SMS marketing is on the rise. And it’s easy to see why. Consider these stats from Klavyio:
Clearly, SMS marketing is a powerful way to connect with customers and drive revenue.
However, you can’t just start sending out messages. There are a number of specific regulations you must follow in order to legally send texts to your customers.
At GrowthMap, we’ve had many clients turn to us after their A2P verification for sending text messages was denied. We’ve become extremely skilled at getting businesses approved for texting.
And, we’ve seen businesses 3x their sales the first month by using an improved, compliant, text funnel.
In this guide, we walk you through everything you need to know about sending texts legally to your customers.
Compliance in text messaging is important for several reasons. First, it provides you with legal protection. There are specific laws that govern how you may text people, and it’s essential that you stay in compliance with those laws.
Compliance in text messages also builds trust with your audience. If you spam your potential and current customers, they won’t trust you anymore. They’ll see you as an annoyance to be ignored.
Finally, compliance increases your message deliverability rates. Mobile carriers are much more likely to deliver your SMS messages if you’re in compliance with the regulations. A higher deliverability rate means your texts are seen by more people.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is the legal organization that makes the rules regarding text messaging compliance. The FCC is responsible for enforcing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) which protects consumers from electronic communications like unsolicited text messages, recorded voice informational messages, automatic dialing systems, etc.
In regards to SMS marketing, the TCPA requires providers to record all the messages they send to consumers.
The penalty for violating the TCPA is steep. You can be liable for consumer legal action and may pay fines as high as $500 – $1000 per text message.
The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) is a non-profit organization that represents both manufacturers of wireless products and wireless carriers, like AT&T and Verizon.
So what?
The CTIA is in charge of SMS shortcodes, which are those 5 to 6-digit numbers that people must text to opt in to SMS marketing. If you’re going to be sending text messages to potential customers, you need to be aware of the CTIA and how they impact SMS marketing.
The CTIA requires companies to follow a strict set of rules regarding opt-in and opt-out instructions. When a customer opt-in to receive transactional messages, they need to receive the following information:
TCPA governs multiple forms of electronic communication, including an automatic telephone dialing system and text messages. If you’re going to engage in text message marketing, you need to understand the TCPA and its requirements.
As we noted, the penalty for not staying in compliance with the TCPA is steep and can cost you a significant amount of money. There are two major things to consider to be in compliance:
First and foremost, you absolutely must receive express written consent from a person before you can start sending them text messages. You can gain express written consent through both web opt-in forms and opt-in text messages.
When asking your customers to allow you to send them text messages, regardless of the medium, you must tell them the following information: “By participating, you consent to receive text messages sent by an automatic telephone dialing system.”
You must make this disclosure clear and conspicuous. No hiding it with ultra-fine print or anything like that. You need to display the message somewhere near where you’re asking the customers to opt-in to your SMS marketing program.
The point of all this is to make sure customers know exactly what they’re getting into when they give you express consent to contact them. They should see a message similar to this one: “You consent to the use of an electronic record to document your opt-in.”
To ensure that you’re getting the most accurate consumer information, you should use the double opt-in before sending marketing text messages. More on this in a bit.
In addition to getting express consent from consumers, you also need to make sure they know that consent isn’t a condition of purchase. In other words, people should understand they can receive a text message from you even if they haven’t purchased anything from you. The inverse is also true. A consumer can purchase from you and opt out of receiving promotional messages.
To stay in compliance with this regulation from the TCPA, make it clear that consent is not a condition of purchase every time you ask for a customer’s contact information.
There are different types of text messages, and each requires a different amount of consent to send them.
Conversational messaging is when a consumer and business are having a text conversation. It happens in real-time and is triggered by the consumer sending an initial text message to a business. When the business replies, conversational text messaging is taking place.
Conversational messaging has consent built into the conversation in the form of “implied consent”. When the consumer triggers the initial conversation, it’s expected that they will be receiving messages, and express written consent isn’t required.
Informational text messages are also known as transactional messages. There is no selling taking place with informational text messages. Rather, they contain important information, like appointment reminders and shipping notifications.
To send informational text messages you need express consent, not express written consent. You can get consent via a consumer replying to a text, filling out a form, and other methods.
There will be times when the lines between informational and transactional messages become blurred. If that’s the case, it’s always best to get express written consent.
As you probably expected, promotional messages are sent when marketing or selling is involved. If you have a call to action in a message, like a link to click, that’s almost always promotional messaging.
For these messages, you must obtain express written consent in order to send SMS marketing messages. You don’t want to play around when it comes to sending promotional messages without first getting written consent. As we noted, the penalties can be significant and you could even be involved in a lawsuit.
We’ve touched on this already, but it’s worth discussing the potential consequences of failing to comply with TCPA regulations.
First, there are financial consequences. There are hefty fines for individual messages that violate the laws. But it doesn’t stop there. If consumers come together and bring a class-action lawsuit against you, you could be paying fines in the millions of dollars.
What’s more, violating the TCPA also causes significant damage to your brand’s reputation. Customers lose trust in your company and you look like a spammy brand that doesn’t respect customers’ privacy. You’ll find it harder to attract new customers, which can have a major impact on your bottom line.
Finally, your core operations take a hit as you must spend a huge amount of resources on fighting legal battles and rebuilding your brand’s reputation. The more resources you must commit to fighting battles the less you’ll have available for spending time on core operations. Revenue may fall, putting the company itself into danger.
Let’s talk about how to avoid text messaging penalties and maintain your brand’s reputation. We’ve already talked about it some, but these are crucial points you can’t miss.
First and foremost, you need to closely adhere to all the guidelines regarding obtaining express written consent. To constitute customer consent, a customer must agree to the following:
When obtaining consent from customers, ensure that your consent forms include the above information.
Keyword shortcodes are another way to avoid violating TCPA regulations. You can give customers a specific word to text to a specific number. The message you send about this opt-in opportunity should be compliant with the CTIA rules we mentioned above. When a customer sends the shortcode to the number, they are consenting.
A double opt-in is an excellent way to get a customer’s written consent to receive messages. Once a potential subscriber has provided you with their phone number, you send a second message asking them to confirm that they want to receive SMS marketing messages from you. This ensures that all the messages you send are legal and in compliance.
GrowthMap is a powerful tool for acquiring leads and then following up with them. It enables you to keep all your marketing and selling on a single platform that scales with your business. GrowthMap allows you to automate your acquisition system, as well as the follow-ups.
Can you legally text your customers? The answer is a resounding yes.
With GrowthMap’s text messaging tools, you can send SMS messages that are both legal and compelling.
It’s essential, however, to ensure that you follow all regulations and guidelines that surround sending texts to your customers.
And the reality is that it’s not just about staying legal. It’s also about communicating in ways that are pleasing to the customer and also ethical. When you communicate in this way, you build trust, make your customers happy, and drive revenue.
If you want to see how text message marketing can help grow your specific business, send me a DM on Instagram @gabrielryan and we’ll see if you’re a fit.
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