Resources & guides

Short Message Service — a plain text message of up to 160 characters with no images. It’s the workhorse of text marketing: fast to send, opened within minutes, and delivered to every phone without an app. Most promotional texts, appointment reminders, and opt-out confirmations go out as SMS.

Multimedia Messaging Service — a text that can carry an image, GIF, or short video. For a local business this is what makes a picture coupon possible: a photo of the dish, the deal, or a branded graphic that grabs attention far better than plain text. It costs slightly more per message but usually earns higher engagement and redemptions.

A 5–6 digit number (like 55555) built for high-volume texting. Short codes send fast and look instantly recognizable, but they’re expensive and require carrier approval. Most local businesses do just as well on a toll-free or 10DLC number instead.

A toll-free (1-800-style) or standard 10-digit number that’s been enabled for texting — the affordable, common choice for local businesses. Once verified with the carriers, it sends marketing texts at reasonable volume with strong deliverability, without the cost of a short code.

10DLC (10-digit long code) is the registered number system carriers use for A2P — application-to-person — business texting. Registering your brand and campaigns through 10DLC is what lets marketing texts reach customers reliably instead of being filtered as spam. It’s a behind-the-scenes requirement we handle for you.

The explicit permission a customer gives to receive your texts — the consent the law requires before you can market to them. Opt-in can happen by texting a keyword, filling out a form, or checking a box at checkout. A clean, opted-in list is the single most important factor for both deliverability and compliance.

A customer’s request to stop receiving texts, usually by replying STOP — and it must be honored immediately and automatically. Every campaign should make opting out effortless. A respected opt-out keeps your list healthy, your complaint rate low, and your sender reputation intact.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the main federal law governing marketing texts and calls in the U.S. It requires prior express consent before you text a customer and gives them the right to opt out at any time. Violations carry steep per-message penalties, which is why consent, record-keeping, and honoring STOP requests are non-negotiable — more in our compliance overview.

A word customers text to your number to join your list — for example, “Text PIZZA to 55555 for deals.” Keywords are one of the easiest ways to grow an opted-in list, because the customer starts the conversation and consents in a single step. You can run different keywords for different offers or locations to see what draws the most sign-ups.

The ongoing work of adding new opted-in subscribers — through in-store sign-up, keywords, your website, receipts, and QR codes. A steadily growing list is what keeps a text program producing results month after month; a stale list quietly shrinks every time someone opts out.

Splitting your list into groups — by location, past purchases, or how recently someone visited — so each text is more relevant. A win-back offer to lapsed customers and a VIP deal to regulars will always outperform one generic blast to everyone.

Texts that send automatically from a trigger or schedule — a welcome when someone joins, a reminder before an appointment, or a “we miss you” after a customer goes quiet. Automations run in the background so the right message reaches the right person at the right time, with no manual work.

A single text sent to your whole list or a segment at once — the classic “tonight only: 20% off” promotion. Blasts are ideal for filling a slow night or moving inventory fast, and they land best when timed around the moment customers actually decide where to go.

The share of recipients who read a message. Texts are famous for open rates near 98%, usually within minutes — far above email — which is why a well-timed offer by text tends to drive immediate foot traffic.

The share of recipients who tap the link in your text. A clear call to action and a trackable link turn opens into visits, and CTR tells you how compelling the offer and wording actually were.

Logging when a unique coupon code or link is actually used, so every visit and sale ties back to the specific text that drove it. This is how you move past guesswork to real, measurable ROI — which offer, day, and message produced the most redemptions. It’s the difference between “we sent a text” and “that text made $2,300.”

Using what you know about a customer — their name, usual order, or location — to make a text feel one-to-one instead of mass-blasted. Even light personalization lifts response, because the message reads like it was meant for them.