![sms vs email.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/sms_vs_email_90096ea62a.png)
![ecommerce-infographic.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ecommerce_infographic_f56e640fc2.png)
## Ad Oversaturation & Ad Blindness
According to [the latest data](https://ppcprotect.com/how-many-ads-do-we-see-a-day/), the average person encounters somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 ads a day. 
 
This is up from [a 2007 study](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/business/media/15everywhere.html) estimating that we saw 5000 ads daily and [a 1970s study](https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/history-1970s/98703) that estimated, back then, that we saw between 500 and 1600 ads daily—so we are quite possibly looking at a tenfold increase in daily ad views over the past 50 years:
 
![daily-ads-seen.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/daily_ads_seen_10da9e2979.png)
 
Here’s a question for you: How many of the 10,000 ads you saw yesterday do you remember? 
 
If you’re still commuting, perhaps you remember a funny billboard seen along the highway or on the train to work. Or maybe there’s an ad on YouTube you still remember. But you probably don’t remember more than ten of the ads you saw yesterday. 
 
You may not even remember more than five.
 
This is why SMS marketing has emerged in recent years as a growing channel for many businesses. 
 
**When consumers have become so blind to advertisements, the single hardest thing for most marketers and advertisers is to successfully reach their target audience. **
 
Because of the growth of mobile technology as well as shifting consumer preferences and habits, mobile marketing and SMS in particular has become the best way to cut through the clutter and actually reach your prospects and customers.
 
## The Future of SMS-Based Strategies
In this report, we are going to lay out the reasons that we are bullish about the future of SMS-based marketing strategies. We will begin by looking at the centrality of mobile phones in today’s economy, then review some of the data on consumer preferences and purchasing habits, before considering how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected these trends before concluding with a brief summary of the opportunity we see for businesses that adopt SMS as part of their marketing and messaging strategy.
 
## The Rise of Mobile Technology
The first step to successfully reaching your target audience is knowing where to find them. [According to Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/201183/forecast-of-smartphone-penetration-in-the-us/), as of 2020 72.2% of Americans own a smartphone. This is up from 63.9% only five years ago. It’s also worth noting that when you include basic phones in this data, the numbers go even higher. [Deloitte reports](https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/technology-media-telecommunications/us-global-mobile-consumer-survey-second-edition.pdf) that 89% of Americans own a mobile phone. So even if only 72% of Americans are smartphone users who can reliably access the internet from their mobile phone, nearly 90% of Americans can receive text messages on a mobile phone.
 
![phone-type-chart.jpg](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/phone_type_chart_88f1147035.jpg)
 
### The Most Popular Way to Access Internet
This trend toward mobile is reflected in other data as well. Mobile traffic now accounts for [52% of all internet traffic](https://gs.statcounter.com/platform-market-share/desktop-mobile-tablet), meaning more people use phones to access the internet than use desktop or laptop computers. Indeed, for the past several years the data suggests that [mobile is the primary way](https://nypost.com/2016/11/03/mobile-devices-become-most-popular-way-to-access-internet/) most people prefer to access the internet. In 2021, it is essential to recognize that we live in a mobile-first world.
 
**Mobile traffic now accounts for 52% of all internet traffic. In 2021, it is essential to recognize that we live in a mobile-first world.**
 
American firms are already responding to these trends. Job listings for mobile web developers [grew 5% between 2018 and 2019](https://spectrum.ieee.org/view-from-the-valley/at-work/tech-careers/where-are-all-the-mobile-developers) and [one firm anticipates](https://insights.dice.com/2019/10/31/mobile-app-developer-best-states-jobs/) a 30% growth in jobs just for mobile app developers by 2030. Moreover, Google, one of the nation’s largest and most influential tech companies, shifted their search engines to [a mobile-first ranking method in 2018](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2018/03/rolling-out-mobile-first-indexing). This means that Google Search now views a website’s mobile version as the ‘primary’ version of the website and the desktop version as the secondary version.
 
![google-icon-phone.jpg](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/google_icon_phone_9356f1434d.jpg)
 
### Your Audience is on Mobile Devices
If successful marketing relies on knowing where to find your audience, then all the data is saying the same thing: Your audience is on mobile devices, mostly smartphones, with nearly 1 in 5 Americans still on basic phones. So your marketing needs to be built around a focus on mobile and the kind of mobile focus that can include both basic and smartphone users.
 
