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SMS marketing is the practice of sending promotional text messages, such as offers, coupons, announcements and reminders, to the phones of customers who opted in. In the US, the FCC rule 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(2) requires prior express written consent before a marketing text is sent with an autodialer, read September 28, 2026. One text holds 160 characters in the GSM-7 alphabet, or 70 once it carries an emoji or another character outside it.
How SMS marketing works
A business collects opt-in first, through a web form with a consent checkbox or by a person texting a keyword to its number. Sending then runs from a US number type: a 10DLC long code, a toll-free number verified before it can send, or a short code. For 10DLC, brands register through a messaging provider with The Campaign Registry, which says brands cannot register directly. The site compares SMS marketing platforms in its SMS marketing platform comparison. Subscribers opt out by replying STOP.
Consent before the first text
The FCC consumer guide, last reviewed 27 February 2026, says commercial texts require written consent, while informational texts accept oral consent. The same guide says a person may opt out at any time in any reasonable manner, and the FCC treats a reply of stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel or unsubscribe as a reasonable way to revoke consent. CTIA says a call-to-action should make people aware of the program, the terms, how to opt out and any fees, with the line “Msg & data rates may apply”. Our opt-in wording builder page shows the capture side of this.
What SMS marketing costs
From our September 2026 dataset of 39 US business SMS providers, 27 publish a per message rate in US dollars. Each provider’s lowest published rate runs from 0.35c (Bird) to 5.00c (Salesmsg), with a median of 0.90c, read between 8 and 28 September 2026. At 500 texts a month, the cheapest published plan months are YepText at $29, EZ Texting at $30 and SimpleTexting at $30.25, plans read September 9, 2026. A text over 160 characters is billed as more than one segment; our segment count calculator works out the count.
Types of SMS marketing campaigns
From 14 SMS marketing platforms’ own pages read 28 September 2026, the campaign types on offer are promotional or sale blasts (12 platforms publish them), drip or automated sequences (10), abandoned cart texts (9), keyword opt-in campaigns (9), MMS campaigns (9), welcome series (8), birthday or anniversary texts (5), back in stock or price drop alerts (4), and appointment reminders (4). Our SMS marketing campaign types page breaks each one down. The counts come from what the platforms publish, so a missing type means the platform does not list it.
SMS marketing examples
The platforms describe the campaigns in their own words. SlickText: “Send personalized birthday messages to every subscriber. Include a special offer or simply wish them a happy birthday.” Attentive: “Message new subscribers with an offer like a discount code when they first opt-in to messaging.” Omnisend: “SMS Campaigns let you send promotional text messages to your subscribed contacts. Use SMS for time-sensitive offers, flash sales, or announcements that need immediate attention.” Each example maps to a type in the list above: birthday texts, welcome series and promotional blasts.
US rules that apply to SMS marketing
The FCC rule at 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1) bars telephone solicitations to residential subscribers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party’s location. FCC rules apply even to numbers not on the National Do Not Call Registry, the FCC’s guide says. 10DLC traffic is registered with The Campaign Registry through a messaging provider. Our SMS compliance rules page and our how 10DLC registration works page carry the detail.
SMS marketing questions
How does SMS marketing work?
A business collects opt-in through a web form or a keyword text, then sends from a 10DLC long code, a verified toll-free number or a short code. Subscribers opt out by replying STOP. Brands register 10DLC through a messaging provider with The Campaign Registry.
How much does SMS marketing cost?
Among 27 of 39 providers in our September 2026 dataset that publish a rate, the lowest per message rate runs from 0.35c (Bird) to 5.00c (Salesmsg), median 0.90c. At 500 texts a month, the cheapest published plan month is YepText at $29 (plans read September 9, 2026).
Do you need permission to send marketing texts?
The FCC consumer guide, last reviewed 27 February 2026, says commercial texts require written consent. Informational texts accept oral consent. A person may opt out at any time in any reasonable manner.
What are examples of SMS marketing?
Promotional blasts, drip sequences, abandoned cart texts, keyword opt-in campaigns, MMS campaigns, welcome series, birthday texts, back in stock alerts and appointment reminders, as published by 14 platforms read 28 September 2026.