SMS Opt-In Examples: Consent Language That Holds Up (2026)

The TCPA recognizes two levels of consent, and which one you need depends on what you send:

When in doubt, collect written consent. It covers both categories, and the wording below is written to that standard. Background on the wider rulebook is in the SMS compliance guide.

Regulators and carriers expect the same elements wherever consent is collected:

• Who is texting: your business name.
• What they will get: the message types (promotions, reminders, alerts).
• How often: a frequency statement (“up to 4 msgs/month” or “message frequency varies”).
• Cost: “Message and data rates may apply.”
• How to leave: “Reply STOP to unsubscribe” and “Reply HELP for help.”
• Not a purchase condition: for marketing consent, state that agreeing to texts is not required to buy anything.
• Where the fine print lives: links to your terms and privacy policy.

Use an unchecked checkbox next to language like this. Pre-checked boxes do not count as consent.

Marketing opt-in (checkout or newsletter form)

Informational opt-in (booking or intake form)

If one form collects both transactional and marketing texts, carriers expect separate optional checkboxes with distinct disclosures. See the opt-in proof resource for sample layouts.

Text-to-join (a person texts a keyword like JOIN to your number) is self-documenting consent: the inbound message itself is the record. The promotion around the keyword still needs the disclosures.

On a flyer, receipt, or website banner

Spoken at an event or on a call

Paper form (intake, membership, job application)

Verbal consent script (phone or front desk)

Verbal consent works for informational texts, but it is only as good as the log you keep. For marketing texts, follow up with a written channel (web form or keyword) instead of relying on a spoken yes.

Send one confirmation text immediately after opt-in. Carriers expect it, and it sets honest expectations:

Keep it to one segment, include the business name, frequency, rates line, and STOP/HELP. More ready-to-use wording by industry lives in the message template library.

• Pre-checked boxes. Consent must be an affirmative act.
• Burying it in the terms. A line on page 9 of your ToS is not a clear and conspicuous disclosure.
• Bundling consent with purchase. “By buying you agree to marketing texts” fails the not-a-condition-of-purchase requirement.
• Using a number collected for something else. A number given for delivery updates is not consent for promotions. Consent is purpose-specific.
• Borrowed lists. Consent is not transferable. A list someone else collected, bought, or scraped is a violation waiting to happen.
• No record. Consent you cannot prove might as well not exist.

Ready to put a compliant list to work? The step-by-step is in how to send a mass text.