How to Set Up a Sending Number for SMS Marketing

Step 1: Choose Your Number Type

Local 10-Digit Numbers

Local numbers look like regular phone numbers (e.g., 555-123-4567) and are the most common choice for business SMS. They cost about $1 per month to lease and require 10DLC registration before you can send marketing messages. After registration, your throughput depends on your trust score, which is assigned by The Campaign Registry based on your business size and reputation. Small businesses typically get 15 messages per second, while established brands can reach 75 or more.

The main advantage of local numbers is familiarity. Recipients are more likely to read and respond to a text from a number that looks like it belongs to a real person or local business. The disadvantage is the mandatory 10DLC registration process, which adds 3 to 7 business days before you can start sending.

Toll-Free Numbers

Toll-free numbers (800, 888, 877, 866, 855, 844, 833) offer higher throughput than local numbers without the per-carrier 10DLC registration. Instead, you go through toll-free verification, which is a simpler process handled by your provider. Throughput is generally higher, typically 3 to 10 messages per second without registration and significantly more after verification.

Toll-free numbers cost $2 to $5 per month and have slightly higher per-message rates than local numbers. They work well for businesses that need higher volume or send to recipients across many area codes, since the number does not imply any geographic location.

Short Codes

Short codes are 5 or 6 digit numbers (e.g., 12345) designed for very high volume sending. They support hundreds of messages per second and are recognized by carriers as legitimate business traffic, which means excellent deliverability. However, they cost $500 to $1,000 per month to lease, and carrier approval takes 8 to 12 weeks.

Short codes are only worth the investment if you send tens of thousands of messages daily or need near-instant delivery to large audiences (flash sales, time-sensitive alerts). For everyone else, a local number or toll-free number is the better choice.

Step 2: Purchase Your Number

When selecting a local number, choose an area code that matches your business location or your primary customer base. While the number works nationally regardless of area code, recipients may be slightly more responsive to numbers with a local-looking area code.

For toll-free numbers, the prefix (800 vs 888 vs 877, etc.) has no functional difference. The 800 prefix is the most recognizable, but availability is limited. Any toll-free prefix works equally well for SMS.

Some providers let you search for vanity numbers (numbers that spell words on a phone keypad). These can be useful for keyword-based opt-in campaigns where you want people to text "JOIN" to a memorable number, but they cost more and availability is sparse.

Step 3: Complete 10DLC Registration

The 10DLC registration has two stages:

Brand registration identifies your business to the carriers. You provide your legal business name, EIN or tax ID number, business address, website, and vertical (industry category). The Campaign Registry checks this information against public records and assigns a trust score. Higher trust scores get better throughput limits.

Campaign registration describes what you plan to send. You specify the type of messages (marketing, alerts, customer service), provide 2 to 5 sample messages, describe your opt-in process, and confirm that you will include opt-out instructions in every message. Carriers review this information to ensure your use case complies with their messaging policies.

Common reasons for registration rejection include: sample messages that do not match the stated use case, missing opt-out language, a website that does not match the registered business, or an industry category that requires special approval (cannabis, lending, debt collection). If rejected, you can typically resubmit after correcting the issues. For full details, see our 10DLC registration guide.

Step 4: Configure and Verify

Once your number is registered and active, configure these settings:

• Webhook URLs: Set up endpoints to receive delivery status callbacks (delivered, failed, rejected) and incoming message notifications (replies, STOP requests). Without webhooks, you cannot track whether your messages were actually delivered.
• Opt-out handling: Verify that your provider or platform automatically handles STOP, STOPALL, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, and QUIT keywords. When someone texts any of these words, they must be immediately suppressed from future sends and receive a confirmation message.
• Sending rate: Configure your sending speed to stay within your throughput limits. Sending faster than your allocated rate will cause messages to be queued or rejected by the carrier.

Send a test message to your own phone before launching any campaign. Verify that the message arrives promptly, that the sender ID shows your number correctly, and that replying STOP properly triggers the opt-out flow. Also test a reply to make sure incoming messages reach your webhook or inbox.

Number Type Comparison

Here is a direct comparison to help you decide:

• Monthly cost: Local $1, Toll-free $2 to $5, Short code $500 to $1,000+
• Setup time: Local 3 to 7 days (10DLC), Toll-free 1 to 5 days (verification), Short code 8 to 12 weeks
• Throughput: Local 15 to 75 msg/sec, Toll-free 3 to 30 msg/sec, Short code 100+ msg/sec
• Per-message cost: Local lowest, Toll-free slightly higher, Short code lowest at scale
• Recipient perception: Local feels personal, Toll-free feels professional, Short code feels corporate
• Best for: Local works for most businesses, Toll-free for multi-region senders, Short code for very high volume

Porting an Existing Number

If you already have a phone number that your customers recognize, you can port it to your SMS provider instead of purchasing a new one. This preserves your brand identity and avoids confusing recipients with a new number.

The porting process typically takes 1 to 3 weeks and requires a Letter of Authorization (LOA) from the current carrier. During the port, you can usually continue receiving calls on the old carrier while SMS routes to the new provider, but this depends on the carriers involved.

After porting, you still need to complete 10DLC registration (for local numbers) or toll-free verification before sending marketing messages. The registration uses the ported number, not a new one. See our A2P messaging guide for more on business-to-consumer SMS requirements.