How to Send a Mass Text to Customers: Steps, Rules and 2026 Costs

To send a mass text, use a business texting service: import a list of customers who agreed to receive texts, write one short message with a clear opt-out, and send or schedule it from a registered business number. Each person gets their own copy, replies come back only to you and anyone who texts STOP is removed automatically.

That is the short answer to how to send a mass text. The longer one matters more, because the steps are easy and the mistakes are expensive: unregistered numbers get filtered, long messages quietly double your costs, and the FCC's revised opt-out rules take effect on November 25, 2026. This guide walks through the setup, the rules and what bulk texting really costs in 2026.

Mass Text vs Group Text: What Is the Difference?

A group text puts everyone in one conversation. A mass text, also called a bulk text or SMS blast, sends the same message to many people as separate one-to-one texts. For customers, the difference is privacy: nobody sees anyone else's number or reply.

Phones blur the line. Apple explains that in a group MMS on iPhone everyone sees all responses, while in a group SMS each reply arrives as an individual text. Which one your phone sends depends on settings and carrier, which is not something you want to leave to chance with a customer list.

Feature	Group text	Mass text (SMS blast)
Who sees replies	Often everyone in the group	Only your business
Recipients see each other's numbers	Yes	No
Practical list size	A handful of people	Hundreds or thousands
Sent from	A personal phone	A registered business number
STOP opt-outs	Handled by hand, if at all	Removed automatically
Consent records	None	Saved with each contact
Best for	Coordinating a small team	Customer updates, reminders and offers

What You Need Before You Send a Mass Text

Three things decide whether a bulk message is delivered or filtered: permission, registration and the number you send from. Sort these out first and the sending itself takes minutes.

1. Permission From Every Contact

Only text people who agreed to hear from your business by text. A past purchase is not the same as permission, and bought or rented lists are off the table. Carriers also ask how people opt in when they review your registration, so keep a record of when and how each person signed up: a web form, a keyword like JOIN, or a paper form at the front desk.

2. Carrier Registration (10DLC)

U.S. carriers want to know who is texting and why before they deliver business texts from a standard local number. This is 10DLC registration: you register the brand, then the type of messages you will send. Our 10DLC guide for small businesses covers the forms in detail. The most common rejection we see is a legal business name that does not match IRS records exactly, such as "Sunrise Bakery" instead of "Sunrise Bakery LLC".

3. A Business Number Customers Recognize

Customers are more likely to read a text from the number on your website, invoices and Google listing than from a random code. When you send a mass text from a business number, replies also land with your team, not on someone's personal cell. If you already use business text messaging for one-to-one conversations, a bulk texting add-on can send from that same number.

How to Send a Mass Text to Customers in 7 Steps

Once the groundwork is done, the process looks the same in most tools. Here is the order we recommend when you send mass text messages to customers for the first time.

• Choose a texting service that sends from your own business number and handles opt-outs
• Complete carrier registration and wait for approval before your first send
• Import contacts from a CSV or spreadsheet and record how each person agreed
• Split contacts into lists, such as active customers, leads and one location
• Write the message: who you are, the point, the action and how to opt out
• Send a test to yourself, then send now or schedule within business hours
• Watch delivered and failed counts, answer replies and review opt-outs

Collecting sign-ups can start before approval comes through. A sign-up form on your website or a QR code poster at the front desk builds a list with consent attached, so it is ready on day one. Dial Raven's SMS Blast bulk texting includes a ready-made sign-up form, a printable QR poster and a free business page carriers can review, so you do not need to change your website to get approved.

How to Write a Mass Text People Actually Read

A good bulk text reads like it came from a person at your business. Lead with your business name, say one thing, give one action and end with the opt-out line on the first message. Personalizing with a first name helps, but only if the field is clean; a text that opens "Hi ," undoes the effort.

Length is where costs hide. One standard text holds 160 characters, and longer messages are split into parts that each count as a text. An emoji or a curly quote switches the message to a different character set and cuts each part to 70 characters. A picture message (MMS) counts as 3 texts on Dial Raven plans, so save images for messages where they earn their place.

Message	Example	Texts per contact
Plain text up to 160 characters	"Bright Smile Dental: we're closed Fri 11/27. Book online or call (215) 555-0100. Reply STOP to opt out."	1
Plain text of 161 to 320 characters	A closure notice plus holiday hours and a booking link	2 or more
150 characters with one emoji	The same notice with a smiley added	3
Picture message (MMS)	A seasonal offer with a photo	3

Here is a real-world way to read that table: a 1,000-person list and a 150-character message with one emoji uses about 3,000 texts, not 1,000. Removing the emoji brings it back to one text per person.

