SMS Best Practices to Reduce Carrier Spam Filtering

Identify Yourself Clearly

Recipients are less likely to report messages as spam when they immediately recognize who the message is from.

✅ Best practices:

• Include your school or district name early in the message
• Keep sender naming consistent across communications

Example:
“Lincoln Middle School: Reminder that report cards are now available.”

Keep Links Minimal

Recipients are less likely to report messages as spam when they immediately recognize who the message is from.

✅ Best practices:

• Include only one link per message whenever possible.
• Avoid placing the link at the very beginning of the text, as this can resemble phishing or spam behavior.
• Add context before the link so recipients understand why it’s included.

Better Example:
“Reminder: Tomorrow is an early dismissal day. View the schedule here: [link]

Avoid Common Spam Trigger Phrases

Certain words and phrases are commonly associated with spam or phishing campaigns and may increase filtering risk.

🚫 Avoid phrases such as:

• “Free”
• “Winner”
• “Prize”
• “Cash”
• “Click here”
• “Act now”
• “Guaranteed”
• “Urgent”

If possible, use more natural and conversational language instead. Messages designed to create panic or urgency are more likely to be filtered.

Use Normal Formatting

Messages that look overly promotional or aggressive are more likely to be flagged.

🚫 Avoid:

• FULL SENTENCES IN ALL CAPS
• Excessive punctuation (!!!, ???)
• Repeated characters (sooooo excited)
• Excessive dollar signs ($$$)

Using standard sentence formatting helps messages appear more trustworthy to carrier systems.

 Avoid Restricted or Sensitive Content

Carriers apply stricter filtering to certain types of content, sometimes referred to as “SHAFT” categories:

🚫 Avoid:

• Sex
• Hate
• Alcohol
• Firearms
• Tobacco

Even casual mentions — such as fundraising events involving alcohol — can sometimes trigger filtering.

Do Not Request Sensitive Personal Information

Avoid asking recipients to send sensitive information through SMS, including:

🚫 Avoid:

• Social Security Numbers
• Dates of Birth
• Account Numbers
• Passwords or PINs

Messages requesting personal or financial information are commonly flagged as phishing attempts.

Use Emojis Sparingly

A few emojis are usually fine, but excessive emoji use can increase spam scores.

✅ Best practices:

• Avoid long strings of emojis
• Keep emoji use light and relevant
• Do not use more than 4 emojis in a row

 Write Naturally

Messages that sound conversational, clear, and informative generally perform better than messages that sound promotional or automated.

✅ Best practices:

• Clear context
• Concise wording
• Relevant information
• Simple formatting