10DLC Campaign Use Cases: How to Choose the Right One

Twilio's guide for software vendors describes a campaign as a single use case for sending messages. A campaign belongs to one brand, and a brand can have one campaign or several. The brand is the business that sends the messages. For an agency, that is the client, and Twilio says to enter the client's business details and not the agency's.

Each campaign carries a description, a message flow that explains the opt-in, and sample messages. Twilio's support article on rejected campaigns says the description should state the sender, the intended recipients and the purpose of the messages. Twilio's API returns the use cases available to a particular brand, so the list a sole proprietor sees differs from the list a standard brand sees.

Twilio's API reference returns the list of use cases a brand can register, with a short description of each and a flag for whether approval is needed after registration. The standard ones carry no such flag.

Two of them are broad. Marketing covers any promotional content. Mixed covers a campaign that sends more than one kind of message. The rest are narrow and describe one purpose each.

The registry's fee guide prices nearly all of these at 10 dollars a month per campaign.

Twilio's overview describes low-volume mixed as its own campaign type for brands sending fewer than 2,000 text segments a day on T-Mobile, with lower monthly fees. The registry lists it at 1.50 dollars a month. Twilio's pricing article says it receives lower message throughput than other use cases regardless of the brand's trust score.

A low-volume standard brand, which is the registration tier for a business with a tax ID and modest volume, can send about 6,000 segments a day across US carriers on Twilio's figures. That brand tier and this use case are often chosen together.

HighLevel's campaign guide shows how a platform can make the choice for you. It offers three options: marketing or promotional, informational or non-marketing, and mixed. Selecting mixed sets the registered use case to low volume mixed automatically.

The trade is simple to state. A small business that sends both reminders and occasional promotions pays 1.50 dollars a month on this use case, against 10 dollars for a standard mixed or marketing campaign, and accepts the daily ceiling and the slower sending rate.

Twilio's documentation for government and non-profit senders says special use cases offer increased throughput, discounted pricing on the T-Mobile network, or both. Eligibility depends on what the brand is. Government agencies can register all the standard use cases and are also eligible for emergency. Non-profits have access to charity. A 527 political organization can use political only after it has been verified by Campaign Verify, and without that token it is limited to standard use cases at the lowest throughput tier.

Twilio's campaign vetting FAQ says campaigns that need carrier approval, such as agents and franchises and proxy, are also charged the 15 dollar vetting fee, and that Twilio's vetting happens after the carrier's approval. That adds a step to the timeline.

Start with a list of every message the client sends by text. If all of them are one narrow kind, such as appointment reminders, a narrow use case such as account notification describes the campaign exactly and leaves little for a reviewer to question.

If any message promotes a product, an offer or a return visit, the campaign has marketing content. A coupon code or a discount added to a reminder is enough to change what the message is. A rejection-code list published through VoIP Docs has several codes for promotional language appearing where marketing was not registered as a use case, in the call to action, the samples and the privacy policy.

If the client sends both kinds, the options are a mixed campaign or two campaigns. A mixed or low volume mixed campaign needs samples of each kind. HighLevel's rejection guide says to use the first sample for promotional content and the second for transactional content, and to include both types for mixed messaging. The VoIP Docs list asks for one sample for each use case and sub-use case selected.

The opt-in has to follow the same split. HighLevel lists a rejection code for marketing consent that is not collected separately from transactional consent. A campaign registered as mixed with one undivided consent box invites that code.

• List every message type the client sends
• Mark each one as transactional or promotional
• One narrow type only: register the matching narrow use case
• Any promotional content: register marketing, or mixed if there is also transactional content
• Small volume and both kinds: consider low volume mixed and accept its ceiling
• Check the samples, the consent boxes and the policy against the choice

The mismatch has codes on every list we read. Twilio's support article on rejected campaigns describes code 30886 as an invalid campaign description and tells the sender to rewrite it so it states the sender, the intended recipients and the purpose. HighLevel's guide describes the same code as a description that is vague or does not match the use case, and 30893 as samples that are missing, unclear or mismatched. The VoIP Docs list has a code for a use case that does not match the sample messages.

Some corrections cannot be made in place. HighLevel's guide says the use case and the opt-in message may not be editable, and that if one needs changing the sender should create a new campaign. The VoIP Docs list says the same of campaign attributes that do not match the website or samples: they cannot be edited on an existing campaign.

Twilio's support article adds a caution. It says deleting and recreating a campaign is not required for every rejection and can have registration and billing consequences. On Twilio each new campaign is charged the 15 dollar vetting fee, which its FAQ says is non-refundable.

Availability varies by provider. HighLevel's rejection guide lists a code for emergency alerts and says they are not permitted there, and another for sweepstakes or contests under its disallowed content. The VoIP Docs list has codes for sole proprietor campaigns and says the carrier behind that service does not currently support them. A use case that exists at the registry may still be closed on the platform a client uses.

Content rules cut across use cases. HighLevel's guide lists codes it treats as ineligible for resubmission, including cannabis and CBD, loan marketing such as payday loans, third-party debt collection, gambling, credit repair, debt consolidation, and third-party lead generation.

One attribute interacts with the use case. The VoIP Docs list has codes for lending content in a campaign where the direct lending attribute was not set, and for the attribute set where no lending content appears. In the first case its fix is to create the campaign again with the attribute selected.

HighLevel also lists a code for a campaign that mixes up lead generation and lead nurture, and another for traffic that looks like personal, person-to-person messaging. Twilio's support article says renaming personal traffic does not make it eligible for the program.

Each campaign carries its own monthly fee and, on Twilio, its own 15 dollar vetting fee. Twilio's overview says a brand can have up to five campaigns unless a valid business reason is given for more. HighLevel's rejection guide lists a code for a brand that has reached a limit of 100 campaigns. The two figures describe different controls on different platforms, and we did not find a single registry-wide number.

Splitting has a real benefit where volumes are high. Twilio's comparison article says each campaign under a standard brand has its own throughput, based on the use case and the brand's trust score. A separate two-factor campaign keeps login codes away from the limits and the reputation of a marketing campaign.

One campaign cannot cover two businesses. HighLevel lists a rejection code for a campaign that references multiple brands, and the fix is a separate campaign for each brand.