How to Protect Your Business with Compliant SMS Marketing and Sales Strategies

SMS marketing is one of the fastest ways to start real conversations with prospects and customers. Text messages get opened, replies happen quickly, and sales cycles shrink. But before you scale SMS inside your marketing and sales strategy, there’s one critical step you cannot skip: compliance.

If you ignore the rules around texting, carriers can block your messages, flag your numbers as spam, or worse, expose your business to legal risk. The good news is this: when you understand TCPA, A2P, and 10DLC—and use a platform like Salesmsg built for compliance—you can move fast and stay protected.

This guide will walk you through exactly what those regulations mean, how they affect your business, and how to build compliant forms and workflows that keep you safe while growing revenue.

What Is TCPA (And Why It Matters to Your Business)?

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a U.S. federal law that regulates how businesses can contact consumers via phone calls and text messages. In simple terms, it requires businesses to obtain proper consent before sending marketing text messages.

Under TCPA, you must receive clear, documented permission before sending promotional SMS messages. That consent cannot be hidden in fine print or pre-checked by default. Customers must knowingly agree to receive texts from your business.

You can review the FCC’s guidance on TCPA here.

If your business sends marketing or sales-related text messages without proper consent, you risk carrier filtering, lawsuits, and fines. More importantly, you damage trust with your audience.

What Is A2P Messaging?

A2P stands for Application-to-Person messaging. This refers to text messages sent from a software platform (like your CRM or SMS system) to an individual’s phone number.

Nearly all business texting falls under A2P messaging. Unlike person-to-person texting between friends, A2P messaging is monitored by carriers. That means your business traffic must follow specific registration and verification rules.

Carriers want to know who is sending messages, what type of messages are being sent, and whether recipients have consented. If they don’t, your deliverability suffers.

What Is 10DLC?

10DLC stands for 10-Digit Long Code. It’s the system carriers use to regulate and register business texting traffic sent from standard 10-digit phone numbers.

If your business sends SMS through a local or toll-free number, that traffic must be properly registered. This includes:

Brand registration so carriers know who your company is. Campaign registration that explains what type of messages you send. Verification that you are collecting and storing proper opt-in consent.

Without 10DLC registration, messages can be filtered, delayed, or blocked entirely.

Step-by-Step: How to Make Your SMS Marketing Compliant

Now let’s move from definitions to action. Here is how to protect your business.

Step 1: Collect Proper Consent

Your website forms must clearly state that the user is agreeing to receive text messages. This disclosure should include:

Who is sending the messages. What type of messages they will receive. A statement that message and data rates may apply.Instructions that they can reply STOP to opt out.

Consent language should be visible near the phone number field, not buried in your privacy policy.

For example, below your phone number field you might include language such as:

“By submitting this form, you agree to receive marketing and sales text messages from [Your Company Name]. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe.”

This language should not be pre-checked. The user must actively provide their number with informed consent.

Step 2: Implement Double Opt-In

A double opt-in adds an extra layer of protection. After someone submits their phone number, they receive a confirmation message asking them to reply YES to confirm subscription.

This creates a documented consent trail, which is extremely valuable if compliance is ever questioned.

Salesmsg includes built-in double opt-in functionality, helping you automate this process without manual tracking.

Step 3: Register for A2P 10DLC

Before sending campaigns at scale, your brand and campaign need to be properly registered with carriers.

Salesmsg simplifies A2P 10DLC registration by handling the process inside the platform. Instead of navigating carrier paperwork yourself, you can complete guided registration steps and ensure your messaging traffic is approved and verified.

Step 4: Enable Automatic Opt-Out Management

Compliance requires that recipients can opt out easily at any time.

Salesmsg automatically manages opt-out keywords like STOP, ensuring contacts are immediately unsubscribed and suppressed from future marketing messages. This removes human error and protects your business from accidental violations.

Step 5: Align SMS With Your CRM

One of the biggest compliance mistakes businesses make is tracking consent in spreadsheets or disconnected tools.

When SMS is integrated directly into your CRM, you can document consent, track opt-ins, store conversation history, and create a clean audit trail. Salesmsg integrates deeply with platforms like HubSpot, allowing you to centralize communication and protect your team from fragmented workflows.

How Salesmsg Makes Compliance Easier

Salesmsg was built with compliance and scalability in mind. Instead of piecing together separate texting tools and hoping they follow the rules, you get built-in safeguards that protect your brand.

With automated 10DLC registration, toll-free verification, TCPA-aligned opt-in and opt-out management, and secure infrastructure, Salesmsg reduces compliance complexity. Features like user permissions, shared inboxes, and audit-friendly conversation tracking also help growing teams maintain control.

For businesses in regulated industries, additional safeguards like HIPAA-supportive infrastructure and secure data handling add another layer of protection.

When your SMS platform is built correctly from the start, compliance becomes part of your system—not an afterthought.

Why Compliance Is Actually a Growth Strategy

Compliance is not just about avoiding fines. It improves deliverability. It protects your sender reputation. It increases trust. And trust drives conversions.

When customers knowingly opt in, your engagement rates increase. When carriers trust your traffic, your messages arrive consistently. When your internal systems are clean, your team moves faster.

If you’re serious about scaling SMS, you need both the right platform and the right implementation strategy. That’s where LevelUp Digital comes in.

We help businesses build compliant SMS funnels, integrate Salesmsg with their CRM, optimize forms for proper consent, and create messaging strategies that convert.

Ready to Protect Your Business and Scale SMS the Right Way?

SMS marketing works. But only when it’s built on a compliant foundation.

If you’re launching SMS for the first time or want to ensure your current system meets TCPA and A2P 10DLC standards, our team will guide you step-by-step, from form updates to platform setup to campaign execution.

Protect your business. Strengthen your deliverability. Build trust with every message.

Contact LevelUp Digital today to get started.