Receiving a rejection from TCR simply indicates that some aspects of your submission need adjustments. However, it also provides you with an opportunity to review and improve your request before resubmitting it. It's crucial to dedicate time to this phase, as ensuring that your submission meets TCR standards is vital to avoid further delays in the approval of your campaign.
Information Required for Brand Registration
TCR requests a considerable amount of information during the campaign registration process. If you don't provide all the necessary details, this could result in the rejection or delay of your campaign approval. The fields that will be reviewed (at minimum) include:
- Legal name of the company
- Brand support email address
- Brand support phone number
- Brand website Employer Identification Number (EIN)
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Campaign description
- Content attributes
- Prohibited SHAFT-C content
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Sample message
- Opt-out message
- Call to Action (CTA) field when required by the Campaign Registry (TCR).
Tips to Avoid Campaign Rejection
To-do | Avoid doing |
▪ Adhere to the guidelines established in this article. Non-compliance will result in campaign rejection.
▪ Provide complete information and ensure that content attributes are accurate before sharing the campaign with your Direct Connection Aggregator (DCA).
▪ Include subscription and opt-out language (when applicable). When obtaining a phone number through a website, the brand should also display the privacy policy and terms of use. |
▪ Including a non-functional website.
▪ Providing content attributes that do not match the other fields entered in TCR (phone number or embedded link, debt reduction program).
▪ Using sample messages, campaign descriptions, or website/brand information that are inconsistent with each other. Sample message entries should match and make sense with the website and/or brand.
▪ Registering charities or individual owners to send political messages. |
Best Practices for Brand Registration
💡 Standard Requirements
- Remember that the brand is the message sender: the EIN (Employer Identification Number) and company information should reflect the message sender.
- Website: some online presence is necessary here, with social media presence being acceptable. Subscription and opt-out information should be displayed clearly and prominently on the website.
- Phone number and email: these should use the brand's domain, and the phone number should be found on the company's website/social media page.
- You must meet the other requirements set forth by TCR to be at least a Verified Brand.
- External validation is only necessary if you need to achieve higher throughput than your brand currently allows.
- We cannot endorse the exchange of consumer information with third parties.
Best Practices for Campaign Registration
💡 The following recommendations can be applied to all campaigns.
Content Attributes
Ensure that content attributes are correct when setting up your campaign. These fields cannot be changed, so a completely new campaign will need to be submitted if necessary.
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- Example: If you select "no" for the "embedded link" section, but the sample message clearly shows links, you will need to resubmit your campaign by selecting "yes" for the embedded link.
Prohibited SHAFT-C Content
The following types of content are not allowed on 10DLC: Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco (cannabis, CBD, etc.).
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- To take into account: Your website cannot contain this type of content under any circumstances.
- Example: If a chiropractic clinic has CBD oils on its website, this is prohibited, and the campaign will be denied, even if it is not directly related to CBD marketing.
Campaign Description
The description should clearly state the overall purpose of the messages. Your description should answer the following questions:
- Who are you?
- Who do you want to reach?
- Why are you sending messages?
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- 👍 Positive Example: Messages aimed at customers of a car dealership service center. Appointment reminders, repair updates, satisfaction follow-up, online bill payment, and two-way conversations.
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- 👎 Negative Example: Text messages are used for our team to communicate with our customers and partners.
- Why is it bad?: It doesn't say who you are or what you want to communicate.
Call to Action / Message Flow
Starting November 17, 2022, you are required to provide a clear, concise, and conspicuous description of how an end user subscribes to receive messages. Subscription must be individual, cannot be shared with third parties, and cannot be implicit. It also cannot be hidden within the Terms & Conditions and/or other agreements.
💡 Examples of how to get users to subscribe
- Entering a phone number through a website
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- Example: Customers subscribe by visiting www.examplewebsite.com and adding their phone number. They then check a box agreeing to receive text messages from the example brand.
- Clicking a button on a mobile webpage
- Sending a message from the consumer's mobile device that contains an advertising keyword
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- Example: Consumers subscribe by sending the message "START" to (111) 222-3333.
- 🚨 Important: If consumers can subscribe by sending a text message with a keyword, the response should include the brand name, confirmation of enrollment in a recurring message campaign, how to get help, and a clear description of how to unsubscribe.
- Initiating the text message exchange in which the message sender responds to the consumer only with responsive information.
- Signing up at a point of sale (POS) or another on-site location of the message sender.
- Opting in over the phone using interactive voice response (IVR) technology.
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- Example: "Ringover: You are now subscribed to our platform notifications. For help, reply HELP. To unsubscribe, reply "STOP".
Sample Messages
You should provide unique messages and examples of content that you can send so that the interaction can be visualized. These examples should align with the general idea of the campaign. It's preferable for the messages to include the identification of who is sending them (either the brand name or sender) rather than being generic. Avoid vague descriptions along with examples of messages that do not clearly reflect the purpose of the campaign. Ensure that at least one of the sample messages includes an option to unsubscribe.
- 👍 Positive Examples
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- Hello Juan, this is a reminder about your appointment at Juan's Car Dealership on April 2nd, 2021 at 10:00 a.m.! Please reply YES to confirm your attendance or NO if you can't make it. Let us know when you'd like to reschedule your appointment. Thank you!
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- Good afternoon, church family, we will have an in-person worship service tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. We will also livestream the service on Facebook for those who cannot attend. Reminder: tomorrow is the day to bring donation boxes.
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- Hello %FirstName%! I'm Juan from Ringover. We'd love to invite you to visit our booth at the upcoming Conference, taking place virtually and in person from November 9th to 13th! Tickets are now available! There will be panels related to voice, messaging, and 911. Register at Ringover | Make your work life easier with Ringover. Will we see you at the conference this year?
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- The domain name BrandedURL.com is for sale. Inquire now for options or reply with STOP to deactivate SMS notifications.
- 👎 Negative Example
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- Thank you for leaving a rating on Google Business. We would like to know more about your experience. I will contact you soon.
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- I received your question. I will respond as soon as possible.
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- There's a small favor I would like you to help me with, please.
Opt-Out Message
👍 Acceptable language for opting out includes: End, stop, unsubscribe, detener (in Spanish), and Arret (in French), separated by spaces.
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- Example: "[Business Name:] You have an appointment for Tuesday at 3:00 p.m., reply YES to confirm, NO to reschedule. Reply STOP to cancel the subscription."
👎 Unacceptable opt-out language: Stop2End
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- Example: Luke's Pizzeria: Use discount code CHEESE to get a 10% discount on your online order. Stop2End
- Why is it bad?: There should be spaces separating each word.
There you go, now you know how to avoid rejections in your TCR campaign requests! 🎉