Did you know that text messaging is one of the most popular forms of communication? In fact, the latest estimates from Statista put the number of active SMS users around the world at more than 7.5 billion in 2026.
That’s a lot of people! And because text messaging is so popular, it makes sense for businesses to use it as a marketing tool. However, companies need to overcome some challenges to make SMS marketing successful.
One of the challenges is finding the right SMS marketing provider. It’s important to find a platform that understands the technical challenges of SMS marketing and can help businesses overcome them.
Another challenge is staying compliant with legal and carrier requirements. Whichever provider a business chooses should be able to help them with this.
Choosing the Right Phone Number Type
Getting a phone number is an important first step. Businesses can use a few different types of phone numbers for SMS marketing, and choosing the right one can make a big difference.
Short codes are five- or six-digit numbers that are used to send SMS messages. They’re often used for marketing purposes, and they’re a great way to reach a large audience.
Long codes of 10-digit numbers can also be used for SMS marketing, but they’re not as widely known or used as short codes. In the US, a relatively new number type, 10-digit long codes (10DLC), has replaced unregistered long codes for application-to-person (A2P) messaging.
Finally, toll-free numbers, such as those that start with 800, are typically used for customer service purposes, but they can also be used for SMS marketing.
How should businesses choose which type of phone number is right for a given marketing campaign? Cloud communications provider Plivo recommends that businesses start by considering how many messages they need to send in a given period of time — a measurement called throughput. If you’re running a lot of campaigns with a high number of recipients, a number type that offers high throughput should be the priority. Short codes offer the highest available throughput, with 10DLC numbers not far behind. offer the highest available throughput, with 10DLC numbers not far behind.
Cost is another consideration — and it’s important to compare apples to apples when looking at costs. Things to factor in include one-time setup charges, monthly fees to lease sending phone numbers, per-message fees for messages sent and received, and carrier surcharge fees per message.
Looking Beyond Phone Numbers
In addition to considering what number type to use, businesses should also think about opt-ins. SMS marketing is subject to the same rules as other forms of marketing when it comes to opt-ins, so keeping track of who wants to receive SMS messages is vital.
Lastly, SMS marketing is subject to a number of regulatory and legal compliance issues that vary by carrier and country. These include what constitutes spam, prohibited types of content (e.g. sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco (SHAFT)), proscribed sending times, and throughput limits. It’s important to be aware of all the relevant regulations before starting an SMS marketing campaign.
Choosing the Right Partner
It’s also important to remember that marketers are not telecom experts and never will be, so rather than learn that expertise, it makes sense to partner with a communications platform as a service, such as Plivo, which we cited earlier. A CPaaS works with carriers around the globe. The right CPaaS will have direct carrier relationships, a dedicated carrier relations team, and a deep understanding of the complex telco laws and regulations in each country. This allows the provider to resolve issues faster than vendors that rely on aggregators, gateway providers, and resellers.
SMS marketing is a powerful tool that can help businesses reach a wide audience of people — but only if they have a platform that keeps them compliant without limiting the goals they want to achieve with their SMS marketing strategy.
Learn more about Plivo’s range of cloud communications solutions, including SMS marketing.
