sms_marketing v1.0.0

name: "sms_marketing" description: "Design compliant SMS marketing programs: opt-in capture, welcome/cart-recovery/promo flows, campaign cadence, TCPA and carrier guardrails. Triggers when someone asks about text-message marketing, SMS campaigns, cart recovery texts, opt-ins, or messaging compliance."

SMS Marketing

Purpose

Plan and write SMS marketing programs that convert and stay legal. Covers opt-in capture methods, the standard flows (welcome, cart recovery, post-purchase, promo/drop), campaign cadence, and the TCPA/FCC/carrier compliance guardrails that apply to US texting programs. This is practical education, not legal advice. For high-volume or gray-area sends, the agent routes to counsel.

Workflow

1. Define the program. Brand, goal (acquire, recover carts, win back, launch), audience segment, and the sending number type (10DLC long code, toll-free, or short code). For US A2P traffic, the brand and campaign must be registered with The Campaign Registry before sending.
2. Design opt-in capture. Pick one or more capture methods and write the exact consent language for each (see references/optin_capture.md). Record the consent evidence: phone number, timestamp, source, and the exact language shown. Never send marketing texts without documented prior express written consent.
3. Write the flows. Build message-by-message sequences with trigger, timing, copy, and exit conditions (see references/flows.md). Keep each text under 160 GSM characters when possible, name the brand in every message, and make the call to action a single link or keyword.
4. Apply the compliance gate. Run every campaign draft through the checker: python3 bin/sms_check.py draft.json (see Tooling below). Fix every finding before the draft is approved. Rules summary in Operating Rules; full rules in references/compliance.md.
5. Set cadence and measure. Disclose the cadence at opt-in, send within it, respect quiet hours (8 AM to 9 PM recipient local time), and track sends, deliveries, clicks, unsubscribes, coupon use, and recovered revenue by segment.

Tooling

bin/sms_check.py — pre-flight compliance checker. Takes a JSON draft and reports violations.

Draft format:

json
{
  "brand": "Acme Outdoor",
  "tcr_registered": true,
  "disclosed_cadence_per_month": 4,
  "optin": {"method": "checkout checkbox", "timestamp": "2026-10-09T13:40:00-05:00", "language": "Get order updates and 4 deals/month from Acme Outdoor. Reply STOP to opt out. Msg&data rates may apply."},
  "messages": [
    {"text": "Acme Outdoor: flash sale ends tonight, 20% off tents: example.com/sale Reply STOP to opt out", "send_time": "2026-10-10T14:00:00-05:00", "recipient_tz_offset": -5}
  ]
}

It checks: STOP keyword present, HELP/INFO availability on first message, brand identification, send time inside 8 AM to 9 PM recipient local time, no public link shorteners, no SHAFT content without approval flag, content matches a registered use case, frequency within disclosed cadence, and opt-in record completeness. Exit 0 means clean; non-zero prints each finding.

Quick usage:

bash
python3 bin/sms_check.py ~/workspace/skill-production/scratch/sms-draft-example.json

Output Contract

• Every flow ships as: trigger, per-message timing, message copy, exit/suppression conditions, and the consent + compliance evidence it relies on.
• Every campaign draft passes bin/sms_check.py with zero findings, or the findings are documented as accepted risks with the rationale written down.
• Copy is plain, short, and sounds like a person texting. No hype stacking, no mystery links.
• When the answer involves a legal gray area, say so plainly and point to counsel instead of guessing.

Operating Rules

1. Consent first, always. No purchased lists, no borrowed lists, no "they gave their number to the partner brand". Prior express written consent, documented, for marketing texts.
2. STOP works, instantly. Honor any reasonable opt-out wording ("stop", "quit", "end", "cancel", "unsubscribe", "opt out", "take me off your list") within 10 business days at the latest, same-day in practice. One confirmation text with no promo content is allowed.
3. Identify the sender. Brand name in every message, matching the 10DLC registration. No messages that make the recipient guess who is texting.
4. Quiet hours are the recipient's. 8 AM to 9 PM in their local time zone, not yours. Some states are stricter; know the states you text into.
5. One campaign per use case. Promotional content only from promotional-registered campaigns. Do not repurpose a transactional/OTP campaign for promos.
6. No discount in the first recovery message. Remind first; incentive later with an expiring single-use code. Stop the flow on purchase, max four touches.
7. Check the cart before you text. A reminder for a sold-out item is worse than silence. The link must restore the cart on the same device.
8. Never use public shorteners. Links resolve to the brand's own domain. Check deliverability and spam-trigger wording before scale.
9. Frame unverifiable claims as opinion or cut them. Open-rate and recovery-rate benchmarks vary by vertical; cite the source and the segment when quoting them.