SMS Marketing · UAE
Promotional text campaigns for UAE businesses, built on recorded consent, an AD sender name, the permitted sending window and a free way to opt out. We plan, write and measure the messages; your licensed SMS provider delivers them.
An SMS text message is still the most direct line to a customer’s phone in Dubai and across the UAE. It lands without an app, it is read on the lock screen, and it suits short, time bound news: a clinic reminder that doubles as a check up offer, a restock alert, a weekend event, a renewal date. It also sits under one of the clearest rulebooks for SMS marketing in the UAE. The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) sets how promotional messages may be sent, and the mobile operators enforce it before anything reaches a handset.
Our SMS marketing work in the UAE starts with that rulebook, not with the copy. We map where your consent comes from, check the sender name, plan sends inside the permitted hours, and then write short bilingual messages that earn a tap. We do not own an SMS gateway; delivery runs through a licensed provider account held in your name.
The regulation
TDRA’s Regulatory Policy on Unsolicited Electronic Communications (Version 1.1, issued 13 June 2022) applies to every SMS marketing message with a UAE link: sent from the UAE, sent by someone located here, opened on a device here, or received by someone physically present here. A marketing text message is one that offers or advertises goods, services or business opportunities, or asks for charity donations. The points below are taken from the policy itself.
Getting set up
For SMS marketing in the UAE, the policy places obligations on the licensed operators, and they pass those obligations to every business through their messaging contracts. In practice that means paperwork before the first campaign.
du’s Enterprise SMS Portal asks brands planning promotional SMS to open an account with a completed account opening form and a copy of a valid trade licence, establishment card or decree, with at least 30 days of validity left when submitted.
Through the same portal, approved enterprises apply for promotional sender IDs and create consent templates with accepted keywords. Your provider will confirm the equivalent steps for the other network.
du states that operators must store subscriber consent in their systems, and that promotional messages are not delivered where that consent information is missing. Uploading clean records is part of the campaign, not an afterthought.
If TDRA asks an operator for proof of consent, the policy gives the operator three working days to produce it (clause 10.3). A business that breaks its messaging obligations faces full suspension of the service (clause 12.3). Numbers that change owner lose the old owner’s consent (clause 8.11), which is one more reason to clean lists before each campaign.
The recipient’s side
TDRA’s own FAQs on SMS marketing in the UAE explain that customers can block promotional senders and whole sectors by texting 7726, and that only senders whose names start with AD can be blocked this way. Report a spam message to the operator and the operator must log it, give a reference number and investigate.
Every unwanted message teaches a customer to block a whole sector, so relevance is a compliance issue as much as a creative one.
Anatomy
A short message leaves no room for filler. This is the checklist our copy follows.
| Element | Why it is there | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Sender name | Recognition decides whether the text is opened or blocked | Your trading name as customers know it, shown after AD |
| First words | Lock screen previews cut the rest | The offer or the reason for the message, never a greeting |
| One action | Several links split attention | A single short link to a matching landing page |
| Language | Arabic text uses a different character encoding, so each message part holds fewer characters | Separate Arabic and English versions written to length, not a translated copy squeezed to fit |
| Opt out line | Required by the policy and a trust signal | Plain wording with the free keyword your provider supplies |
| Tracking | SMS clicks otherwise show up as direct traffic | Campaign parameters on every link so analytics can credit the message |
What we do
We design the opt in wording on your website forms, checkout and in store sign up sheets so each record shows what the customer agreed to. Where a campaign needs a fresh page, our landing page design team builds it with the consent text in place.
Customers are grouped by what they bought, when, and which language they chose, and sends are timed inside the permitted window around your trading pattern rather than at the first free slot.
Messages are written natively in both languages with correct right to left handling. For longer bilingual material, our Arabic and English translation service covers the landing pages behind the link.
Clicks, opt outs and sales per send are tracked and compared against other channels through web analytics, so SMS marketing earns its place on evidence in the UAE. When a message needs more room, email marketing usually carries the detail.
How it runs
You share your customer data sources, sender name, provider and the goal for the campaign.
A written fixed price proposal, sent within 45 minutes during business hours, with no obligation.
Consent audit, segments, bilingual copy, tracked links and a sending calendar.
You approve every message and the checklist above before anything is scheduled.
The campaign is loaded into your provider account for sending inside the permitted hours.
Results and opt outs feed the next send. SMS work can continue on an optional monthly retainer.
This page summarises public regulatory documents for SMS marketing in the UAE, for planning purposes, and is not legal advice. For how SMS fits alongside other channels, see our digital marketing services and marketing strategy pages.
From the blog
Who needs a UAE advertiser permit, how the visitor permit differs, and the advert rules brands in Dubai must follow when they pay creators.
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What UAE law and TDRA policy actually require before a business in Dubai sends a promotional text, and the records you should keep.
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Opt in, templates, messaging limits and UAE law: what a Dubai business needs to know before sending promotions on WhatsApp.
Read the articleStraight answers
No. TDRA's policy requires consent from each recipient that can be stored and produced on request, and the operators check for that consent before delivering a marketing message. A purchased list carries no such record, so we do not plan campaigns around one.
We do not own an SMS gateway. The sending account sits with a licensed provider in your business's name, and we prepare the segments, copy, schedule and tracking for it. That keeps the sender name and the consent records with you.
The policy text sets a single rule: no marketing messages between 9pm and 7am. It does not list exceptions for weekends or holidays, so we plan every send inside that window and allow for queueing at the provider's end.
The TDRA policy targets marketing text messages. du, for example, states that enterprises sending only transactional messages do not need an account on its promotional SMS portal. Keep the two message types on separate sender names so a promotional block never stops a delivery update.
Our work is a fixed written quote, scoped to your brief. Message delivery charges come from your SMS provider and depend on your volumes, so we keep them visible as a separate line when we plan.
Sources
Fixed price, in writing
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