## Why Consumers Prefer Mobile
It’s not just that your audience is more active on mobile devices, though. It is also true that your audience would actually prefer you to reach them on mobile. [89% of American consumers](https://assets.ctfassets.net/2fcg2lkzxw1t/5l4ljDXMvSKkqiU64akoOW/cab0836a76d892bb4a654a4dbd16d4e6/Twilio_-_Messaging_Consumer_Survey_Report_FINAL.pdf) say that they actually want to hear from their favorite brands and companies through mobile messaging. 

![consumer choice infographic.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/consumer_choice_infographic_288a6c501a.png)
 
Similarly, 75% report that they want to specifically receive text messages with special offers from businesses they frequent, and 77% of consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that uses SMS as part of their messaging.
 
None of this should be surprising.
 
We have already seen that the vast majority of consumers own mobile devices, and that mobile devices are the primary way people access the internet. Given how central the internet has become to daily life, it’s no surprise that the shift to a mobile-first internet would cause notable changes in consumer preferences. 
 
## Is Your Marketing Strategy Up to Date?
Businesses that aren’t thinking about mobile as part of their marketing, sales, and customer support messaging strategies are simply operating in a world that no longer exists. Your consumers are mobile-first. Therefore, your company’s messaging approach should also be mobile-first.
 
## Ecommerce Growth from Mobile
Fortunately, we do not need to rely exclusively on reported consumer preferences to demonstrate the business value of mobile. There is also ample evidence from the way people make actual purchases that mobile is a vital growth channel for businesses. 
 
In 2019, [84% of holiday ecommerce growth](http://info.attentivemobile.com/holiday-2020-text-messaging-unwrapped/) came from mobile sales. In gross sales, mobile ecommerce sales accounted for over $50b in consumer spending during the 2019 holiday season.

![ecommerce-infographic.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ecommerce_infographic_f56e640fc2.png)
 
## COVID and Mobile-First Messaging
Most of the above was clear prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers are active on mobile devices. They like brands that contact them on mobile. They buy on mobile. These were not trends that emerged for the first time in 2020. 
 
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these long-standing trends were accelerated as consumers were forced by necessity to live more of their lives online and, therefore, more of their lives on their mobile devices.
 
In particular, we saw a sharp uptick in ecommerce shopping as more purchases had to be made online due to concerns about in-store shopping during the pandemic. 
 
If you compare ecommerce sales year over year for each of the first four months of the pandemic, you’ll see that [ecommerce sales went up](https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2021/02/15/ecommerce-during-coronavirus-pandemic-in-charts/) 49% in April, 78% in May, 76% in June, and 55% in July. [One report](https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/24/covid-19-pandemic-accelerated-shift-to-e-commerce-by-5-years-new-report-says/?guccounter=1) claimed that COVID sped up ecommerce growth by five years! 
 
Much of the ecommerce growth came specifically from mobile sales, as [consumers spent](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/covid-related-us-e-commerce-growth-slows-as-store-reopenings-attract-quarantine-fatigued-customers-adobe-2020-09-14) nearly $200b from mobile devices alone in August of 2020. (At time of writing, we do not yet have final holiday sales numbers for the 2020 holiday shopping season. We will update this report as that data becomes available.)
 
To summarize what we have seen:
- We know that the vast majority of consumers own mobile phones with most mobile phone users specifically owning a smartphone rather than a basic phone. 
- We know that consumers want to be contacted on mobile. We know that consumers are buying on mobile. 
- We know that the trends which were already in place prior to 2020 were accelerated by the COVID pandemic. 
 
In short, we know that this is a mobile-first world because the primary way to reach both your prospects and your customers is through mobile devices.
 
## Mobile-First Marketing Strategy 
When we talk about mobile-first marketing, that can be taken in one of two ways. The first definition begins by taking existing web properties and making them more friendly to mobile devices.
 
### Step 1
This has meant doing things like: 
- Mobile optimization
- Writing your copy for emails and website pages with an understanding that most people will read it on a phone instead of a laptop.
 
In this understanding, mobile-first marketing actually means “reformatting and redesigning desktop-based internet content for mobile devices.” 
 
### Step 2
But there is a second way to think about mobile-first marketing: marketing that is designed from the ground up for mobile devices. 
 
In other words, it is marketing that does not start by assuming that consumers still want webpages or email when they interact with brands. Rather, it asks “what channels do mobile device users actually prefer when interacting with brands?” 
 
