What are SMS short codes?

As you get started with text message marketing, you’ll come across all sorts of options to consider, including your texting provider and your number format. While it’s great to have choices, it’s also confusing to figure out the world of business texting before you’ve even joined it.

Don’t worry – we’ve got your back. Let’s start with types of numbers and one you can use for mass texting known as a short code.

What is an SMS short code?

A short code, or an SMS short code, is an abbreviated phone number that is 5 or 6 digits in length. They’re convenient, versatile, and best of all, short.

SMS short codes allow easy communication with customers ー most of whom prefer getting texts from businesses rather than emails or calls. 

They are also one of the optimal ways of reaching larger audiences, thanks to their capability of sending extremely high volumes of text messages within a short time period.

We’ll give you all the most important details on the world of short codes, including how they’re used, whether they’re right for you, and how you can get set up with one of your own.

Interested in using SMS short codes already? SimpleTexting’s dedicated short codes services allow you to easily set up SMS and MMS mobile marketing campaigns with zero hassle and expert help from our experienced team.

This hypothetical car wash flier shows what a short code looks like in the real world. The car wash uses the short code 711711 to make it easier for customers to text keywords.

What’s the difference between short codes and long codes?

Alongside short codes, you’ll likely see the two types of long codes mentioned when looking into business texting numbers. These numbers aren’t just longer, but they also fit different uses best. Here’s how each one works:

• Local numbers are 10-digit long codes that represent a local area. For example, 320-293-XXXX is a 10-digit long code number for central Minnesota in the St. Cloud region. They’re the same type of number that individual people use for texting, and now businesses can also text with them to establish trust.
• Toll-free numbers are another 10-digit long code format that works well for marketing purposes since businesses can run text messaging campaigns through them.

Compared to these number types, short codes have freer reign to send mass numbers of texts. You can learn more about the differences in our guide to short codes vs. long codes.

	10DLC	Short code	Toll-free number
Digit length	10 digits	5-6 digits	10 digits – 8XX prefix
Requires brand vetting	Recommended	No	No
Requires campaign approval	Yes, via TCR (The Campaign Registry)	Yes	Yes
Provisioning	Standard: 7-10 business days  SBC: 3-4 weeks	3-6 weeks	1-5 business days
Throughput	Up to 75 msg/sec with MNO approval	500 msg/sec	10 msg/sec*
Delivery receipts (DLRs)	T-Mobile only; SMSC DLRs in rest of NANP**	Yes	es, U.S. and Canada (Tier 1 Carriers)
MMS	Yes, U.S. and Canada	Yes, U.S. only	Yes, U.S. and Canada
Two-way/Keywords required	Opt-in/out and HELP	Opt-in/out and HELP	STOP, UNSTOP/START – Network managed
FTEU	Not supported	Available	Not supported

What are the benefits of a short code texting service?

Short code texting services offer a powerful and versatile tool for businesses to connect with their customers. Here’s a deep dive into the key benefits that make them stand out:

Enhanced Deliverability: Reaching Your Audience Every Time

• Bypass Carrier Filtering: Unlike long codes (10-digit phone numbers), short codes (typically 5 or 6 digits) are pre-approved by carriers, experiencing minimal filtering or blocking. This significantly increases the chances of your messages reaching their intended recipients.
• Dedicated Infrastructure: Short code providers maintain robust infrastructure specifically designed for high-volume SMS delivery. This ensures your messages get sent and received reliably, even during peak usage periods.

Superior Throughput: Sending Messages at Scale

• High Message Rates: Short codes are built to handle large volumes of messages per second, making them ideal for mass communication campaigns like marketing blasts, appointment reminders, or two-factor authentication (2FA).
• Scalability for Growth: As your business needs evolve, a short code texting service seamlessly scales to accommodate increasing message traffic. You won’t have to worry about limitations on sending capacity.

Boosted Response Rates: Conversations Made Easy

• Memorable & Convenient: Short codes are easy to remember and type compared to long codes, encouraging customers to participate in SMS interactions.
• Two-Way Communication: Short code texting facilitates two-way conversations, allowing customers to respond to your messages, ask questions, or initiate transactions directly through SMS. This fosters deeper engagement and strengthens customer relationships.

