When it comes to SMS marketing, compliance isn’t just a legal box to check—it’s key to building trust and long-term relationships with your customers.
Here’s a quick primer on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and how it affects your SMS campaigns. We’ll cover single vs. double opt-in, quiet hour rules, unsubscribe best practices, and how OneText helps you stay compliant.
(And of course—this isn’t legal advice. You should always consult your legal counsel for guidance on your specific obligations.)
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is a federal law that governs how businesses can communicate with consumers by phone and text. It was originally passed in 1991 to limit unwanted telemarketing calls, but over time, it has expanded to include SMS marketing.
Under TCPA, businesses must:
Obtain prior express written consent before sending marketing texts
Make it easy for customers to opt out at any time
Avoid contacting customers during certain restricted hours
Failing to comply with the TCPA can lead to steep fines and legal action—so it’s important to get this right.
We follow TCPA rules and industry standards, which fully support single opt-in. Although the TCPA was designed initially for telephone sales and has since been adapted for SMS, it does not require double opt-in. A well-designed single opt-in process—where we track the source of opt-in and timestamp— complemented by clear and concise consent language on the popup, is fully compliant.
We recommend single opt-in because it simplifies the user experience and keeps high engagement rates without sacrificing compliance. Double opt-in can significantly reduce consent rates, and is often more than what is legally required for compliance.
To learn more about this distinction, read our opt-in explainer.
According to TCPA guidelines, marketing texts may not be sent before 8:00 AM or after 8:00 PM in the recipient's local time zone.
This rule is sometimes called the “quiet hours” window. If a message is sent during the quiet hours, the message will be queued and sent at the end of the quiet hours.
Our platform automatically enforces quiet hours based on the subscriber’s area code, so you don’t have to worry about tracking time zones manually. However, if your list includes subscribers who may have moved or travel often, you may want to err on the side of caution and send campaigns when all US timezones are outside of quiet hours.
For automations triggered by shopper behavior within a 30-minute window (such as welcome messages or cart recovery flows), we send the message immediately, including outside of standard quiet hours. This is an accepted industry best practice, as the message is behavior-driven and the shopper is actively engaged at the time of opt-in.
However, only real-time, event-based automations qualify for this exception. For example, if a shopper opts in at 11:30 PM, they will receive the initial confirmation message that evening. Any subsequent follow-ups—such as a Day 2 reminder—will be scheduled to respect quiet hour guidelines.
TCPA rules (and common sense) require that recipients must be able to opt out of SMS marketing at any time—and that you must honor that request immediately.
Here’s how we handle it:
Automatic keyword detection: When someone replies with "STOP", our system will instantly remove them from your list
Automatic confirmation: We send a built-in reply confirming their opt-out
No manual steps required: You don’t need to intervene—we handle unsubscribes in real time
You can optionally include a note at the end of messages to remind subscribers how to unsubscribe. It's not required, but it can help with list-cleaning.
e.g. “Reply STOP to opt out.”
Want to reduce opt-outs? Read our explainer—and make sure your messages are always relevant, valuable, and not too frequent.
This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Always consult a qualified attorney to ensure your SMS practices are compliant with all applicable laws and regulations.