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. 

An SMS short code is a five-to-six-digit phone number businesses typically use for high-volume messaging such as automated texts and SMS marketing. In exchange for a more intensive registration process, you get less filtering from mobile carriers. This lower level of filtering means you can send messages faster and in higher quantities.

This hypothetical car wash flyer 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 codes that represent a local area. They’re the same type of number that individual people use for their phones, but now businesses can also use them to establish trust.
• Toll-free numbers are another 10-digit number format that works well for marketing purposes since businesses can run 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.

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. If you’re located outside either of these countries, you’ll work with another organization.

What do businesses use short codes for?

Short codes are a great SMS marketing tool for sending text blasts or mass text messaging campaigns, but they can also do so much more. 

Companies and organizations use short codes for:

• Sending discounts or deals to contacts: Short codes’ fast delivery rates make them ideal for time-sensitive discounts.
• Sharing one-time passwords or reset links: Using an API like SimpleTexting’s, you can quickly send security codes to customers who need them to access your website or app.
• Allowing viewers to vote on TV show results with their phones: Let your fans vote on your contest by sending a quick text instead of visiting a website or app.
• Hosting text-to-win sweepstakes or giveaways: Tools like SimpleTexting have built-in text-to-win features that let people text a keyword to your short code to enter a contest.
• Collecting feedback via a text-to-vote survey: You can also poll your customers with a text-to-vote campaign where they text a keyword and letter to your short code to choose an option.
• Requesting charitable donations through text-to-donate campaigns: Short codes offer the most flexibility in asking for donations through a text-to-donate campaign because some carriers don’t allow donation links from other number formats.
• Providing customer support via text: Address your customers’ questions quickly with speedy short code texting.

Scrolling through your texts, have you received promotional SMS messages from five- or six-digit numbers? There’s a good chance that those texts are from short codes.

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:

• They’re easier to remember and enter into a text message than a 10-digit number, so you can gather more contacts from your campaigns.
• 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 already spend a lot of time and money on 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 set-up 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 can 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.

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’t’s of short codes. That’s the CTIA Short Code Monitoring 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.

Caption: The links make it easy for the recipient to manage their order on the website or app.

Alt text: Two texts from CVS providing updates on a prescription order

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.

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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.