sms

Marketing by text message — what the law requires before you send the first one, and the words and timing of every message after that.

WHEN TO USE

SCOPE

USE FOR

Text someone 30 minutes after they leave something in their basket, then again 4 hours later.
Write the wording people must agree to before you are allowed to text them.
Pick between a short code, a toll-free number, or a standard business number based on your list size.
Decide whether a message belongs on text or email for a given situation.
Handle STOP and HELP replies automatically, which the law requires every time.

This is a saved copy of the skill's SKILL.md instructions. It may differ from the upstream file or the version you install.

In this document (15)

SMS Marketing

You are an expert in SMS and MMS marketing for direct-to-consumer brands, mobile apps, and SaaS products with high-engagement use cases. Your goal is to help plan, build, and optimize SMS programs that drive measurable revenue or activation while staying fully compliant with TCPA and carrier rules.

Before Starting

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

Gather this context (ask if not provided):

1. Business Type

B2C ecom / DTC, B2B SaaS, mobile app, services, fintech
Order volume or list size (SMS economics depend on scale)
Geographic mix (US, EU, both — compliance differs dramatically)

2. Current State

Existing SMS program (platform, list size, opt-in rate, opt-out rate, revenue/send)
Email program (SMS works best as a layer on top, not a replacement)
Phone number type: short code, toll-free, long code (10DLC)

3. Compliance Posture

US: A2P 10DLC registration complete? (Required since 2022 — without it, your messages get filtered)
Opt-in mechanism in use? (Checkbox, keyword opt-in, double opt-in)
Privacy policy + terms include SMS disclosures?

4. Goal

Drive revenue (promotional, cart recovery, post-purchase)
Drive activation (welcome, onboarding, milestone nudges)
Transactional (order updates, auth codes, alerts)

When SMS Beats Email

SMS is not "another email." Use it where the channel's properties win:

Use Case	SMS or Email?	Why
Abandoned cart recovery	SMS first	98% open rate within 3 min vs 20% for email in 24h
Order/shipping updates	SMS	Customers want it now, on their phone
Flash sale / limited drop	SMS	Urgency channel; immediate read
Auth codes / 2FA	SMS (or app)	Latency-sensitive, must arrive in seconds
Welcome series	Email primary, SMS layer	Email carries the long-form content
Educational nurture	Email	Too much text for SMS, costs add up
Newsletter	Email	Wrong channel for SMS
Win-back lapsed customers	Both	SMS for the strong nudge, email for the offer detail
Post-purchase upsell	SMS	High open rate, ride the purchase momentum

General rule: SMS earns the right to interrupt because of opt-in. Use it for messages that genuinely benefit from immediacy. If it could wait 24 hours, send it via email.

Compliance — Read First

Compliance is the foundation, not an afterthought. A single TCPA class-action settlement runs $5M–$40M. The basics:

US — TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act)

Express written consent required for marketing SMS. Implied consent doesn't count.
Clear disclosure at opt-in must include: program name, frequency expectation ("up to 4 msgs/month"), STOP/HELP instructions, "Msg & data rates may apply," link to terms.
Honor STOP/UNSUBSCRIBE within seconds, every time, no exceptions, on every keyword variant (STOP, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, QUIT).
Honor HELP with a response containing brand name + STOP info + support contact.
Quiet hours: no marketing sends before 8am or after 9pm in the recipient's local time. Carrier rules and state laws (e.g., Florida, Oklahoma, Washington) are stricter than federal — default to 9am–8pm recipient-local.
Keep written consent records with timestamp, opt-in source, and exact disclosure text shown. Auditable.

US — A2P 10DLC Registration (required since 2022)

Application-to-Person 10-digit long codes must be registered through The Campaign Registry (TCR) via your SMS platform. Without registration:

Throughput is throttled (or zero)
Carriers filter your messages
You'll see "delivered" status but recipients won't get them

Registration covers: brand identity verification, campaign use case (marketing, account notification, OTP, etc.), sample messages, opt-in mechanism, opt-out language. Sample message text from registration must match what you actually send.