How Much Does Mass Texting Cost in 2026?

Mass texting cost comes from three places: the software plan, the number of texts each message uses, and carrier fees. Small businesses usually pay a monthly plan with a set allowance of texts, while developer-style services bill per message and pass carrier fees through on top.

Those carrier fees rose more than once this year. According to Tychron's carrier fee notices, T-Mobile charges $0.0045 per outbound and $0.0025 per inbound registered 10DLC text since January 19, 2026, and Verizon's outbound text fee rose to $0.005 on October 1, 2026, with picture messages at $0.007. Fractions of a cent add up: 10,000 texts to Verizon customers carry $50 in carrier fees before any software cost.

Plan	Monthly price	Texts included	Typical fit
Lite	$19	1,000	Monthly updates to a small customer list
Growth	$39	2,500	Weekly promotions and reminders
Plus	$79	6,000	Busy locations texting several lists
Max	$149	12,500	High-volume and multi-location senders

Those are Dial Raven's SMS Blast plans, which add on to any Dial Raven phone plan and include free carrier registration. Compare them with your phone plan on our pricing page. Whatever provider you choose, ask three questions before signing: how long messages and pictures are counted, whether carrier fees are included or billed on top, and what happens if you go over your allowance mid-blast.

Mass Texting Rules to Follow in 2026

Most mass texting rules come down to consent, timing and opt-outs. They come from federal law (the TCPA and FCC rules), carrier requirements and, in some places, state telemarketing laws, so check the rules where your customers live.

• Get clear consent before texting, and written consent for marketing messages
• Identify your business in the message so people know who is texting
• Include opt-out instructions such as "Reply STOP to opt out" on the first text
• Honor opt-out requests quickly and never text that number again for that purpose
• Send telemarketing texts only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone
• Send only the kinds of messages you registered with the carriers
• Leave sensitive details, such as health or payment information, out of texts

The time-of-day rule comes from the FCC's telemarketing regulation, which bars solicitations to residential subscribers before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time at the called party's location. Good texting tools enforce quiet hours for you; SMS Blast holds anything sent outside 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. until the morning.

What Changes on November 25, 2026

Revised FCC consent revocation rules take effect on November 25, 2026. As CommLaw Group explains, businesses may treat an opt-out reply to an informational message as covering only that category, though marketing opt-outs still stop all marketing texts. You may also name an exclusive opt-out method if you disclose it clearly, but you must still honor seven standard words: STOP, QUIT, END, REVOKE, OPT OUT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE, within ten business days.

In practice, check that your tool recognizes all seven words, and keep reminders and promotions on separate lists so a category-specific opt-out is easy to apply. Our breakdown of the TCPA opt-out rules covers the details for business texters.

Why Mass Texts Get Filtered or Blocked

When a blast shows lots of failed texts, the cause is usually one of a few predictable problems. Carriers judge traffic against what normal human texting looks like, which is why sending hundreds of identical texts from a personal phone is risky even when every recipient is a happy customer.

• The number is not registered, or texts go out before the campaign is approved
• The messages do not match the use case you registered, such as promotions on a reminders campaign
• Public link shorteners or unfamiliar links that look like phishing
• Old lists with disconnected or landline numbers that inflate failures
• Sudden volume spikes from a number that normally sends a few texts a day

The fix is rarely clever wording. Register accurately, keep lists clean, use your own domain or a tracked link from your texting tool, and send at a steady pace.

Mass Text Examples by Business Type

The most effective bulk texts are useful first and promotional second. A few patterns we see work well for small businesses:

• Home services: storm-season reminders to book furnace or AC tune-ups
• Dental and medical offices: closure notices and open-appointment alerts with no health details
• Salons and gyms: last-minute openings and class changes
• Restaurants and retail: holiday hours and a weekly offer for opted-in customers
• Nonprofits and schools: event reminders and urgent schedule changes

Pick one or two of these, send them consistently and watch reply and opt-out rates. If opt-outs climb, you are texting too often or the message is not useful enough.

Frequently Asked Questions

Now you know how to send a mass text that gets delivered, stays compliant and does not surprise you on the bill: get consent, register your number, keep messages short and send from the number customers already know. If you want that handled in one place, add SMS Blast to a Dial Raven phone plan and our team will take care of carrier approval and set up your sign-up form.