**Mobile-first marketing is marketing that is designed from the ground up for mobile devices.**
 
## SMS vs. Email
Most consumers prefer texting rather than email. Additionally, texting is a better marketing channel for most marketing content that a business would want to send to their prospects and customers.
 
The data on both of these points is clear. 
 
[67% of consumers](https://www.textmagic.com/blog/text-messaging-statistics-for-businesses/) would rather text with a business about appointments and scheduling than arranging them over phone or email.
59% of consumers want communication that is built into their phone—meaning they don’t need to download a separate app to message with a business on their phone.
97% of firms found that they communicated with consumers more efficiently after launching an SMS messaging plan.
 

Likewise, texting is a better option for businesses. Whereas [email open rates](https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/) generally hover between 20 and 25%, text open rates range from [95](https://moosend.com/blog/sms-marketing/) to [99%](https://www.tatango.com/blog/sms-open-rates-exceed-99/). The chart below shows a comparison of open rates/views between text messaging and other messaging channels. 

![sms vs email.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/sms_vs_email_90096ea62a.png) 

## SMS Marketing in 2021
It is for all these reasons that we believe that the state of SMS marketing has never been stronger than it is as we enter the new year. 
- Mobile is the primary way most consumers access the internet.
- Consumers have embraced mobile devices as part of their relationship with brands and businesses.
- Mobile ecommerce sales are booming.
 
There has never been a better time to start taking SMS more seriously as a communications channel with your prospects and customers.

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Learn the top business trends, tips, & tricks for SMS marketing in 2021. See why businesses are engaging their customers with SMS.

State of SMS Marketing for 2021

The State of SMS Marketing in 2021

## The End of SMS Short Codes
Traditionally, most SMS marketing has worked on a technical level by using shared five or six digit phone numbers, referred to as “shared short codes,” to send out mass text messages to a business’s SMS list.

Carriers have been transitioning away from shared short codes for the past year or so now. Eventually, businesses will need to send bulk SMS messages through one of the following:
 
1. Dedicated [short code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_code) (example: 52001)
2. Ten-digit [long code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_number) or 10DLC (example: 402-420-2000)
3. [Toll-free number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll-free_telephone_number) (example: 1-800-780-8000)
![short-code-mms.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/short_code_mms_9ad988aa7c.png)
 
The imminent termination of shared short codes has caused a good deal of concern for business owners and marketers. However, there’s no need to worry!

In this article, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of each option. We’ll share why 10-digit numbers are better solutions than short codes, and why toll-free numbers in particular are the best options for most people.
 
## Option 1: Dedicated short code
Since shared short codes are going away, dedicated short codes (example: 52001) are now the cream of the crop. They come with:
- The best [throughput](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/throughput.asp) (rate of messages sent per second)
- The least spam for recipients (because they are heavily regulated)
- The most premium features

Unlike shared short codes, these short codes are dedicated to the business that leases them - they are also the most expensive SMS option.
 
**Dedicated short codes allow you to send 100s or 1000s of messages at once with high deliverability rates. Using [delivery reports](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/sms-delivery-report) and [link tracking](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/sms-hyperlink), you can optimize your SMS campaigns for maximum conversions.**
 
 There are 3 types of dedicated short codes. You can lease each one of these short codes or migrate your existing dedicated code through [Mobile Text Alerts](https://mobile-text-alerts.com).
 
## Premium Short Code
Premium short codes allow you to spell out your brand name or a significant word using your mobile phone’s dialpad. Examples include: 827438 for “Target” or 262966 for “Amazon." These codes are short, memorable - and expensive!
 
## Vanity Short Code
Vanity short codes are 5 to 6 digit numbers that you can select from a list of available codes. With this option you can choose a code that is easy for your customers to remember.

Or, if you’re lucky, you may be able to select a code that fits your brand without paying the full price of leasing a premium short code.
 
## Random Short Code
A random short is just like it sounds, random.

The benefit of choosing a random short code is that you receive all the same short code features for a lower cost than a premium or vanity short code.
 
### Pros for Using a Dedicated Short Code
1. Dedicated short codes have a high SMS throughput volume (up to 500 messages per second; [source](https://telnyx.com/resources/what-is-10dlc)). So messages will go out faster than with 10-digit numbers.
2. Dedicated short codes have established strong trust from mobile carriers, so there’s less concern about messages being filtered out and not getting delivered.
3. Dedicated short codes are exclusive to you and your business.
 
