SMS Deliverability Best Practices

Why SMS Deliverability Matters

SMS deliverability — the percentage of your messages that are actually delivered to recipients' phones — is the foundation of effective SMS marketing. Poor deliverability means wasted spend and missed revenue. The good news is that most deliverability issues are preventable with the right practices.

1. Complete Your A2P 10DLC Registration

In the United States, all business SMS traffic must be sent over registered 10-digit long code (10DLC) numbers. Unregistered numbers are filtered by carriers and will see significantly reduced deliverability. Complete your A2P 10DLC registration in Settings > Channels > SMS before sending any campaigns. Cavaco guides you through the registration process step by step.

2. Only Message Contacts Who Have Given Explicit Consent

Sending SMS to contacts who have not explicitly opted in is both a compliance violation and a deliverability risk. High opt-out rates and spam complaints signal to carriers that your messages are unwanted, which leads to filtering. Only send to contacts who have actively opted in to SMS communications through a Cavaco sign-up form or a compliant consent mechanism.

3. Honor Opt-Outs Immediately

Cavaco automatically processes opt-outs when a recipient replies STOP to any message. These contacts are immediately removed from all future SMS sends. Never attempt to re-add opted-out contacts to SMS campaigns — this is a violation of TCPA regulations and will result in carrier filtering.

4. Send at Appropriate Times

Best practice is to send SMS campaigns between 9 AM and 8 PM in the recipient's local time zone. Sending outside these hours increases opt-out rates and spam complaints. When scheduling campaigns in Direct Messaging > Scheduled Campaigns, use the timezone-aware scheduling option to ensure your messages arrive at appropriate times for all recipients.

5. Keep Message Content Clean

Carrier filtering algorithms flag messages that contain certain patterns associated with spam: excessive use of ALL CAPS, multiple exclamation marks, URL shorteners from public services (use Cavaco's built-in shortener instead), and certain trigger words. Write your SMS messages in a natural, conversational tone to avoid filtering.

6. Monitor Your Delivery Reports

After every campaign, review the delivery report in the campaign detail page. A delivery rate below 95% warrants investigation. Common causes include invalid phone numbers in your list, carrier filtering, or compliance issues. Address any issues before your next send.