SMS opt-ins

SMS is a fantastic way to reach your audience. It’s fast, read in minutes and can boost sales. Before you click send on your first SMS campaign, you need to make sure your contacts have agreed to receiving text messages.

Opt-in compliance is absolutely vital. If you don’t follow the rules, you can get a whopping fine. Luckily, SMS compliance is simpler than it sounds. We’ll give you the low down.

Why consent is so important

Firstly,  it’s just good manners. Don’t send messages to customers who don’t want to hear from you. It’s not good for your brand image, and you will be paying for messages to likely be ignored.

If that’s not compelling enough, SMS regulators are watching and they’re not playing around. You can lose the ability to send messages or get a hefty fine. These fines are based on the number of contacts affected, so they add up fast!

You need to make sure your contacts ‘opt-in’ to receiving messages from you. And how they opt in depends on the type of messages you send.

Getting the opt-in: the right way to ask for permission

Customers can opt-in to receive SMS from your business in various ways. It could be by checking a box on an online or physical form, texting your opt-in SMS keyword (which you can advertise via any channel), calling your toll-free number, through widgets on a website, etc.

But wherever you ask for permission, what we call a call to action (CTA), your wording needs to be on point.

Withdrawing consent: what to do when contacts opt-out

If customers ask that you stop messaging them, any messages you send are no longer compliant, and you could risk penalties. Also, why keep sending texts to people who aren’t receptive to your message?

It’s important to remove contacts from subscription lists in a timely way. Remember that their opt-out request may come from different channels – either your opt-out message or maybe through customer chats or email.