When sent to multiple people, each of the things listed below are viewed as red flags by mobile carriers. One or two might not hurt you, but several will make your message stand out as potential spam and prevent it from being delivered.
If you send too many messages that trigger spam filters, your number could be blacklisted—or forever banned—and you’ll be unable to text any number owned by that carrier.
There is no getting off a carrier’s blacklist once your number is marked, so we want to help you keep that from ever happening. Follow these spam recommendations below to prevent your messages from being filtered as spam.
1. Register your number
One of the easiest ways to ensure your numbers aren't flagged as spam is to register your phone number.
Standard numbers, otherwise known as any number that isn't toll-free, need to complete 10DLC registration. This is a simple process for business phone numbers and is required by all mobile carriers. Check out some of our information on 10DLC registration to get started:
Toll-Free numbers need to complete our Toll-Free Verification Questionnaire. This questionnaire is sent to the email used when signing up for a Text Request account. If you did not receive the email or have already deleted it, please contact us, and we'll send you another one.
2. Follow best practices for sharing URLs
Note: Our Link Sharing feature is the best way to send URLs to contacts with Text Request. It offers the best chance of avoiding carrier filtering and keeps your texts clean and organized.
In addition to using Link Sharing, it’s best to follow these practices:
- Do not use free and unbranded link shorteners (like Bitly).
- Do not add unreasonably long links to messages, unless using Link Sharing to shorten them first.
- Do not send a link to more than 50 contacts at once. Try breaking up messages if you need to send the same link to a large group of people.
- Do not end a message with a link.
- Do not send a message containing only a URL.
- Do not send links without the “https://www.” at the beginning.
Examples of these rules:
Good: “Here’s a link https://txtrqt.co/46Gvzn to our newest release.”
Bad: “Check out this link: https://bit.ly/3Hxm66f”
Bad: “Hi Ralph. google.com/search?q=textrequest&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS958US958&oq=textrequest&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0i512j69i60l5j69i65.7585j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 Have a good one!"
3. Don’t include ALL CAPS anywhere in your message
It’s the equivalent of yelling. Your contacts will think you’re desperate for their attention, and carriers will assume there’s something wrong.
Good: “We have a new seasonal deal on our [service]. Visit our website to learn more.”
Bad: “BIG SUMMER DEAL for a LIMITED time on our website. Don’t miss out!”
4. Limit using special characters and emojis
Special characters and emojis are great for one-on-one conversations, but larger group messages including these characters will get the carrier's attention. Dollar signs in particular have a high chance of triggering spam filters.
Good: “Your payment for [service] is due.”
Bad: “Your payment of $250 for [service] is due. 🔔”
5. Don't include drugs, tobacco, firearms, or alcohol
Carriers expressly forbid any mention of drugs, tobacco, firearms, and alcohol. Messages containing any form of these banned topics are immediately filtered by the mobile carriers, resulting in message deliverability issues and even possible suspension of campaigns.
6. Don’t send the same message to large groups repeatedly
Using templates can be valuable, but sending identical messages to the same large list of contacts multiple times is going to land you on the no-fly list. Your messaging campaigns should be varied to bring value to your contacts.
We recommend formally planning and spacing your messages out, so you don’t annoy your contacts and attract the attention of carriers.
7. Avoid sending texts that may be better as an email
You’re sending a text for a reason. If it’s the size of an email, carriers are going to stop you. Your contacts will also become disengaged when you send them paragraphs to read instead of short sentences. If the information you need to share is detailed, we recommend redirecting the conversation to a link, scheduling a phone call, or attaching an image or flyer with more information.
Good: “We have a guide at [link] to help with all your questions related to [feature].”
Bad: “Our new [feature] is available in the bottom right-hand corner of your menu. You can click the button in the corner of that menu option to start setting up and entering the credentials required. These include the account you want to manage the feature, the settings you want to include, and the times you want [feature] to be active. Each of these items will be marked with a blue arrow that will change to green once you’re finished.”
8. Make sure your messages sound like an actual human wrote them
Unusual sentence structure or words trigger spam filters, including any grammatical errors and misspellings. If your sentences are filled with typos or sound like they were created by a wonky AI, carriers will block you.
Good: “Thanks for choosing [business]! How can our reps help?”
Bad: “Thanks for chosing us today to help with your needs. send us you name and current issue and rep will get back soon”
Potential Spam Triggers:
All caps — One or more words in your message use all capital letters.
Email addresses — Inserting an email address into your message will most likely result in carrier filtering.
Non-shortened URLs — We recommend using a URL shortener for any URLs you want to include in your message.
Messages ending in a URL — Messages ending in a URL are more likely to be filtered, even if the URL is shortened.
Dollar signs — Having a dollar sign in your message will increase your chances of being flagged for spam.
All of these things not only trigger spam filters, but they also annoy your contacts—and you don’t want contacts to block your number, because getting blocked too many times can get you blacklisted.
Our Spam Scanner will help you avoid these common mistakes when sending group messages. It automatically alerts you if it senses any of the spam indicators mentioned above. While we don't have a Spam Scanner for individual messages, the best practices mentioned above still apply to individual messages.
There are other factors that carriers pay attention to, and these factors vary from carrier to carrier—but if you pass our Spam Scanner, there’s a high chance you’re good to go.
Contact List Cleaning Services
If you need help cleaning up your contacts list or just don't have the time, we're happy to help. This service is available for all customers and only requires a properly formatted spreadsheet (.xlsx or .csv) of your contacts sent to support@textrequest.com.
Proper format:
Column A: Contact phone number
Column B: Contact name
Contact names are optional, so if a number does not have a name associated with it, you can still include it in the list.
That's it! No other data is needed. If additional information is included, it will be removed and you will receive a reminder about what the proper format looks like so we can get your list cleaned up.
Pricing for this service is $10/1000 contacts and the turnaround time is about 1 business day.