Avoiding Mass Text Message Spam Filters
Follow these tips and best practices to ensure your mass text messages are delivered successfully and avoid being flagged by carrier spam filters.
Disclaimer: This article does not offer legal advice. It does not imply that following the guidelines or suggestions provided ensures compliance with the law or local regulations governing your rights and limitations in sending or receiving communications through any medium. If you have legal concerns regarding your messaging needs, we strongly recommend seeking legal counsel. We do not act as your agents and bear no responsibility for your actions concerning the use of our application, software, or any other methods you employ for messaging or communication services.
In the age of digital communication, mass text messaging has become a powerful tool for businesses, organizations, and individuals to reach their audiences quickly and effectively. However, the path to successful mass texting is not always smooth, as spam filters can stand as formidable gatekeepers to ensure that only relevant and legitimate messages make it to recipients' inboxes.
It can be puzzling when you're faced with the inability to send text messages to a large recipient list all at once, resulting in messages bouncing back with a "failure to send" notification on your iPhone. If you encounter these issues while sending a small number of messages, they may stem from network connectivity problems on your device. However, when dealing with a substantial volume of messages, the likelier scenario is that you've unintentionally triggered spam filters, leading to message rejection.
Cell phone carriers and messaging service providers, including Apple's iMessage, have borrowed techniques from email spam filters to combat unwanted messages, such as scams and unsolicited advertisements. While this approach is beneficial, it can sometimes lead to legitimate text messages being erroneously classified as spam.
Understanding Spam Filters in Mass Text Messaging
Spam filters, also known as message filters or content filters, are automated systems designed to identify and filter out unsolicited or potentially harmful text messages. Their primary purpose is to protect users from unwanted and potentially harmful content, such as phishing attempts, scams, and excessive promotional messages. Spam filters use various algorithms and criteria to evaluate incoming messages and determine whether they should be delivered to a recipient's inbox or diverted to a spam folder — or even rejected outright.
While many perceive spam as simply unwanted or bothersome messages, it has several definitions, including a legal one, and specific criteria that carriers and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) use to identify it. It's crucial to educate yourself on applicable laws and regulations governing message transmission in your area, such as the FCC regulations in the United States.
Common Criteria Used by Spam Filters
Understanding what triggers spam filters is the first step to avoiding them. Here are the main factors carriers and ISPs evaluate:
Quantity
Sending a message like "Happy Halloween!!!" to your known contacts is likely to go through. However, broadcasting the same message to a large list of unfamiliar recipients can trigger spam filters. The more recipients, the more scrutiny your message receives.
Message Content
Spam filters scan the content of text messages for keywords, phrases, or patterns commonly associated with spam or phishing attempts. Messages with excessive use of capital letters, excessive exclamation points, or dubious claims are often flagged. Carriers also analyze links in your messages — using URL shorteners commonly employed by spammers can make your message look suspicious.
Sender Reputation & Identity
Filters consider the sender's reputation, including factors like sending frequency, user complaints, and adherence to industry standards. Maintaining a consistent identity and transparent sender information is crucial. Avoid sending the same messages from multiple phone numbers, and ensure that your contact information is publicly available.
Sending Rate
Carriers and ISPs are aware of typical sending rates for regular users, typically between 15–50 messages per minute, with no more than one per second. Sticking within this range when using your personal phone number can help prevent rate-limiting issues.
Recipient Engagement
Filters also consider recipient behavior. If a recipient consistently marks messages from a particular sender as spam, future messages from that sender are more likely to be filtered. Maintaining positive engagement with your recipients is key.
Message Format
The format of the message, including the use of HTML coding and links, can affect whether it is perceived as spam. Keep your messages simple, conversational, and in plain text format for the best delivery rates.
Consent
To ensure optimal delivery, obtain explicit consent from your recipients before sending messages. Implement an official opt-in and opt-out protocol, allowing people to unsubscribe. This is particularly important when sending bulk messages, demonstrating that you respect recipients' preferences and privacy.
Quick Reference: Do's and Don'ts
Do's
- Personalize each message with the recipient's name
- Vary your message content slightly between contacts
- Space out your messages — don't send hundreds at once
- Keep messages conversational and natural
- Use proper grammar and avoid excessive punctuation
- Include your name or business name for context
- Send during normal business hours when possible
- Start with a smaller batch and increase gradually
Don'ts
- Send identical messages to large groups rapidly
- Use URL shorteners or suspicious links
- Include excessive emojis or special characters
- Use ALL CAPS or excessive exclamation marks!!!
- Send messages late at night or very early morning
- Include spammy keywords like "FREE", "ACT NOW", "LIMITED TIME"
- Send to numbers that haven't opted in to receive messages
- Send too many messages in a short time period
Best Practices for Successful Delivery
Smaller is Better
We recommend sending 25–50 messages max per send, the smaller the better. Starting with smaller batches helps establish your number's reputation and reduces the chance of triggering spam filters.
Time Your Messages
When possible, try sending messages during regular hours. Messages sent at unusual times are more likely to be flagged by carriers.
Add Delays
Spacing out mass text messages can help avoid spam filters. A few seconds between each message can also make a big difference.
Use Google Voice
Consider using Google Voice as a secondary number. This protects your primary number and provides an additional sending channel.
Google Voice setup guide →Use Dynamic Text
Leverage Quick Send's personalization fields like [FirstName], [LastName], and [Time] to vary each message and avoid identical content being sent repeatedly.
Limit URLs
Minimize the number of links in your messages. If you must include a link, use a reputable, full-length URL rather than a shortened one.
In Conclusion
Understanding how spam filters operate and adhering to best practices can help ensure that your legitimate mass text messages are successfully delivered and received by your audience. By maintaining transparency, obtaining consent, and crafting meaningful, personalized content, you can navigate the complexities of SMS messaging and enhance your message delivery rates. Some things you can do to combat spam filters are doing smaller batch sends, using dynamic text (i.e. [FirstName], [LastName], [Time]) in the message if possible, limiting URLs in the messages, and spacing batch sending out.
Important Disclaimer
While these tips help reduce the likelihood of being flagged by spam filters, carriers may still filter messages based on their own algorithms. Always ensure your messages comply with applicable laws and regulations, including getting proper consent from recipients.