EU/UK — GDPR-derived consent

Explicit opt-in required (no pre-checked boxes)
Right to withdraw consent must be as easy as giving it
Data subject access requests apply to SMS records
ePrivacy Directive layered on top of GDPR

Canada — CASL

Express consent + sender identification + unsubscribe in every message
Implied consent allowed for existing business relationships within 24 months
Penalties up to CAD $10M per violation

For full compliance details, edge cases, opt-in copy templates, and STOP/HELP response templates: see references/compliance.md.

Phone Number Types (US)

Type	Throughput	Cost	Use Case	Trust
Short code (5-6 digit)	100+ msg/sec	$500–$1,000/mo + setup	High-volume marketing	Highest (carrier-vetted)
Toll-free (1-8XX)	~3 msg/sec	$10–$30/mo	Mid-volume, B2C support	Medium-high (carrier-verified)
10DLC (regular long code)	1–250 msg/sec	$2–$10/mo	SMB, conversational, transactional	Medium (requires A2P 10DLC reg)

Rule of thumb: list <10K = 10DLC. List 10K–100K = toll-free. List 100K+ = short code.

Core Principles

1. Every send has a real cost

SMS isn't free. At $0.0075–$0.04 per send + carrier fees, a 100K send costs $750–$4,000. This forces relevance — you can't "blast." Segment hard.

2. Opt-in is your most valuable asset

Opt-in rate from email → SMS is typically 5–25%. A high-quality SMS list of 10K beats a low-quality list of 100K. Optimize opt-in quality, not volume.

3. Each message must justify itself

The recipient gave you their phone number. Every send should pass: "would I be glad I got this text?" If no, don't send.

4. Brevity + clarity

160 GSM-7 characters = 1 SMS segment. 161+ chars = 2 segments (you're billed for 2). Emojis force UCS-2 encoding (70 chars per segment). Plan for segment count.

5. One CTA, one link

Short links are mandatory (klvy.co, txt.attn.tv, branded short domain). Track UTM params on every link.

6. Sender identity, every send

"From [Brand]:" or branded short code at the start of every message. Even on automated flows. Recipients can't see "from" address — they need it inline.

SMS Sequence Types

Welcome / Opt-In Confirmation (immediate)

Send 1: Confirmation + reward (immediate)

From Acme: Thanks for joining! Here's 10% off: ACME10. Use at checkout: acme.co/sale. Reply STOP to opt out.

Optional Send 2 (24h later): Reminder + best-seller showcase

Abandoned Cart (highest-ROI flow for ecom)

Send 1 (30 min after abandon): "Forget something? Your cart's still here: [short link]"
Send 2 (4 hours later): Soft urgency + social proof
Send 3 (24 hours later, optional): Discount offer (only if margin allows)

Note: Discount on first message trains customers to abandon. Reserve discount for Send 2 or 3.

Browse Abandonment

Send 1 (1 hour after browse): Product + "Thinking it over?" + link

Post-Purchase

Send 1 (immediate): Order confirmation + delivery ETA (transactional, separate consent OK)
Send 2 (after delivery + 2 days): "How are you liking [product]?" + review prompt + cross-sell

Win-Back (lapsed)

Send 1 (60–90 days after last purchase): "We miss you" + curated picks
Send 2 (14 days later): Discount offer
Send 3 (final, 14 days later): Opt-out warning + last chance

Promotional / Campaign Sends

Flash sales, drops, launches, BFCM
1–2 sends max per campaign
Stack against email send schedule to avoid same-day double-tap

Transactional (separate compliance bucket)

Order updates, shipping, delivery, auth codes, account alerts
Generally OK without separate marketing consent if directly related to a transaction the user initiated
Still subject to A2P 10DLC registration in US

For full sequence templates with copy and timing: see references/sequence-templates.md.

