For companies and organisations looking to engage with their audiences, SMS marketing and mass texting have become essential tools. Text messaging is governed by laws and rules that are very dissimilar from those that apply to other channels. Understanding SMS compliance is essential because the consequences of non-compliance are very severe.
It might seem challenging to keep a compliant text messaging programme, but it’s not. This guide’s objectives are to give a thorough overview of text message compliance and lay the groundwork for a successful SMS marketing strategy.
Who oversees Text Conformity?
First of all, there are laws and policies in place in the US detailing how to send SMS. Additionally, there are numerous carrier-specific rules and, lest we forget, new codes of conduct that, while not exactly laws, must be followed. At your own risk, disregard these conduct guidelines! Your campaigns either won’t launch at all or get caught in carrier or aggregator filters and become inoperable.
Please be aware that nothing in this guide is intended to be legal advice and is only provided for informational purposes.
The Terms and Definitions for SMS Compliance
Let’s go over a few key terms before we dive deeper into specific texting compliance guidelines.
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Indicated Written Consent
Your contacts’ express written consent is their electronic or written consent to communicate with you. It demonstrates that they are aware they will receive marketing text messages and that they are not required to consent to them to conduct business with you.
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Opt-in
A contact can indicate that they have permitted you to text them for marketing purposes by taking an SMS opt-in action.
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Opt-in Strategies
Your contacts’ express written consent is obtained through your opt-in method. Web forms, paper forms, and keywords are a few common opt-in strategies.
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Text Message for Transactions
Transactional text messages are sent to clients to keep them informed of crucial details or to assist them in carrying out an action that doesn’t result in a sale. Although express written consent is not required for these kinds of messages, it is still wise to check that your customers are happy to receive texts from you.
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Advertising Text Message
Promotional text messages are sent to promote, upsell, or sell a good or service. Express consent is required for these messages.
Text Message Laws
While it’s crucial to adhere to the TCPA and CTIA regulations exactly as they are written, it’s also crucial to recognise the difference between the two. There is a lot of overlap between the two, but you can think of the CTIA guidelines as carrier regulations that further protect consumers and the TCPA as federal laws that forbid unsolicited text messages.
However, TCPA legislation is what matters when it comes to texting laws. The TCPA’s main message is that you must get people’s express written consent before sending them promotional texts. Failure to do so may result in costly class actions and fines of up to $500 per text message. Getting consent isn’t that difficult, which is good news.
Five Crucial Rules for SMS Marketing Compliance
Let’s get started with the five guidelines you must be aware of before texting your audience.
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Before texting, obtain express written consent.
Before a company can send a customer an automated promotional text message, the TCPA states that the customer must give “express written consent” — also known as explicit permission.
This written consent cannot be concealed within a lengthy, legalese-filled form. To ensure that the recipient understands what they are agreeing to, it must be obvious. A TCPA violation occurs when this rule is not followed.
We’ll discuss the ways customers can agree to receive text messages from you in our chapter on opt-in methods.
Who Is Covered by Express Written Consent?
Not just for new contacts, express written consent is required. Additionally, it applies to any contacts you manually add to the platform of your SMS service provider.
Only you know whether the contact list you’re importing was compiled in a way that complies with regulations, even though we may manually review import requests to ensure that your messages can be sent.
Make sure that every contact who has given you a phone number has permitted you to send them messages before you import a list.
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Confirm New Contacts with a Message
No matter how many people join your texting list, the first text you send them must be a carrier compliance message confirming their opt-in.
It should restate a few crucial facts:
- Identify yourself
- Message volume
- The potential application of message and data rates
- How to reject
We’ll include the necessary disclosures and consent language in a text that you receive free of charge when you send your first message to a new contact, whether it is sent manually or automatically.
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You should have a clear and compliant call-to-action (CTA)
Complying with CTA in the messaging regardless of the opt-in technique you decide to use to obtain your contacts’ express written consent.
The request to join your texting list is known as a CTA. It ought to include the following:
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Automated Marketing Communications
Make sure to make it clear in your CTA that consumers must express their written consent by federal regulations to receive automated marketing messages.
Additionally, you must let them know that they are not required to consent to receiving the texts to purchase from you.
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Rules and Regulations
Under your CTA, list all of your terms and conditions in full or include a link to them. This list ought to include:
(I) The personality of your business, brand, or programme
(II) Contacts for customer service
(III) Opt-out instructions in bold type, such as “Reply STOP to
(IV) Unsubscribe,” should be included in the description of the product people are signing up for.
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Privacy Policies
Under your CTA, list your privacy policies in full or include a link to them.
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SMS Campaign Objectives
Inform your contacts of the terms of their registration. Do they receive recollections? Coupons? Tips? So that there are no surprises, be specific about what you’re offering.
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Rates for Messages and Data
Even though unlimited texting has grown in popularity, some users might still be required to fork over a small fee to receive texts. When contacts sign up for your texting programme, wireless carriers require you to let them know that these fees could apply.
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Message Volume
Tell them whether they’re signing up for a campaign with recurring messages (like weekly alerts or deals) or just one message (like a one-time coupon). The approximate number of messages the client should anticipate receiving over a week or month can be included.
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Stop sending SHAFT content
A set of guidelines for content known as SHAFT—sex, hate, alcohol, firearms, and tobacco—have been established by the CTIA.
One of the worst violations is including material related to any of these topics in your call to action or any of your messages, which could lead to an immediate ban.
A few situations are an exception to this rule. You might still be able to send messages about happy hour specials if you run a bar, for instance. But you must use a dedicated, verified toll-free number or registered local number, and you must have an age gate that prevents anyone under the age of 21 from subscribing to your texts.
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During quiet hours, avoid texting your contacts.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) prohibits sending promotional text messages between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. (local time for the recipient), known as “quiet hours.”
If you have contacts spread out across North America, this could make things challenging, but if you know where they are, you can segment your contacts into lists and set up text message campaigns to be sent at various times.
SMS compliance terms to understand
P2P: P2P is the typical texting that most people engage in every day, sending small amounts of desired messages to two different wireless subscribers or users of messaging applications. P2P messaging occurs when you text a friend or member of your family.
A2P: According to the CTIA, A2P traffic refers to “all messaging that is not P2P,” or “traffic that is inconsistent with typical human operation.” That includes marketing messages, appointment reminders, different alerts, customer support messages, sales, and everything else.
Shortcodes: They are 4-6 digit numbers with the highest throughput, highest delivery success rate, highly trusted routes, the lowest amount of spam, the best MMS delivery functionality, and the cleanest compliance record. Short codes are standard and free to end users.
Long code: Phone numbers with 10 digits are referred to as long codes, also known as long numbers, 10DLC, local virtual number (LVN), or Landlines. They all support voice and MMS, and they all have a shorter provisioning cycle.
Toll-Free (TFN) Numbers: Since the calling party pays the call’s costs, toll-free numbers are exactly what they say they are for the end user. They are quick to market and can be operational in 3-5 days. They can be used for voice, SMS, and MMS messaging.
Conclusion
SMS compliance is not that difficult, in the end. Obtaining express written consent before sending people to broadcast text messages is the golden rule above all else. Be open and honest about what people can anticipate from your text programme as well as how they can opt-out if they so choose.
Guni has everything you need and includes all the necessary components to launch a complaint SMS gateway programme. We are relied upon by tens of thousands of people and power some of the biggest text messaging programs in the world, offering everything from opt-in compliance language to pre-built terms and privacy policies.
Please contact our team if you have any more inquiries or would like to find out more information.
