. Ask your attorney how long to keep records. Many businesses keep them at least four years, generally the window for filing a federal TCPA claim.
Numbers also change hands. Before texting someone who opted in years ago, check the FCC’s Reassigned Numbers Database. FCC rules give senders who check it properly a safe harbor if they still reach the wrong person.
Carrier Rules for Business Text Marketing
Wireless carriers enforce their own rulebook, based largely on the CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices. Break it, and carriers may filter or block your texts even when you’re legally in the clear.
First, register. If you text from a regular local number, carriers require you to register your brand and each campaign under a system called A2P 10DLC. Toll-free numbers need their own verification. Your platform files the paperwork, but you supply the details, including your opt-in method and sample messages.
Then follow the day-to-day rules:
- Confirm every new opt-in with a text. Include your business name, how often you’ll text, the rates notice and HELP and STOP instructions.
- Answer HELP replies with your business name and a way to reach you.
- Use full links on your own domain or a branded shortener, since carriers often filter free public shorteners.
- Stick to the message types you registered for.
Content rules matter too. Alcohol, firearms and tobacco messages often face age checks or extra review. Cannabis is the local trap: sales are legal in New Jersey, yet many carriers and platforms still block cannabis promotions.
Timing, Location and Industry Rules
Federal rules bar telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient’s local time. That means their location, not their area code. Some states, Florida among them, also have telemarketing laws that cover texts. So if you text Shore visitors or snowbirds, ask your attorney which rules apply. A simple habit covers most cases: send marketing texts between roughly 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Industry rules stack on top. Dental and medical offices should keep diagnoses and treatment details out of marketing texts, since HIPAA governs patient information. Law firms also answer to New Jersey’s attorney advertising rules. Meanwhile, funding and lending offers should never promise approval.
Text Marketing to Past Customers: Ask First
This is where many reactivation plans go wrong. You have years of phone numbers from invoices and intake forms, and texting them feels like free revenue. However, a number collected for billing isn’t consent to marketing texts.
Instead, ask permission through channels with different rules. Email works under CAN-SPAM’s opt-out model, and our guide to building an email channel you own covers the basics. Invite past customers to join your text list through a compliant opt-in. A postcard or a counter sign can do the same job.
Good database reactivation campaigns start with exactly this step. As a result, every later text goes to someone who asked for it.
Text Marketing Compliance: Common Questions
Does my platform handle text marketing compliance for me?
Partly. A good platform processes STOP replies, adds opt-out language and walks you through 10DLC registration. Still, you’re the sender. Consent, content and records remain your responsibility.
What if a customer says they never signed up?
Stop texting that number, add it to your do-not-text list and pull the consent record. If a demand letter arrives, call your own attorney before you respond.
Build Your Text List on Consent
Handled well, text marketing compliance isn’t a burden. It’s the reason carriers deliver your texts and customers keep reading them. Start with a clean opt-in, one do-not-text list and records you can pull in minutes. Then borrow wording from our SMS examples you can adapt to write the messages themselves.
Samaroo Solutions is based in northern New Jersey and works with businesses across the state. If you want help with consent capture, carrier registration or a compliant reactivation campaign, talk with our team.