Types of short codes

If short codes end up being the right choice for your business, you can choose between two types:

• Vanity short codes: You can pick a vanity short code that spells out a word that corresponds to the letters on a traditional telephone number pad. For example, a dance studio may choose the code 32623, which spells out DANCE when you look at the corresponding numbers on a phone dialer.
• Random short codes: If you choose a random short code, you’ll get a randomly chosen number to text from. These numbers cost less than vanity short codes, making them a friendlier option for your budget if you aren’t picky about what your number looks like.

Before 2022, there was also a third type of short code – shared short codes. Brands could share the same short code and split their contacts through texting keywords. But, you can’t choose this type anymore.

Short codes and geography

Short codes are not universal to every country. For example, text short codes acquired in the U.S. have a separate acquisition process from short codes in Canada. 

The CSCA (Common Short Code Administration) governs short codes in the United States. Canadian short codes are governed by the CWTA (Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association). 

A North America-based texting service like SimpleTexting can help you get set up with the right registry in both the United States and Canada. If you’re located outside either of these countries, you’ll work with another organization. SimpleTexting’s parent company, Sinch, provides short codes for texting and may be able to assist you in other countries for your business texting purposes.

Reived promotional SMS messages from five- or six-digit numbers? There’s a good chance that those texts are from short codes.

Ways you can use a short code texting app

Short code texting apps unlock a world of possibilities for businesses to connect and engage with their customers. Here are some key ways you can leverage this powerful tool:

Marketing messages

• Promotions & Offers: Drive sales and customer engagement by sending exclusive deals, coupons, and flash sales via text message. Short codes make it easy for customers to opt-in and receive these promotional messages directly on their mobile devices.
• Contests & Giveaways: Generate excitement and brand awareness by hosting text message contests and giveaways. Short codes simplify participation and allow you to collect valuable customer data during the process.
• Event Marketing: Promote upcoming events, share registration links, and send real-time updates directly to your audience’s mobile phones using a short code.

Transactional messages

• Order & Appointment Confirmations: Provide instant confirmation for online purchases, appointments, or reservations via SMS. Short codes ensure timely delivery and improve customer experience.
• Shipping & Delivery Updates: Keep customers informed about their orders with real-time shipping notifications and estimated delivery timelines. Short code texting allows for quick and convenient updates.
• Two-Factor Authentication: Enhance security by implementing two-factor authentication for logins or financial transactions. Short codes can be used to send one-time passcodes for added security.

Member notices

• Loyalty Programs & Rewards: Engage members of your loyalty program with exclusive updates, points reminders, and special offers delivered conveniently via text message.
• Important Announcements: Broadcast critical information or service updates to your members quickly and efficiently through short code texting.
• Surveys & Feedback: Gather valuable customer insights and feedback by sending surveys or polls directly to your members’ mobile phones using a short code.

Pros and cons of short codes in texting for business

Since short codes suit some uses better than others, you’ll get the most value out of them if their specific pros outweigh the cons for you.

Here are a few perks of using short codes:

• Short codes are easier than local and toll-free numbers (which are known as long codes) to remember when sending a text message.
• You’ll experience little to no carrier filtering with short codes, as long as you stick with the use cases you outlined in your application.
• Messages sent via short codes are delivered extremely quickly, meaning you can reach more people in less time.

But, you’ll also deal with these downsides:

• They’re more expensive to use than local and toll-free numbers.
• You can only send mass text messages with short codes (which means you should choose a different number type if you want to have two-way conversations).
• The approval time is higher for short codes (six to eight weeks) than 10-digit codes (one to 10 days, on average).

So, if you plan to invest in mass texting, you’ll mostly benefit from short codes. But they might not fit your business if you text on a smaller scale.

How much do SMS short codes cost?

Since short codes work at such a large scale, your texting provider will likely work with you to create a custom plan based on how many texts you plan to send per month. At SimpleTexting, we provide every short code customer with a unique setup, with prices starting at:

• $1,000 per month (with vanity short codes tending to cost more)
• One-time setup fee of $2,500

How to get an SMS short code

Dedicated short codes are leased, not sold. You’re paying for the exclusive right to use the number. 

When you partner with SimpleTexting to lease a short code, we’ll help you fill out the right forms to provision your number. Here’s how the process works:

1. Pick a short code. Choose your exact number with a higher-cost vanity short code, or save money by leaving it up to the short code registry with a random short code.
2. Complete the application. With your short code preference in mind, fill out the application for your country’s short code registry. If you have a SimpleTexting account, we will walk you through the process. Schedule a call through our pricing page by clicking Dedicated short code > Schedule a Call or click the blue button in the lower-right corner of the screen to chat with customer support.
3. Provision your new short code. After the registry approves your short code, you’ll need to provision it – in other words, connect it to the carrier network. This is another step we can handle for you. At this point, you’ll also need to create a compliance plan, which we can offer advice for.

