Are your messages getting blocked or filtered?
Are you having trouble with sending SMS via Twilio, GHL, or another service?
Are you confused about the new phone number registration, verification, and compliance regulations?
Do you just want to make sure you can send SMS to your damn leads?
Well good news, in this article I’m going to break down everything that’s going on right now with the recent changes in the SMS world.
And big poppa Clayton is gonna show you how you can make SURE you’re still able to rake in the $$ sending SMS.
Let’s get into it:
What Is A 10DLC A2P Phone Number?
10DLC stands for 10 Digit Long Code, and refers to a phone number with a local area code (vs. for example a toll free 1-8XX number, or a 5 digit short code, etc).
A2P stands for Application To Person, which usually means that you’re sending SMS via an application, using automated messaging vs P2P (peer to peer) like you would be texting a friend.
For businesses that use SMS in their marketing and sales, this is the most common type of number / use case.
What Is 10DLC Registration?
10DLC registration is the process in which carriers verify who is sending messages and what types of messages they are sending. The main goal is to reduce the amount of spam via text.
This is now required for compliance.
What Changed?
New Required Registration
New regulations and compliance is going into place for anyone using 10DLC A2P.
These new compliance regulations require brands to register their phone numbers and use cases.
As of Sep 1, 2023, any unregistered traffic sent via Twilio started being blocked.
New Increased Fees
Carrier fees are going up across the board and roll out over time.
- Campaign Vetting Fees Increased
- Brand Registration Fees Increased
- Monthly Campaign Fees Increase
- Fines For Sending Unregisterd Traffic
What Happens If I Don't Register 10DLC?
If you’re on Twilio, your messages are now being blocked as of Sep 1, 2023.
If you’re not on Twilio, you may either be blocked soon and/or will be charged higher fees for sending over unregistered traffic.
You may experience delivery failures or high levels of carrier-filtering (the spam box of SMS).
What Other Problems Does This Cause?
Blocked Messages
Lots of people right now are struggling with registration, their messages are getting blocked.
Approval Process Takes Longer & Is Complicated
Typical approval times vary and are inconsistent.
The registration process often is not super straightforward, you not only need to register your numbers, you also need to create a brand as well as register “campaigns.”
Sending Speed Is Slow & Non-US Senders Are Out Of Luck
Unless you want the lowest sending speeds (1 MPS or message per second)... you’re going to need to have a US EIN that matches the brand you’re sending from. This makes it difficult for anyone outside the US to use SMS effectively unelss they have a US entity.
Fees For Unregistered Traffic
If you’re sending unregistered traffic, fees are significantly increased.
Other Problems
This is whats happening right now, but honestly we speak with clients all the time that have had trouble sending SMS.
For example, we speak with clients that
- Have deliverability issues (or sometimes don’t even know if their messages are getting delivered)
- Have been blocked or banned in the past
- Have had trouble getting verified
- Haven’t been able to figure out the whole SMS thing for various reasons
Do you have any of these issues? Keep reading.
(Or just jump straight to hopping on a call with us here so we can get you back up and rocking).
What Does 10DLC Registration Mean For People Using GHL?
If you’re using 10DCL A2P with GHL (Go High Level) and Twilio, unless you registered, you likely are getting messages completely blocked.
It’s not a GHL issue, more specifically the whole industry must comply with the new standards. Twilio specifically had a cutoff date of Sep 1, 2023 to register traffic.
If you haven’t registered your phone numbers yet, then your messaging likely just stopped working.
You’ll need to complete the registration and verification process with Twilio
(Or use Roezan for SMS by booking a call here!)
What About 10DLC Registration For Non-US / International Senders?
If you do not have a us EIN (Government Tax ID for a registered US business) then you cannot send messages via Twilio 10DLC A2P.
Even the sole proprietorship low volume option requires a US address.
If you're outside the US and you want to send messages to US & Canada, keep reading for alternatives:
What Are My Options?
Depends on your situation.
For some people the option is to just complete the verification process, pay the fees, and wait it out.
But if you’re a non-US based entity, or you’ve had other issues… there is hope!
And that hope is Roezan.
(hahah just joking but let me explain).
Look, this whole thing can be pretty confusing… but if you’re using SMS for marketing purposes, then we can likely help.
A great alternative to 10DLC for marketers right now is to instead get a toll-free number (this is what we use at Roezan).
Why?
- Toll-free numbers have easier registration / verification.
It still requires registration but it’s much simpler. You don’t have to have a US EIN, you don’t even have to have a US address.
You don’t need to register brands, you don’t need to register use campaigns cases. - Toll-free has less fees.
You don’t have to pay brand registration fees, you don’t pay campaign vetting fees, you don’t pay monthly campaign fees. - Toll free, by default is WAY faster sending: 3X by defatult (And Up to 200-300X The Speed With Roezan).
Most A2P 10DLC numbers by default send at 1MPS, and Twilio Toll Free sends at 3MPS. But with Roezan, we can help you send at 200MPS+ (depending on your case). This is vital for large time-sensitive brands and we're one of the only vendors that can offer it.
So for many marketers, toll-free is a great option.
Check out this graphic we made of the differences:
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How Can Roezan Help?
Theres a few ways we can help, and we’re currently helping many customers navigate the changing SMS landscape.
The most common way we help is simply getting people sending SMS again.
With Roezan, we will provision a phone number, help you get verified, and unlock unlimited, ultra-fast sending.
Benefits:
- No Brand Registration Fees
- No External Vetting (Nor external vetting fees)
- No Campaign Vetting Fees
- No Monthly Campaign Fees
- No US Address Requirement
- High Throughput (Not tied to brand score)
- No Daily Sending Cap
High Volume Sending? No Problem.
On top of that, we specialize in high-volume sending and deliverability and we’re obsessed with making sure messages get delivered.
We do this in a few different ways, and we even wrote our own deliverability playbook based on what we’ve seen sending millions of messages.
Check out our SMS deliverability playbook here.
Help With Common SMS issues
But above that we help clients with
- Regulations & compliance
- Blocks, Filtering, and Deliverability issues
- High volume sending
And Most Importantly, SMS Strategy
And from a larger standpoint we help with SMS Strategy. Many people use SMS but could be getting so much more out of it if they just used the right strategy.
We publish blog posts here about how to use SMS to boost webinar attendance, book more sales & strategy calls, and engage customers…
We wrote a 3.5k word guide on getting the best ROI out of SMS.
Conclusion
Are you struggling with the new compliance and regulations? Need personalized help navigating the SMS world and want to maximize your ROI?
Best way is to book a call with us so we can speak about your situation specifically.