### Cons for Using a Dedicated Short Code
1. *Cost* – Dedicated short codes are the most costly SMS marketing option by a long shot. Depending on the provider, dedicated short codes cost a one-time $2,500 provisioning fee and up to $1,500/month to lease.
2. *Set-up time* – You will need to define your campaign and submit it to a number of wireless service providers before your short code is approved. Mobile Text Alerts will do the heavy lifting here and help you get approved. However, the process can take 4-6 weeks or longer.
 
### Who Should Use Dedicated Short Codes?
Since dedicated short codes are in compliance with strict carrier regulations, they offer the safest and most versatile method for mass [SMS marketing](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/what-is-the-best-way-to-grow-revenue-and-sales-with-sms-marketing-).

Established businesses (with a higher budget) who want the best SMS features should consider leasing their own dedicated short code.
 
### How to Purchase a Dedicated Short Code?
If you have any questions about short codes or if you’d like to lease a dedicated short code for your business, you can [contact us](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/contact) or book a call with one of our experts using the link below. 
 
[Book a Call to Boost Your Sales with a Dedicated Short Code](https://calendly.com/mobile-text-alerts/demo?background_color=faf5eb&primary_color=4b94d8%27)
 
## Option 2: Ten-Digit Long Code (10DLC)
10-digit long codes (10DLCs) are local 10-digit phone numbers (example: 402-420-2000) that can support a high volume of text messages.

10DLCs offer many mass SMS features at an affordable cost. This makes 10DLC an excellent SMS solution for many businesses.

**10DLC numbers are ideal for small businesses who want to run effective SMS marketing campaigns. They have high [throughput](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/throughput.asp) for messaging speeds, and high deliverability rates without being extremely costly.**
 
### Pros for Using a 10DLC
1. 10DLCs have much lower monthly costs than dedicated short codes. Setup cost is $50 and maintenance fees are $20 per month.
2. 10DLCs may improve SMS engagement rates. (Receiving a text from a 10-digit number with a local area code may feel more personal than receiving a text from a 5-digit short code or toll-free number.)
3. 10DLCs are exclusive to you and your business.
 
### Cons for Using a 10DLC
1. Mobile carriers require businesses to register for a 10DLC which can take several days. (Mobile Text Alerts can help you with this process and in the meantime, we’ll provide you with a temporary toll-free number to eliminate any downtime.)
2. 10DLCs do not offer the same throughput (speed for sending large amounts of messages) as dedicated short codes.
3. 10DLCs may not have as high of delivery rates for messages as dedicated short codes.
4. Since 10DLCs are relatively new as far as SMS marketing, carriers are in the process of developing messaging guidelines. Currently, it varies from carrier to carrier, with some carriers having “messaging caps” for how many messages can be sent through a number in a given day.
 
### Who Should Use a 10DLC?
By using 10-digit long codes (10DLCs), businesses can affordably send mass messages through a personable phone number with a local area code.

10DLCs may not be the best option for larger businesses due to daily messaging caps from some phone carriers.

But if you’re a small business willing to navigate the relatively uncharted waters of 10DLCs, you could consider trying it out as an alternative to sending texts through toll-free numbers. (More on toll-free numbers below.)
 
### How to Purchase a 10DLC?
Want to boost your sales by sending SMS via 10DLC?

[Contact us](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/contact) or book a call with one of our experts using the link below to get set up. 
 
[Book a Call to Boost Your Sales with 10DLC](https://calendly.com/mobile-text-alerts/demo?background_color=faf5eb&primary_color=4b94d8%27)
 
## Option 3: Text-Enabled Toll-Free Number
Toll-free SMS numbers are 10-digit numbers with an 800 “area code” as the initial digits (example: 1-800-780-8000).

Text-enabled toll-free numbers help you achieve a high SMS throughput without adding extra carrier fees.

**All accounts at Mobile Text Alerts include a dedicated toll-free number for free by default.**
 
### Pros for Using a Toll-Free Number
1. A toll-free number is included for FREE with all Mobile Text Alerts accounts.
2. Your toll-free number requires no extra setup or wait times.
3. Your toll-free number won't have the daily messaging caps of 10DLCs.
4. Your toll-free number is exclusive to you and your business.
 