You’ll have the easiest time completing these steps when you have professionals to help you like the SimpleTexting team. We can take care of the steps you don’t have to touch and guide you through the ones you have to complete yourself.

As far as the timeline to get started goes, dedicated short codes take 6–8 weeks to be approved by the CTIA and various telecom carriers. So, if you want to use an SMS short code for a specific seasonal campaign, make sure to apply at least two months ahead of time.

SMS short code compliance rules, restrictions, and regulations

We talk a lot about keeping your texts TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) compliant. Since short codes are governed by a different set of rules, there are a few specific things you need to know about short code compliance in addition to the usual TCPA regulations.

Like I mentioned earlier, the CTIA governs the usage of short codes, and they help manage the Short Code Registry (the database of all registered and available short codes).

That all might sound pretty intimidating, but there’s good news: The CTIA has a handy guide to help you navigate the do’s and don’ts of short codes. That’s the CTIA Short Code Monitoring Program Handbook.

In this handbook, you’ll find everything you need to know about how to responsibly and legally text on a short code. Highlights include:

• Make sure the opt-in method you use (like a keyword or web form) clearly states how many messages your customers can expect to receive, how to opt out of messages, your brand name, how to get help, and that they may incur data or messaging charges.
• Honor contact opt-outs.
• Send a confirmation message to contacts who opt in.

How do SMS short codes work?

Short codes work on three levels: The organizations and directories behind the scenes, the steps your customers take to sign up for short code messages, and the ways they unsubscribe from short code messages. Let’s look at each one:

The organizations behind short codes

To know how businesses can lease and use SMS short codes, you need to know the key players:

• CTIA — An organization that governs the U.S. wireless industry
• Short Code Registry — A database of registered short codes
• iconectiv — The official provider of the Short Code Registry

The CTIA partners with iconectiv to maintain the Short Code Registry, which keeps a record of which short codes are available for leasing. Businesses like yours sign up with the Short Code Registry to use short codes in a fair way to consumers.

Signing up for short code texts

Signing up for messages from a short code is easy ー all your customers need to do is text you the SMS keyword you give them or complete a web form.

Let’s take a look at an example with a keyword:

In this case, the keyword is “Burger” and the short code is “711711.” 

When you set up a keyword for your business, contacts who text in the word will automatically receive your confirmation message.

In-Telligent’s text-to-download links

In-Telligent, an emergency alert platform, used to have issues sharing download links with its clients. So, they partnered with SimpleTexting to enable clients’ employees to text a keyword to a short code to get a download link. Now, they’ll get the emergency alerts they need for safer workplaces.

Paypal’s two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to app logins, which is especially important for a payment platform like PayPal. If you turn two-factor authentication on for your PayPal account, you’ll get a one-time passcode from one of PayPal’s short codes every time you log in.

Gifyyy’s text-enabled phonebooth

The team behind Gifyyy, a photo booth that creates GIFs for event attendees, needed a way to quickly share the GIFs with users. They turned to SimpleTexting when they started using short codes to make the process as fast as possible.

CVS’s order updates and reminders

CVS Pharmacy provides multiple ways for you to get your prescriptions, including pre-paid pickup, drive-through pickup, and shipping. Whichever method you prefer, you’ll get text updates on your order if you opt into the company’s SMS updates via short code.

Life Chapel’s anonymous texting

Life Chapel, a church in New Jersey, sends out texts reminding congregation members about upcoming events. The team enjoys using a short code to text these reminders and off-the-cuff communications because it adds an extra boundary compared to using personal devices. Church staff and families can feel safe in their communications through SimpleTexting.

Find the right number for your business with SimpleTexting

Short codes have a lot of attractive potential for businesses. 

They’re easy to remember and can be customized for your brand. You can use them for large campaigns or individual conversations, and they are ideal for keyword setup.

But, getting started with a short code might initially seem more complicated than the other number types you could choose from. 

Don’t worry. The SimpleTexting platform, along with our support team, makes the whole process smooth and easy. 

Step one: give SimpleTexting a free 14-day test drive. From there, you can add a short code number through your dashboard, and we’ll support you the whole way.