Before you execute your SMS marketing campaigns, you need to first orient yourself with the SMS opt-in rules. Knowing these rules will help you craft and put into use effective SMS marketing best practices.
There are many benefits of SMS marketing
Joining a mailing list for SMS coupon codes, signing up for mailing lists and entering a content are just some of the methods garnering short message service (SMS) opt-ins. Asking customers as they order a product to sign up to get future marketing information is another method of getting permission to market via SMS. Marketers should follow SMS opt-in rules set by various governmental agencies or risk heavy fines. Failure to follow industry and corporate SMS marketing opt in rules will not help an SMS marketing campaign. Read on to know these rules, along with some SMS marketing tips.
Permission
United State rules require explicit opt-in before customers can be sent promotion text messages. Authorizing marketing via email does not meal that someone has already agreed to marketing via SMS as well. Permission to get messages from one company does not always authorize marketing by that particular company’s business affiliates and partners. A double opt-in happens when someone explicitly approves marketing via both email and SMS. Customer Relations Management systems hold customer SMS history, including customer survey results, opt-in requests and opt-out requests. United States law puts the burden of proof on marketing companies to document that users opted to get messages.
FCC Regulations
The United States Federal Communications Commission or FCC regulations limit SMS marketing to those who intentionally opted-in and chose to receive text messages. The FCC also requires marekters to offer a direct and simple method to opt-out re-ceiling future text messages. A common method of opting out requires sending a text message back like ‘End’ or ‘Stop.’ Users should be informed up sign-up of any fees generated by the SMS marketing like data services or text messaging fees that might apply.
Federal Laws
The United States Federal Trade Commission requires that SMS marketers should check their phone number lists against the National Do Not Call Registry. Telemarketers and SMS marketers cannot contact those on the regustry unless there is an existing business relationship or the person has opted-in to get calls and text messages. The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 limits marketing to children under 13 years of age. Businesses cannot collect information for children under the age of 13 without the permission of their parents.
Corporate Rules
Marketing programs with mobile content elements should be pre-certified by the United States mobile carriers. This pre certification is required by the SMS messages can be sent across a wireless provider’s network. All commercial text messages need to be addressed and set via common short codes. Common short codes or CSC are 4 to 6-digit numbers used in place of a complete phone number to send text messages. In the United States, NeuStar manages the CSC regustry. Common short codes registered in the United States do not work in other countries.
There are so many benefits of sms marketing; you just have to follow the rules. Before you can execute your text message marketing campaigns, it is important that you first orient yourself in the various surrounding rules surrounding it, starting with the ones above. You can contact an SMS marketing expert to orient you more on the rules of this marketing method, or have them make and execute your campaigns to ensure that only the SMS marketing best practices are executed.