How to prospect by text message, and when you cannot

Cold texting and the consent rule

Cold texting a consumer's mobile number to sell something needs prior express written consent. Prior express written consent is a signed agreement that names the phone number and says the person authorizes marketing messages. Under 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(9) it must also state that signing is not a condition of purchase. A purchased list does not carry that consent to you.

The rule treats texts like calls. Section 64.1200(a)(1)(iii) restricts autodialed or prerecorded calls to cellular numbers without consent. Section 64.1200(f)(15) defines a telephone solicitation as a call or message meant to encourage a purchase, and excludes contacts made with prior express invitation or permission or under an established business relationship. Do Not Call registrations also apply: a number on the National Do Not Call Registry stays protected until the consumer cancels it.

Several states add their own texting laws. Read the TCPA explained page before sending the first message, and treat the whole list as a consent question, not a tooling question.

Situation	Risk	Why
Texting people who signed a written opt-in with your name on it	Lower	Consent is documented
Replying to a text or form a lead started	Lower	Invitation is on record
Texting a purchased list with no consent	Highest	No consent, $500 per message exposure
Texting numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry	High	Registration must be honored
Texting a number whose owner replied STOP	High	Revocation must be honored

Penalty exposure

Penalties are per message. Under 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3) a person can recover actual loss or $500 for each violation, whichever is greater. If the court finds a willful or knowing violation, it may raise the award to as much as 3 times that amount. Section 227(c)(5) gives a similar right for violations of the do-not-call rules, with "up to $500."

Worked example: a 2,000-message blast with no consent. At $500 per message the statutory exposure is 2,000 x $500 = $1,000,000. At the trebled ceiling it is $3,000,000. Sending that blast costs about $27 (2,000 x $0.0133, high end in the cost table). The send cost is tiny next to the exposure, which is why this channel is the one to run only on consented contacts.

Keep consent records for every number: the form version, the timestamp, the phone number and the IP address or call recording. The consent revocation rules page covers what happens when someone says stop.

10DLC brand and campaign registration

10DLC means 10-digit long code: an ordinary local phone number used to send application-to-person (A2P) texts. Carriers require the sender to register two things through The Campaign Registry, the central registry for 10DLC. The registry says brands cannot register with it directly. They work through a registered campaign service provider, usually your texting platform.

One CPaaS describes the two parts this way:

• Brand: who is sending, so carriers can confirm the business is real.
• Campaign: the use case, how people opt in, how they opt out and get help, and sample messages.

Registration affects delivery, not legality. The provider says registering leads to lower message filtering and higher throughput. Unregistered senders on its 10DLC numbers pay additional carrier fees. Daily volume depends on brand type. The same documentation lists a sole proprietor at 1,000 segments a day to T-Mobile, a low-volume standard brand at up to 2,000, and standard brands at 2,000 up to unlimited depending on trust score. Standard brands need a tax ID such as an EIN.

Read the SMS marketing rules and 10DLC page for the checklist.

Quiet hours and opt-out keywords

The federal calling-hours rule bars telephone solicitations to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at the called party's location. Time zone is the recipient's, not yours. Schedule each message by the recipient's time zone. A single blast across zones must start after 8 a.m. in the westernmost zone and finish before 9 p.m. in the easternmost one; a 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. recipient-time window leaves margin. Some states set narrower windows, covered on the SMS rules page, so use the strictest state on your list.

Opt-outs must work. Section 64.1200(a)(10) says a request to stop must be honored within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days, and that the words "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel" and "unsubscribe" are a reasonable way to revoke. A sender may not designate one exclusive method for texts. In practice, suppress the number the moment the reply arrives and keep it suppressed across every list and campaign.

Put your business name and an opt-out line in the first message. Do not reply to a STOP with a sales message. Section 64.1200(a)(12) allows one text that only confirms the opt-out, and presumes it is covered by prior consent if sent within five minutes. CTIA guidance (section 5.1.3) also asks for one final confirmation and nothing after it.

SMS prospecting cost

Sending is cheap. Fees below are the published ranges from one CPaaS, current as of 10/2026. A segment is one billable piece of a message. Long messages split into several segments.

Item	Published rate
Outbound SMS base, per segment	$0.0083
AT&T carrier surcharge, per segment	$0.0035
T-Mobile carrier surcharge, per segment	$0.0045
Verizon carrier surcharge, per segment	$0.005
Local number lease, per month	$1.15
Toll-free number lease, per month	$2.15
Failed message, per message	$0.001

Worked example: 1,000 one-segment texts. Low end: $0.0083 + $0.0035 = $0.0118 per segment, x 1,000 = $11.80. High end: $0.0083 + $0.005 = $0.0133, x 1,000 = $13.30. Add the number lease and registration onboarding fees, which the pricing page references without listing amounts. The real cost is the list, the consent capture and the person who answers replies.