### Cons for Using a Toll-Free Number
1. Toll-free numbers generally have a lower throughput than short codes (3 messages per second vs. 500 messages per second; [source](https://telnyx.com/resources/what-is-10dlc)).
2. Toll-free numbers may not have as high of delivery rates as dedicated short codes.
3. Toll-free numbers may not get as much engagement as 10DLCs since they don’t have a “personalized” area code.
 
### Who Should Use a Toll-Free Number?
Toll-free numbers are excellent for all businesses in need of a mass SMS solution that won’t break the bank.

**We recommend toll-free numbers as the best way to send mass SMS for most businesses today.**

(And many businesses use them not only for mass SMS, but also to communicate back-and-forth with individual customers. This can include interactions such as shipping notifications, appointment reminders, service updates, and internal alerts.)

### How to Get a Toll-Free Number?
A dedicated toll-free number is included for free with any Mobile Text Alerts subscription. You can get started in seconds to test it out for yourself and for your business today.
 
[Start Boosting Your Sales with a Toll-Free Number Today!](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/signup)
 
## The Future of SMS Marketing
Shared short codes are imminently disappearing but there’s no reason to worry about the change. Toll-free numbers are a better SMS marketing solution.

As mobile carriers push for secure and anti-spam messaging, SMS marketing will become an increasingly clean channel. Along with the cluttering of email inboxes and social media accounts, SMS marketing through toll-free numbers will grow as [the top channel](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/email-sms-grow-revenue) for highly-targeted customer messaging.

With toll-free numbers, businesses can maintain their high-volume SMS campaigns with low costs and desirable SMS features.
At Mobile Text Alerts, our goal is to help you grow your sales through SMS marketing. To that end, we are happy to present toll-free numbers as an excellent solution for growing your business in 2022 and beyond.

[Start Boosting Your Sales with a Toll-Free Number Today!](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/signup)

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Learn everything you need to know about 10-digit long codes, short codes, & toll-free numbers for SMS marketing.

10DLC SMS | What are 10DLCs & Short Codes?

A New Era for SMS Marketing: Short Codes, Toll-Free, and 10DLC

## 1. What is the Difference Between A2P and P2P Messaging?

Text messages are sent in one of two ways: 
- Peer-to-peer messaging (P2P)
- Application-to-peer messaging (A2P)
### P2P
P2P is a peer-to-peer method for sending texts. It is used for people who want to send text messages to other people using a normal 10-digit phone number. (Example: 402-421-2011)
 
**P2P is intended for personal use rather than business uses. You use this method every day when you text your friends and family.**
 
The benefit of P2P is that deliverability rates tended to be higher. However, because of their intended use, their message caps are lower, both in terms of messages that can be sent per second and messages that can be sent in a month. 
 
For businesses, P2P long code messages are not reliable for bulk messaging campaigns because their throughput (the number of messages that can be sent per second) was much lower. Today, that is changing with the advent of A2P 10-digit long codes (10DLCs).
 
### A2P
A2P is application to person messaging. In contrast to P2P, A2P is best for businesses and organizations who want to text consumers or large groups of people. A2P messaging allows you to send a larger volume of messages per second and a larger volume on a monthly basis by using a text messaging platform, such as Mobile Text Alerts.
 
**A2P is intended for business use. A business might use A2P for sending SMS marketing messages to its customers and/or SMS alerts and reminders to its employees.**
 
A2P texting was traditionally done via five or six digit short codes. That is now changing as ten-digit long codes (10DLCs) are being made available for A2P messaging, as of March 1st, 2021, and shared short codes are being banned.
 
## 2. Understanding Dedicated and Shared Short Code Messaging?
There are two types of short codes:
- Dedicated
- Shared
### Dedicated Short Code
Dedicated short codes are 5 to 6 digit phone numbers used by a single firm to send and receive text messages using an A2P method. Many firms do not lease a single designated short code for themselves due to cost. 

### Shared Short Code 
Businesses used to use a shared short code that was shared with dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of firms. This significantly reduced the cost of acquiring a short code to use with bulk text messaging.
![short-code-explainer.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/short_code_explainer_efb1b812f9.png) 
 
In the near future, shared short codes will be banned by all tier-1 mobile carriers, such as Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile, and so on. This means that all SMS marketing software providers are affected by this change. Once shared short codes are banned, the only five or six-digit short codes available for use will be dedicated short codes, which are generally not used because of the monthly cost of leasing a single designated short code.
 