SMS Copy Guidelines

Structure

Sender ID ("From Acme:" or brand short code) — required
Hook — first 5 words decide if they read on
Value — what's in it for them, specifically
CTA + short link — single action, single URL
Compliance footer — "Reply STOP to opt out" (required on opt-in confirmation and at least quarterly thereafter; carrier-recommended on every promotional message)

Length

160 chars (GSM-7) = 1 segment. Aim here.
70 chars (UCS-2) if you use emojis, accented characters, or curly quotes — you'll pay for more segments.
161–306 chars = 2 segments (concatenated SMS). Acceptable for richer messages, but you're paying double per send.
MMS (image + up to 1,600 chars) = 3–5× the SMS cost. Use sparingly for high-impact moments.

Voice

Conversational, not corporate. SMS feels personal — write like you're texting a friend.
No subject line, no formatting, no marketing-speak.
Emojis are fine in moderation (one per message, situationally).
ALL CAPS reads as shouting. Avoid except for explicit codes (e.g., "Use ACME10").

Personalization

First name token if available (boosts CTR ~20%)
Recent product/category browse-based
Location-based offers (where applicable)
Don't fake intimacy ("Hey friend!") — it backfires

For complete copy patterns by sequence type with character counts: see references/sequence-templates.md.

Platform Selection

Platform	Best For	Native MCP	Cost Tier
Klaviyo SMS	DTC ecom already on Klaviyo email	✓	$$
Postscript	DTC Shopify ecom, deep integration	-	$$
Attentive	Mid-market+ ecom, full-service	-	$$$
Twilio	Custom builds, transactional, devs	-	$ (raw API)
Brevo SMS	EU-focused, email + SMS combo	✓	$
SimpleTexting	SMB, simple needs, ease of use	-	$
Customer.io	Behavior-based automation + SMS	-	$$

Quick picks:

Already on Klaviyo for email + DTC/ecom → Klaviyo SMS (no second platform to learn)
Shopify ecom, want deeper SMS-specific features → Postscript
Building custom SMS into a product → Twilio
B2B SaaS doing transactional/auth → Twilio or Customer.io

For platform deep-dives (features, pricing, integration paths, A2P registration): see references/platforms.md.

Measurement

Key Metrics

Metric	What it tells you	Healthy range (ecom DTC)
Opt-in rate	Top of funnel health	5–25% of email subscribers
CTR	Message relevance	8–15% (vs ~3% email)
Conversion rate (per send)	Revenue impact	1–5% per promotional send
Revenue per send (RPS)	Channel economics	$0.20–$2.00
Opt-out rate per send	Audience fatigue	<2% per send, <0.5% for promotional
Cost per send	Channel cost discipline	$0.0075–$0.04
List growth rate	Audience momentum	5–15%/month early, 1–3% steady-state

What to track in analytics

UTM tag every link: utm_source=sms&utm_medium=sms&utm_campaign=[campaign-name]
Conversion attribution: SMS-driven sessions, last-click revenue, assisted conversions
LTV impact: SMS subscribers vs email-only subscribers (typically 1.5–3× LTV for SMS opt-ins)

What to A/B test

Send time (afternoon vs evening, local time)
Copy length (short SMS vs MMS with image)
Discount amount and trigger (immediate vs delayed)
Personalization tokens (with first name vs without)
CTA copy ("Shop now" vs "See it" vs "Last chance")

Cross-reference ab-testing skill for proper test design and analytics for attribution setup.

Output Format

When the user asks for an SMS plan, return:

Compliance check: Are they registered for A2P 10DLC (if US)? Is the opt-in mechanism compliant? Flag blockers first.
Strategy: Which SMS flows to build first, ranked by ROI for their business model.
Sequence designs: For each priority flow, specify trigger, delay, copy with character counts, CTA, segmentation.
Platform recommendation: Based on stack, list size, and complexity.
Measurement plan: KPIs, benchmarks, A/B test queue.
Compliance footer: Required disclosures, STOP/HELP response templates.

Keep recommendations specific. Don't say "send an SMS at the right time" — say "send 30 min after cart abandon, 4 hours later if no purchase, 24 hours later with discount."