Realistic reply rates

No neutral, government or academic source publishes a prospecting reply rate. The numbers in circulation come from texting vendors, and the widely repeated 98% open rate appears without a disclosed source, even on the vendor page cited here. This site does not use it.

Metric	Figure	Source type
Outbound SMS reply within 24 hours	11%	Vendor-reported platform average, undisclosed sample and date
Your own reply rate on consented leads	Measure it	Replies divided by delivered messages
Your own reply rate on cold, unconsented lists	Do not measure	Not a lawful baseline

Count STOP replies separately. A high reply rate where half the replies say stop is a deliverability and complaint problem, not a win.

What good looks like	Signal
Opt-out rate stays low	Messages match what the person agreed to
Delivery rate stays high	Registration is approved, content is clean
Replies lead to calls	Text is moving people to a person
Complaints are rare	List is consented

A consent-first sequence

Start with a channel that does not need a text consent, then ask for it.

• Day 0Lead submits a form with a checkbox, unchecked by default, naming your business and the number. Or the lead calls you and you ask on the call.
• Day 0Send one text within minutes: name, reason, opt-out line.
• Day 1Call. If no answer, leave a voicemail and do not text again that day.
• Day 3One text with a useful fact about their property or request.
• Day 7Email or mailed piece. See direct mail prospecting.
• Day 14Final text with a clear stop option. Then pause.

For cold contacts with no consent, use cold calling within calling-hour and Do Not Call rules, cold email, or mail, and use those to earn a form fill. See the multi-channel sequence for how the pieces fit. Ringless voicemail has its own consent issues, covered on the ringless voicemail page. All channel guides sit in How-to guides.

Compliance notes

• Keep a consent log per number with timestamp, form text and source.
• Scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry and your own suppression list before each send.
• Send between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. recipient time at most; use a narrower window.
• Identify your business, include opt-out words, and honor them across all campaigns.
• Use your own registered number. If you shorten links, use a shortener dedicated to your business (CTIA section 5.3.2).
• Do not text a list because a seller labeled it "opted in." CTIA guidance (section 5.1.4) says senders should not use rented, sold or shared opt-in lists, and federal consent must name your business.
• Check state laws for stricter hours and rules.

Next step

Size the audience you will ask for consent from. See homeowner counts for your market, then request counts for your zip codes.

Questions people ask

Q01What does it cost to send 1,000 texts?

At one CPaaS's published rates (10/2026), 1,000 one-segment texts cost $11.80 to $13.30: $0.0083 base plus a $0.0035 to $0.005 carrier fee per segment. Add $1.15 a month for a local number and registration onboarding fees. Consent capture and the person answering replies cost more than the sends.

Q02Does 10DLC registration make my texts legal?

No. Registration is a carrier requirement that identifies the sender and the campaign. It reduces filtering and raises throughput. It does not create consent, and a registered campaign that texts people without consent still breaks the federal rule.

Q03How many texts can I send per day?

Daily volume depends on the registered brand type. One CPaaS lists 1,000 segments a day to T-Mobile for a sole proprietor and 2,000 for a low-volume standard brand. Standard brands scale with a trust score. Check your provider's current table.

Q04What should the first text say?

Name your business, say why they are getting the message, and give the opt-out. Refer to the form or call that started the contact. Keep one ask. If you use a shortened link, use a shortener dedicated to your business, not a shared public one, as CTIA guidance asks.

Q05Can I text a lead who called me first?

A call from the person shows interest but is not a signed agreement to marketing texts. Ask during the call, then record the yes with a timestamp. Replying to a question they asked is lower risk than starting a marketing series.

Sources

1. 47 CFR 64.1200, Delivery restrictions (Cornell LII) (consent definition, calling hours, DNC, revocation)law.cornell.edu
2. 47 U.S.C. 227, Restrictions on use of telephone equipment (Cornell LII) (private right of action, damages)law.cornell.edu
3. Twilio US SMS pricing (published rates, current as of October 2026)twilio.com
4. Twilio A2P 10DLC documentation (brand types, campaigns, daily volume)twilio.com
5. The Campaign Registry (10DLC registry)campaignregistry.com
6. CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices, May 2023 (sections 5.1.3 opt-out confirmation, 5.1.4 rented or sold opt-in lists, 5.3.2 link shorteners)api.ctia.org
7. Salesmsg SMS marketing statistics 2026 (vendor-reported reply rate)salesmessage.com