SMS Opt-In Examples: Wording and Forms That Match Carrier Rules

The base standard is CTIA's Messaging Principles and Best Practices, dated May 2023. It calls the invitation to sign up a call to action and says it should make people aware of the program or product, the number or short code the messages come from, the identity of the organization, clear language about opting in and any fees, and other terms such as how to opt out, customer care contact details and any privacy policy.

CTIA adds two limits. The call to action should not contain deceptive language, and opt-in details should not be obscured in terms and conditions, especially terms about other services.

Messaging providers turn that standard into checks. Twilio's registration guide says the consent language shown to people must name the brand and the types of messages, and should include opt-out and help instructions. Bandwidth's vetting guide lists the disclosure as brand name, message types, message frequency, the data-rates notice, HELP and STOP instructions, and links to the privacy policy and terms.

CTIA's guidelines give a table of message types. A conversational message is a reply to a person who texted first, and no further permission is expected. An informational message, such as an appointment reminder or an alert, needs the person to agree to texts for that purpose when they give their number. A promotional message needs the person to agree in writing, for example by signing a form or ticking a box online.

The guidelines note that adding a call to action such as a coupon code to an informational text may move it into the promotional category.

Federal rules sit alongside the carrier standard. The FCC's regulation at 47 CFR 64.1200 defines prior express written consent as a signed written agreement that clearly authorizes the seller to send advertising or telemarketing messages using an autodialer or a prerecorded voice, and that names the phone number. The agreement must disclose that the person is authorizing those messages and that agreeing is not a condition of buying anything. An electronic signature counts where federal or state law recognizes it. When that rule applies to a given text program is a legal question this post does not answer.

For a business that sends only informational texts, wording along these lines carries each listed element: 'I agree to receive appointment reminders and service updates by text from Example Dental at the number above. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for help. See our Privacy Policy and Terms.' The box next to it starts unticked, and the two policy names are links.

For marketing texts, the consent is its own box with its own sentence: 'I agree to receive promotional offers by text from Example Dental at the number above, up to four messages a month. Consent is not a condition of purchase. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for help.' The purchase sentence reflects the disclosure in the FCC's definition of prior express written consent.

A business that sends both kinds uses two boxes. HighLevel's guide to its pre-built consent widget describes this layout for mixed programs: two separate consent boxes, one informational and one promotional, neither selected in advance. The rejection code it lists as 30913 covers marketing consent that is not collected separately from transactional consent.

Example Dental is a placeholder. Replace it with the brand name exactly as registered, because a mismatch between the name in the opt-in and the name on the registration has its own rejection code in HighLevel's list.

• Phone field and consent box on the same screen
• Box unticked by default, and used for nothing else
• Form submits without the box, unless texting is the only purpose of the form
• Privacy policy and terms linked next to the consent sentence
• A dated copy of the page kept as submitted

For a keyword program, the disclosure goes wherever the keyword is advertised, such as a poster or a web page: 'Text JOIN to this number to get weekly specials from Example Dental by text. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for help.' Bandwidth's vetting guide says a registration for a keyword opt-in should explain how people learn to text the keyword, with a web page link or a screenshot of the advertisement.

For a paper form, the same sentence sits beside a box the person ticks by hand, separate from the signature for anything else. Twilio's toll-free verification guide lists paper form among the accepted opt-in types, and asks for a public image of the opt-in.

For a phone or in-person sign-up, the agent reads a script. A rejection-code list published through VoIP Docs has separate codes for a verbal script that is missing the brand name, the message types, the frequency, the data-rates notice, HELP, STOP or a pointer to the privacy policy. A script that covers them might run: 'Example Dental can send your appointment reminders by text. Message frequency varies and message and data rates may apply. You can reply STOP at any time to end them or HELP for help, and our privacy policy is on our website. Would you like to receive them?' Bandwidth asks for a copy of the script with the registration.

CTIA's guidelines say that after a person opts in to a recurring program, the sender should send a confirmation before any other message. It should include the program name or a product description, customer care contact information, how to opt out, a statement that messages are recurring and how often, and clear language about any fees.

Twilio's registration guide treats the opt-in, opt-out and help replies as registration fields of 20 to 320 characters each. They are required when the business manages those keywords itself, and the opt-in message is required when people opt in by texting a keyword.

An example that fits within those limits: 'Example Dental: you are signed up for appointment reminders. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel.' The VoIP Docs list says a STOP reply should carry the brand, a confirmation and a statement that no further messages will be sent, and that a HELP reply should carry the brand and a contact method.

The patterns below come from rejection lists we opened: Twilio's error page for 30925, HighLevel's guide to campaign rejection reasons, and the VoIP Docs list. Codes differ between providers, so match the code you receive against your own provider's page.

Twilio's page for 30925 lists four causes: no separate consent control for messaging, a control that is pre-selected, a form that only records acceptance of the terms or privacy policy, and a submission with no publicly accessible evidence of the flow. It says approval is not guaranteed even after the fixes.

Shared or purchased consent is treated as a failure across sources. CTIA says an opt-in is not transferable and applies only to the sender and campaign it was given for. Bandwidth says consent must be one-to-one, specific to text messaging and not implied. Telnyx says purchased lead lists carrying consent given to a partner do not qualify for toll-free verification. This carrier position is separate from the FCC's one-to-one consent rule, which ActiveProspect, a consent-software vendor, reports was vacated by a federal appeals court in January 2025 before it took effect.

A form that passes review still has to be provable later, one person at a time. CTIA's guidelines say senders should document opt-in consent by keeping, where applicable, the items below.

CTIA also says senders should keep all opt-in and opt-out requests in their records, and should remove deactivated phone numbers from their lists by processing deactivation files regularly.

• The timestamp of the consent
• The medium, such as a web form, a paper form or a text keyword
• A capture of the experience: the language shown and the action taken
• The specific campaign the opt-in was given for
• The IP address used to grant consent
• The phone number the consent covers
• The identity of the person, by name or another identifier such as a session ID

Twilio's registration guide says every opt-in method the business uses must be listed in the message flow field, which takes 40 to 2,048 characters. For a website opt-in the business supplies the page address and a privacy policy link. If the flow or the policies are not publicly visible at that address, Twilio asks for a link to hosted screenshots.

HighLevel's rejection guide lists a code for a registration where several opt-in methods were selected and not all were described, and another for a call to action the reviewer could not verify. Its fix for the second is to provide the full details of the call to action and every consent method, with hosted screenshots if the flow sits behind a login.