Have you started to notice that some of your recipients are not receiving text messages? It could be caused by several factors, one may be upcoming changes to A2P messaging by the receiving carriers known as '10DLC'. Read more about these SMS marketing changes here. If so, your 10-digit long code number could be blacklisted or temporarily blocked from sending messages to your recipients on a particular carrier or multiple carriers.
Once your 10-digit long code number is registered there may still be occasions when carriers filter your messages, though our current expectation is that will be greatly reduced. One way to understand what you need to do in order to get your messages delivered to your recipients is to first try to figure out why the carriers filtered your message in the first place.
Why am I being filtered?
There are many reasons your ten-digit long code number can be spam filtered by an end-carrier. Here is a list of some of the reasons we’ve found that gets numbers blocked. Of course, this list is not comprehensive because the carriers do not share their filtering criteria as their main goal is to stop spammers.
You’re Sending Too Many Messages
Are you starting to scale and send more messages? If you are using a ten-digit long code, we recommend that you do not message more than 150 people in one day. Ten-digit numbers were never intended to send high volume mass texting campaigns. Therefore, if a carrier notices a high volume of messages from a ten-digit long code number then they may filter your messages and they will not get delivered to your recipients.
Be careful with your content
The end-carriers not only filter based on volume, but also on the content of your text message. For example, we suggest that you don’t send messages in all caps. Some carriers see that as spam and filter it.
Don’t use objectionable language. For one, the carrier can filter based on certain words or phrases. Also, when mobile subscribers receive messages they find inappropriate, they might report your number to their carrier which can also get you filtered by that carrier.
In a nutshell, don’t be a spammer and don’t do anything illegal via text messaging. The carriers are smart and they will filter you if you are a spammer or if they find your content similar to what spammers have sent before.
Do not send short links from Public URL Shorteners
When composing your message, DO NOT INCLUDE A PUBLIC URL SHORTENER. If you want your message to get delivered, avoid public URL shorteners such as bit.ly, goo.gl, tiny url, or others as your message will definitely get spam filtered if you use those public short links. If you want to send short links, you will have to acquire your own proprietary/private url shortener.
Unfortunately, spammers have already used and abused all the public short links and so any message with a short link will be considered spam by the end carriers.
What to do once your long code has been spam filtered by the carrier
If you were sending messages to more than 150 people in a day, please contact sales@sendhub.com to upgrade to a plan with a special toll-free number that is pre-approved for high volume texting or keeping your local number and moving to a 10DLC plan.
If you were sending short links from a public url, stop doing so immediately and instead send your own unique domain links that are less likely to get filtered by the carriers.
In a few exceptional cases where customers are able to use a high volume of messages on their long code, it’s due to the fact that all their messages are conversational and therefore unique messages. One thing you can do to help make your group texts more personalized is to use merge fields and personalize each text to include a name or other relevant information so that each text message is unique.
Don’t forget to be careful with your content. As mentioned above, if you are sending messages with all caps, then stop using caps. Don’t send objectionable language or language that could be construed as objectionable.