## 3. Why Are Short Codes Going Away?
There are two problems with shared short codes. 
### Problem #1
First, as we already said, for a business to buy their own short code to use for text messaging would cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month. This, understandably, was a cost most businesses did not want to pay. 
As we explained above, this problem was solved through the use of shared short codes that would be used by many businesses, thereby reducing the cost of the short code for individual businesses. 
Unfortunately, the mass adoption of shared short codes created a second problem.

### Problem #2
Because a short code could be shared by dozens or even hundreds of businesses, one bad actor could ruin it for everyone. Due to fairly aggressive anti-spam regulations on SMS messaging, short code providers have had to maintain strict controls on SMS spam. 
 
This meant that if one business on a short code was sending spam messages, short code providers would often respond by shutting down the short code, which meant that all of the businesses using that short code could no longer use it.
 
In contrast, ten digit long codes (10DLCs) are much cheaper to set up. So going forward every business will have to use their own ten digit long code when sending SMS messages. This addresses both the cost problem and the spam problems that could and often did arise with shared short codes.
 
##4. What is a 10DLC?
10DLC stands for “ten digit long code,” and refers to a new approach to handling bulk text messaging that incorporates elements of both P2P and A2P messaging. Like P2P messaging, 10DLC will use ten-digit numbers that look more like a normal phone number and belong to a single party. Like A2P messaging, 10DLC messaging will allow you to send a large volume of messages at once.
 
**10DLC numbers are ideal for small and medium businesses who want to run effective SMS marketing campaigns to large groups of people. Compared to short codes and toll-free numbers, 10DLCs have the best throughput and deliverability rates for the lowest cost.**
![10-dlc-explainer.png](https://mta-site-cms.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/10_dlc_explainer_f68fcc8d53.png) 
 
## 5. What kind of messages can I send using 10DLC?
You can send all the basic types of messages you would with a shared short code in the past:
- Sales, promos, discounts
- Appointment or event reminders
- Service updates
- Product updates
- Emergency updates
- Other marketing messages

## 6. How many messages will I be able to send at once using 10DLC?
The answer to that is still not completely clear and will depend on some brand-specific factors. That said, the early signs indicate that throughput could be anywhere from 5-15 messages per second (MPS).
 
## 7. How to Sign Up for a 10DLC?
Tier 1 carriers are requiring all companies that wish to use a ten-digit long code to register themselves using a [brand registry service](https://www.campaignregistry.com).
 
The brand registration process will involve sharing basic information about your business and intended uses for SMS with the mobile carrier. This allows them to assign a trustworthiness score to your brand, which will determine how many messages you can send per second, per month, or both.
 
Once you have completed the registration process, you have your ten digit code and can begin messaging your list with the new long code.
 
Fortunately, Mobile Text Alerts makes this process easy. Sign up for [a free account](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/signup) and we’ll get you set up quickly.
 
## 8. The High Value of 10DLCs
There are a number of benefits to adopting 10DLCs.
- 10DLCs were created specifically for businesses who want to use [SMS marketing](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/the-benefits-of-using-sms-marketing-to-grow-your-sales-and-revenue). Businesses can safely use 10DLCs to send SMS marketing messages to their customers.
- 10DLCs have much lower monthly costs than short codes. See [pricing for 10DLCs](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/pricing).
- 10DLCS have better deliverability than toll-free numbers. They are sanctioned by mobile carriers and therefore are not subject to the same strict filtering.
- 10DLCs are dedicated numbers. They are registered to only one business at a time. This will make SMS marketing even more of an effective anti-spam channel.
- 10DLCs will likely improve SMS engagement rates. Receiving a text from a 10-digit number may feel more personal than receiving a text from a 5-digit short code or toll-free number.

## 9. How to migrate your short code, 10-digit number, or toll-free number?
If you are an MTA customer, you can [contact customer support](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/contact) and we will help you with this process. If you are using [other bulk text messaging vendors](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/sms-software-comparison-chart), you will need to ask them about how they plan to migrate numbers to 10DLC.
 
10. Where can I learn more about short codes, toll-free numbers, and 10DLCs?
We’ve written an article called [A New Era for SMS Marketing: Short Codes, Toll-Free & 10DLC](https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/sms-marketing-10dlc) which highlights the pros and cons of each SMS messaging channel. We also have shared our belief that 10DLCs are the best messaging method for businesses and organizations in 2021.

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