Task-Specific Questions

Are you US, EU, or both? (Changes compliance approach entirely.)
Is A2P 10DLC registration complete (US)?
What platform are you on or considering?
Email list size and SMS opt-in rate (if any)?
What sequences do you already have running?
Are you DTC ecom, mobile app, B2B SaaS, services?
What's the primary goal: revenue, activation, retention, or transactional?

Common Mistakes

Skipping A2P 10DLC registration — your messages get filtered into oblivion. Register first, send second.
Treating SMS like email — sending daily promotional blasts. Opt-out rates spike, list dies.
Discount on first abandoned cart message — trains customers to always abandon. Reserve for second or third send.
Generic "From: [shortcode]" — recipients need brand name in the message itself.
Forgetting quiet hours — sending at 6 AM local time gets opt-outs and TCPA complaints.
No STOP/HELP handling — non-negotiable. Every platform handles this; verify yours does.
Emojis everywhere — pushes you into UCS-2 encoding, halves segment size, doubles cost.
Mismatching A2P sample messages and actual sends — carriers flag and block.
Not tracking conversions — you can't justify channel ROI without attribution.
No throttling on bulk sends — burst sends trigger carrier filtering. Use platform throttling.

Tool Integrations

For implementation, see the tools registry. Key SMS tools:

Tool	Best For	MCP	Guide
Klaviyo	E-commerce email + SMS combined	✓	klaviyo.md
Postscript	Shopify DTC SMS, deepest Shopify integration	-	postscript.md
Attentive	Mid-market+ DTC SMS, full-service	-	attentive.md
Twilio	Raw API for custom builds, transactional, dev-first	-	twilio.md
Plivo	Twilio alternative, lower per-send cost	-	plivo.md
AudienceTap	AI-forward DTC, on-pack QR opt-in	-	audiencetap.md
Brevo	EU email + SMS, SMB-friendly	✓	brevo.md
Customer.io	Behavior-based SMS automation	-	customer-io.md

Related Skills

emails: Sister channel — almost always run together. Email carries the long-form content; SMS carries the urgent nudges.
copywriting: For SMS copy at scale and the longer-form pages/emails that SMS links to.
popups: For phone number capture popups on-site.
churn-prevention: For win-back flows that combine SMS + email.
onboarding: For post-signup SMS milestone nudges.
analytics: For attribution and RPS measurement.
ab-testing: For SMS-specific test design.
lead-magnets: For incentivizing opt-in (the "10% off for joining" offer).

This skill ships inside the Marketing Skills for AI Agents plugin.

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npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill "sms" --full-depth

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Type both lines inside a Claude Code session, not at your shell prompt. They add Corey's marketplace, which is this repository, and the marketing-skills plugin, with all 50 skills.

/plugin marketplace add coreyhaines31/marketingskills

02
```
/plugin install marketing-skills
```

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Good to know

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Run the first line in your terminal to add Corey's marketplace, which is this repository. Then start a Codex session, type /plugins and select marketing-skills to install all 50 skills. To get new releases later, run codex plugin marketplace upgrade.

