Note for Political Campaigns

Starting June 1st, 2023, political campaigns will need an EIN to provide a special political classification. Political campaigns will also be required to have a valid website directly associated with the candidate or political party or organization. A well-established social media page or Secretary of State filing page will not suffice for political campaigns.

The website will also be required to have contact information, an 'about us' section, information on the organization itself, and a Terms & Conditions page with a section that covers the terms of your SMS campaigns. The Terms & Conditions section should include information on how to opt-out of messaging, information on message volume and frequency, and disclaimers informing consumers that you are against list sharing/renting/selling.

If the political website has a contact form that requests the end-user to input their number, the contact form must have a disclaimer informing the end-user that they are agreeing to receive occasional SMS messages from your political party/candidate/organization. This is required even if you are not using this form as a method to gather consent.

All forms that request a phone number on your website must include this disclaimer, such as donation pages or other types of data collection pages that request a phone number. This message should look something like the following:

"By providing your mobile phone number, you are giving your consent to receive calls and SMS/MMS messages to that number from [BRAND]. Msg frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Text HELP for support or e-mail xxxx@yyyyy. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy"

Guidelines for Upstream Campaign Vetting

If you’re getting ready to send out a messaging campaign through A2P 10DLC phone numbers, you must first submit the campaign for review to The Campaign Registry. This is an industry-wide initiative to prevent spam and improve your deliverability. If you choose to use SignalWire as a Campaign Service Provider (CSP), you’ll find that we make this process incredibly simple through our TCR wizard.

To get started, log in or create an account in your SignalWire dashboard and head over to Messaging Campaigns. Registering there will be fairly straightforward, and we also have a beginner’s guide to registering your Brand and campaign.

Registering will only take a few minutes when you have all the relevant information prepared, such as a Tax ID, messaging templates, and accurate descriptions of your campaign. In this post, we’ll go over the details of how to prepare all of this information in a way that ensures you’ll get approved and that your registration process is as quick and easy as possible.

What is required for a successful campaign vet?

1. Informative and accurate campaign description

2. A valid website that is associated with the registered Brand

3. Opt-out language included in all sample messages

4. Accurate sample messages that are informative and fit your description

5. A detailed description of your Opt-in process and workflow (Call-To-Action)

6. Help message that includes at least one alternative contact method

Campaign Description

Providing a clear and accurate description is one of the most important parts of registering your campaign. A clear description provides the mobile carriers with a general understanding of what type of content you’ll be sending to their subscribers.

A campaign description should include the following information: type of business, what kind of messaging you plan on sending, the context of your messages, and who your subscribers are. All campaign descriptions must contain at least 40 characters. Since this is the field that defines your campaign as a whole, 40 characters should be a breeze!

Websites Associated With the Brand

All Brands being registered with The Campaign Registry must have an active website containing company details, contact information, and information about services or products. A Privacy Policy is also highly recommended as this helps inform the end-users you are not buying/selling/sharing the Opt-In information they provide you. If you do not have a website, a well-established Facebook, Etsy, or Instagram page may suffice (depending on your use case).

Websites are vital in the vetting process as they provide our Direct Connect Aggregator (DCA) with information on who you are, what type of services you provide, and how well-established your Brand’s internet presence is. It provides us and the mobile carriers with an in-depth look at your company as a whole.

If you provide a website that doesn’t match your company, this will result in your connection being rejected. Your campaign could also be rejected if the website does not have enough information regarding your company, or if the website appears vague. Be sure your website is functional and contains the same support contact information that you used to register your Brand.

Opt-Out Language

Opt-out language must be included at the end of each sample message you provide in your registration. While it’s not required to send opt-out language at the end of every message, it is strongly recommended, as it gives the subscriber a clear reminder they can unsubscribe from receiving messages at any time.

You must send opt-out language in the very first message to a subscriber and at least once monthly for recurring messages.

Opt-out language should look something similar to the following and should always provide clear instructions:

• “Reply STOP to unsubscribe”

• “Reply STOP to opt out”

• “STOP=stop”

Additionally, you must have an opt-out message. This message is a confirmation for when a consumer sends you the keyword “STOP.” Once they send you the keyword, you should be responding with your opt-out message to inform the customer their request has been granted.

This message is required as of November 17th, 2022.

An example of an opt-out message looks something like this:

“[Brand] We received your request to stop and halted all future messages to this number. You may reply “UNSTOP” at any time if you wish to receive messages from us again!”

