Text message marketing for small business: how to do it legally and well

What is text message marketing?

Text message marketing means sending texts that promote your business. Examples are a sale, a new menu item, a free slot this week or a loyalty reward. People also call it SMS marketing. SMS is the standard type of text message on every phone.

Business texting also covers texts that are not ads. Appointment reminders, order updates and replies to a customer's question fall into this group. The law treats these two groups in different ways, so it helps to know which one each text belongs to.

• Marketing texts: These try to sell. The FCC's rules define an advertisement as any material about the commercial availability or quality of your goods or services.
• Informational texts: These give the customer facts about something they already asked for, such as a booking time.

CTIA, the wireless industry group, says a business should get written consent before it sends promotional texts. It also says that adding an offer, such as a coupon code, to an informational text may make it promotional. So if one message does both, treat it as marketing.

What consent do you need to send marketing texts?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is the main federal law. The FCC's rules under it say marketing texts sent with an automated system need "prior express written consent".

That consent must be a written agreement signed by the customer. An electronic signature, such as a ticked box on a web form, can count. The agreement must do these things:

• Name your business: It must clearly let you send marketing messages to the customer.
• Name the phone number: It must include the number the customer agrees to receive texts on.
• Say it is optional: It must say the customer does not have to agree in order to buy anything.

Keep a record of each sign-up. Save the date, the form wording and the number. If someone complains, that record is your proof.

Does the Do Not Call Registry cover texts?

The registry rules do cover texts. In a December 2023 order, the FCC made clear that the National Do Not Call Registry rules apply to text messages. A law firm summary of the order says you cannot send marketing texts to numbers on the registry unless an exception applies. Under the FCC's rules, one exception is a signed, written agreement in which the customer says you may contact them at that number.

The rules also require you to keep your own internal do-not-call list. Once a person asks you to stop, you must honor that request for 5 years.

What are the quiet hours for marketing texts?

Federal rules ban telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. These times use the local time where the customer is. The FCC's rules apply the same limits to marketing texts sent to mobile phones.

Some states set stricter hours. Florida's telemarketing law bans commercial solicitation calls before 8 a.m. or after 8 p.m. in the customer's time zone. The same section limits a business to three solicitation calls to one person in 24 hours on the same subject. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act also counts a text message as a sales call.

My advice is simple. Send marketing texts between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. in the customer's time zone, and never more than once a day. Set your texting tool to use each contact's time zone. A business with customers in many states should ask a lawyer to check the state rules for its main markets.

How do opt-outs work?

A customer can withdraw consent in any reasonable way. The FCC's rules list words that always count, such as "stop", "quit", "end", "revoke", "opt out", "cancel" and "unsubscribe". You cannot force people to use only one method.

• Act fast: You must honor the request within 10 business days at most. Good tools stop texts at once.
• Confirm once: You may send one reply that confirms the opt-out. It cannot include any marketing. A confirmation sent within five minutes is treated as covered by the customer's earlier consent.
• Then stop: CTIA says to send no more messages after that confirmation.

Florida adds its own step. Before a customer can sue over sales texts, they must reply STOP. The business then has 15 days to stop texting.

What is A2P 10DLC, and do you need it?

A2P means application-to-person, which covers any text sent by software. 10DLC means a normal 10-digit phone number. Twilio describes A2P 10DLC as the standard that US carriers put in place to check that business texts are verified and wanted.

Twilio says anyone who sends texts from software over a 10DLC number to the US must register. Registration has two parts.

• Brand: You give details about your business so carriers can confirm you are a real sender. Standard brands need a Tax ID.
• Campaign: You describe what your texts are for and how people opt in, opt out and get help.

Twilio lists three brand types. A Sole Proprietor brand gets one campaign and about 1,000 message segments a day to T-Mobile. A Low-Volume Standard brand gets about 2,000 a day to T-Mobile. A Standard brand can go higher, based on its trust score.

Registered numbers face less filtering and can send more texts. Twilio says unregistered traffic from its 10DLC numbers carries extra carrier fees. Toll-free numbers and short codes sit outside the 10DLC system and have their own approval process.

Most texting tools handle the forms for you, but you supply the sample messages and sign-up wording.

How do you collect consent the right way?

CTIA's guidelines describe what a good sign-up prompt, called a call to action, should show. It should name your program and your business. It should explain the opt-in terms and any fees. It should also say how to opt out and link to your privacy policy. CTIA also says these details should not be hidden in the terms and conditions.

Here is an example of checkbox wording. Riverside Bakery is a made-up name.

Yes, send me offers and news from Riverside Bakery by text at the number above. Up to 4 texts a month. Msg and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out or HELP for help. Consent is not a condition of purchase. See our Privacy Policy.

After someone signs up, send a welcome text. CTIA says this first message should name the program, give help details, explain how to opt out and say how often you will text.

Collect sign-ups on your booking page, at checkout or with a QR code at the counter. Never text a bought list, because those people never gave you consent.

What does SMS marketing software cost?

Each price below is from the vendor's own pricing page, as of October 2026.

Tool	Plan	Price	What you get
EZ Texting	Launch	$25 a month billed monthly, or $20 a month billed yearly	500 credits a month, suggested for up to 500 contacts, plus a $5 monthly telecom fee
EZ Texting	Boost	$75 a month billed monthly, or $60 a month billed yearly	500 credits a month, suggested for up to 2,000 contacts
EZ Texting	Scale	$125 a month billed monthly, or $100 a month billed yearly	500 credits a month, suggested for up to 50,000 contacts
SimpleTexting	500 credits	$398.40 a year, billed yearly	500 credits a month, plus a one-time $4 carrier registration fee and $10 a month for a local number

EZ Texting says A2P carrier registration is included in its plans. SimpleTexting lists carrier fees of about $0.0025 a message on top. As of October 2026, SimpleTexting also runs an offer of 30% off the first month for new customers, with no end date given.

Many CRMs and booking tools also include texting, so check what you already pay for.

How do you write a marketing text people read?

• Say who you are first: Start with your business name so the customer knows the sender.
• Give one reason to act: One offer and one link work better than three ideas in one text.
• Keep the opt-out line: End with "Reply STOP to opt out".
• Stick to what you promised: If your sign-up form said four texts a month, send four or fewer.

Useful texts get read. My guide to appointment reminder software covers reminder texts in more depth.

When does a custom texting setup make sense?

A ready-made tool fits most small businesses. It handles registration, opt-outs and sending hours for you.

A custom setup can be worth it in these cases:

• Your data lives in several systems: Your bookings, sales and loyalty data sit in tools that don't talk to each other.
• You want texts based on behavior: For example, a text when a customer has not booked in 60 days, or a reminder when an item is back in stock.
• You want AI replies: An AI agent can answer replies, book appointments and pass hard questions to staff. My page on missed call text back shows one version of this.
• You run several brands or locations: Each one needs its own number, sign-up list and sending rules.

How would Blur Studio set up text marketing for you?

I would start with where your customer data lives and how people sign up today. I would set up the consent wording, the A2P 10DLC registration and the opt-out handling first. Then I would connect texting to your CRM or booking system, so texts go out based on what each customer did. Your texting setup, number and contact list stay yours, and I support the system once it is live. If a tool like EZ Texting covers your needs, I will say so.

This page is general information about the rules. Ask a lawyer to check your texting program before you run large campaigns.