Transactional SMS
Related-to-the-transaction and promotion-free rides on basic consent. One coupon line converts it to marketing with marketing's consent requirements.
Transactional messages are the lower-friction half of SMS: when a consumer provides their number in a transaction, messages reasonably related to that transaction ride on prior express consent. No marketing-grade disclosure ceremony is required (though 10DLC registration still is).
The category is defined by content, and it is fragile. "Your order shipped" is transactional. "Your order shipped — use code NEXT10 on your next purchase" is a marketing message requiring prior express written consent, and the upsell sentence converts the whole send. Dual-purpose messages are judged by their promotional component.
Operational discipline: keep transactional templates promotionally sterile, run them on appropriately registered campaigns (Customer Care/Account Notifications), respect revocations even for transactional content where feasible, and never let the marketing team "just add a line" to the receipt template.
Frequently asked questions
Related glossary terms
Prior express consent is the TCPA's baseline consent tier: a consumer who knowingly provides their number for a purpose may receive non-marketing texts related to it. Marketing requires the higher tier, prior express written consent.
Promotional SMS is any message containing advertising or telemarketing — offers, launches, win-backs, incentivized reviews. It requires prior express written consent, full disclosure at opt-in, quiet-hours compliance, and retained proof.
A 10DLC use case is the declared purpose of a registered campaign — Marketing, Customer Care, Account Notifications, 2FA, Mixed, or a special use case. Actual traffic must match the declaration.