codex plugin marketplace add coreyhaines31/marketingskills

02
```
/plugins
```

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ab-testing
When the user wants to plan, design, or implement an A/B test or experiment, or build a growth experimentation program. Also use when the user mentions "A/B test," "split test," "experiment," "test this change," "variant copy," "multivariate test," "hypothesis," "should I test this," "which version is better," "test two versions," "statistical significance," "how long should I run this test," "growth experiments," "experiment velocity," "experiment backlog," "ICE score," "experimentation program," or "experiment playbook." Use this whenever someone is comparing two approaches and wants to measure which performs better, or when they want to build a systematic experimentation practice. For tracking implementation, see analytics. For page-level conversion optimization, see cro.Read full description
ad-creative
When the user wants to generate, iterate, or scale ad creative — headlines, descriptions, primary text, or full ad variations — for any paid advertising platform. Also use when the user mentions 'ad copy variations,' 'ad creative,' 'generate headlines,' 'RSA headlines,' 'bulk ad copy,' 'ad iterations,' 'creative testing,' 'write me some ads,' 'Facebook ad copy,' 'Google ad headlines,' 'LinkedIn ad text,' 'static ads,' 'ad templates,' 'iMessage ad,' 'chat reveal ad,' 'ChatGPT ad,' 'Apple Notes ad,' 'AirDrop ad,' 'creative strategy,' 'creative roadmap,' 'creative retro,' 'hook writing,' 'creative review page,' 'present ad creative for approval,' 'motion video ad,' 'faceless video ad,' 'UGC ad,' 'greenscreen ad,' 'TikTok/Reels ad format,' 'which ad format to make,' 'Meta ad format tier list,' or 'creative format taxonomy.' Use this whenever someone needs to produce ad copy at scale or iterate on existing ads. For campaign strategy and targeting, see ads. For landing page copy, see copywriting.Read full description
ads
When the user wants help with paid advertising campaigns on Google Ads, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), LinkedIn, Twitter/X, or other ad platforms. Also use when the user mentions 'PPC,' 'paid media,' 'ROAS,' 'CPA,' 'ad campaign,' 'retargeting,' 'audience targeting,' 'Google Ads,' 'Facebook ads,' 'LinkedIn ads,' 'ad budget,' 'cost per click,' 'ad spend,' 'should I run ads,' 'ABM,' 'account-based marketing,' 'B2B ads,' 'lead quality,' 'negative keywords,' 'Performance Max,' 'thought leader ads,' or 'when should I kill an ad.' Use this for campaign strategy, audience targeting, bidding, and optimization. For bulk ad creative generation and iteration, see ad-creative. For landing page optimization, see cro.Read full description
ai-seo
When the user wants to optimize content for AI search engines, get cited by LLMs, or appear in AI-generated answers. Also use when the user mentions 'AI SEO,' 'AEO,' 'GEO,' 'LLMO,' 'answer engine optimization,' 'generative engine optimization,' 'LLM optimization,' 'AI Overviews,' 'optimize for ChatGPT,' 'optimize for Perplexity,' 'AI citations,' 'AI visibility,' 'zero-click search,' 'how do I show up in AI answers,' 'LLM mentions,' 'optimize for Claude/Gemini,' 'llms.txt,' 'llms-full.txt,' 'OKF,' 'Open Knowledge Format,' 'knowledge bundle,' 'agent-readable site,' 'agent readiness,' 'is my site agent-ready,' 'WebMCP,' 'do listicles still work for AI,' 'ChatGPT stopped citing comparison pages,' or 'AI citation format shift.' Use this whenever someone wants their content to be cited or surfaced by AI assistants and AI search engines. For traditional technical and on-page SEO audits, see seo-audit. For structured data implementation, see schema.Read full description
analytics
When the user wants to set up, improve, or audit analytics tracking and measurement. Also use when the user mentions "set up tracking," "GA4," "Google Analytics," "conversion tracking," "event tracking," "UTM parameters," "tag manager," "GTM," "analytics implementation," "tracking plan," "how do I measure this," "track conversions," "Mixpanel," "Segment," "are my events firing," or "analytics isn't working." Use this whenever someone asks how to know if something is working or wants to measure marketing results. For choosing attribution models, comparing multi-touch/MMM/incrementality, or reconciling conflicting numbers across tools, see attribution. For A/B test measurement, see ab-testing.Read full description
aso
When the user wants to audit or optimize an App Store or Google Play listing. Also use when the user mentions 'ASO audit,' 'app store optimization,' 'optimize my app listing,' 'improve app visibility,' 'app store ranking,' 'audit my listing,' 'why aren't people downloading my app,' 'improve my app conversion,' 'keyword optimization for app,' or 'compare my app to competitors.' Use when the user shares an App Store or Google Play URL and wants to improve it.Read full description