Sample Messages

It’s important to display all sample messages that will be relevant to your use case, especially if you’re using one campaign for multiple use cases. You should have a sample message that represents each use case. All sample messages must be at least 20 characters long with opt-out language included.

These samples should mimic the content that will be sent on your campaign to subscribers as closely as possible, and correlate directly to your campaign description. The samples you provide are just that - samples. You do not have to send your samples word for word to your customers. Include any links or phone numbers you plan on sending, and do not use any public URL shorteners.

Make sure everything matches up with your use case. If you register your campaign for a 2FA use case and have marketing messages for samples, your campaign will immediately be rejected due to a mismatch between samples, the campaign description, and the use case.

We also highly recommend branding your samples, which would involve including your company name or company initials in each message you send (or at least the first message you send). This helps the end-user identify who exactly is messaging them and can ultimately help cut down on wrongful spam complaints.

Opt-In Process and Workflow (Call-To-Action)

Opt-in consent is another extremely important part of any legitimate messaging campaign, as it ensures your consumers have agreed to receive your messages and helps eliminate the chance of having your content reported as spam.

As of October 20th, 2022, the “Call-To-Action” will be a required field when registering a campaign with TCR, which requires a minimum of 40 characters. This is where you will describe your full opt-in process.

It is vital to provide full transparency about your subscriber opt-in process, so we can recommend adjustments that need to be made. We may ask about your opt-in consent process if we are unable to find it on the website associated with your Brand.

Each campaign should have its own method to gather subscribers’ direct consent. This method depends on your use case and on who initiates the conversation. The description should be as clear as possible, providing specific details as to what the subscriber is agreeing to receive. If you are using multiple methods to collect opt-in consent, you will need to explain them all.

You should also keep a detailed list of all users who have opted in to your messaging program, as proof of opt-in may be requested at any time.

If you have a form on your website that requests an end-user's phone number, there will need to be a disclaimer under this form. The disclaimer would need to inform the end-user that they are agreeing to occasional SMS messages from your company by providing their number and filling out this form. This is required by the carriers even if you are not using this as your opt-in method.

Below are a few examples of this process:

2FA/OTP: When the consumer attempts to log in to their account, they are prompted to input their number and are informed that they will receive a 6-digit code that they need to enter on the next page.

Opt-in through web/personal form: Customers opt-in by visiting [www.examplewebsite.com] and adding their phone number. They then check a box agreeing to receive text messages from [Example Brand]

Texting in a keyword to Opt-In: Consumers may find an advertisement in various places that consists of a number and keyword for them to text us for updates. If consumers text in a keyword, the Brand should also send a confirmation message similar to the following: "[Example Brand] You are now opted-in. For help, reply HELP. To opt-out, reply STOP"

Consumer initiated: The consumer texts in our number they found online and asks questions about our products. We simply answer their questions and send no further messages.

If your opt-in process is not included on your website, you will need to provide us with a step-by-step guide on how the end-user is subscribing to receive SMS messages from your company. We will need a clear and informative description of this process to ensure the carriers accept your connection, such as the following:

"End-user can find our number (###-###-####) and the keyword “Join” advertised on our signs in-store or at our events. The sign will contain information on our messaging program and once an end-user messages in the keyword “Join”, they will be met with our opt-in message informing them they have successfully subscribed."

Help Message

As of October 20th, 2022, a help message is required. You need to showcase exactly what your help message will say. The minimum for this specific message is 20 characters.

The HELP Message should include the Brand name and additional support contact information, whether it be a phone number or email. Identify your Brand when sending subscribers messages, as this provides reassurance on which company they’re receiving messages from.

A “HELP” message provides your customers an alternative method to reach out if they are experiencing a pressing matter and need immediate assistance. A good example of a HELP message is something like:

“[Example Brand] For help, email support@example.com. To opt-out, reply STOP”

Correct and detailed registration information will result in a smoother and quicker campaign connection. Since our DCA has started charging a $15 vetting fee, we have been making sure that the campaigns we pass along to our upstream peers are of adequate quality before reaching our DCA. You can review costs here.

Once we submit your campaign to our upstream peers, the DCA vetting process can take up to 24 hours and sometimes longer if the DCA finds issues within your registration.

Have questions about The Campaign Registry? Visit our FAQ, sign up for our Messaging Office Hours, join us on Slack or ask us on our Community Forum.