Political texting comes with an alphabet soup of terms, and getting them straight is the difference between a program that runs clean and one that gets filtered. Here's the essential vocabulary in one place, each defined in plain language, with links to the full guides.
The core terms
Political texting is direct-to-voter communication by SMS, MMS, or RCS as part of a campaign. See the full primer.
SMS, MMS, and RCS are the three text formats: plain text, media-capable, and rich-verified respectively. See SMS vs MMS vs RCS.
Broadcast is one message sent to a whole opted-in list automatically. See what is broadcast texting.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a person sending each message individually. See what is P2P texting.
A2P is application-to-person messaging, texts sent from a platform at scale. See what is A2P messaging.
Compliance terms
TCPA is the federal law governing text messages, including consent, opt-outs, and hours. See the TCPA guide.
10DLC is the carrier registration that makes A2P texts deliverable. See what 10DLC means.
Campaign Verify is the nonpartisan vetting that proves a political sender is a real committee. See Campaign Verify explained.
Consent / opt-in is a voter's agreement to receive your texts. See what is an opt-in.
Opt-out (STOP) is a voter's request to stop, which must be honored instantly. See handling opt-outs.
Quiet hours are the times you can't text, by recipient local time. See quiet hours by state.
Growth and tactics terms
Keyword is a word voters text to opt in. See what is a keyword.
Voter ID is tagging voters by their replies. See voter ID by text.
GOTV is get-out-the-vote, the turnout push. See the 72-hour GOTV plan.
Segmentation is dividing a list into targeted groups. See segmenting your list.
Frequently asked questions
What does 10DLC mean?
Ten-digit long code, the carrier registration framework that makes application-to-person texts deliverable. Unregistered traffic gets filtered.
What's the difference between P2P and broadcast?
Broadcast sends one message to many automatically and needs express opt-in. P2P has a person send each message individually and suits persuasion and first contact.
What is GOTV?
Get-out-the-vote, the final-stretch effort to turn out your supporters, where texting's speed and reach do their most important work.
Keep reading: what is political texting? and the complete TCPA guide. For registration, see The Campaign Registry.