{"id":113,"date":"2015-02-02T08:15:51","date_gmt":"2015-02-02T14:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/?p=113"},"modified":"2015-02-02T08:15:51","modified_gmt":"2015-02-02T14:15:51","slug":"demistifying-text-marketing-and-double-opt-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/2015\/02\/02\/demistifying-text-marketing-and-double-opt-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Demystifying Text Marketing and Double Opt-In"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sending advertisements and promotions through SMS text messages to\u00a0mobile devices is a compelling\u00a0digital marketing method for a good reason &#8212; the incredibly vast number of mobile devices.\u00a0 Apple announced last week that it\u00a0sold a mind-boggling 74.5 million iPhones worldwide in the fourth quarter of 2014.\u00a0 That\u2019s <strong>33,740 iPhones every hour, 24 hours a day, for 3 months<\/strong>. And an estimated <strong>300 million Android phones<\/strong> were sold worldwide in the same calendar quarter.\u00a0 Diving into the world of text marketing poses many challenges given the myriad of\u00a0laws and rules to follow, and stringent compliance requirements such as &#8220;double opt-in.&#8221;\u00a0 However, it isn&#8217;t really as daunting as it seems at first glance.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>The many rules of text marketing<\/em>.\u00a0 <\/strong>A number of\u00a0laws, rules and\u00a0guidelines govern text marketing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Text marketing messages are communications distributed over the cellular phone network, and fall under the laws, rules and regulations governing wireless carriers and mobile phone calls. This includes the <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/transition.fcc.gov\/cgb\/policy\/TCPA-Rules.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Telephone Consumer Protection Act<\/a> (TCPA)<\/strong>. The <strong>Federal Communications Commission\u00a0(FCC)<\/strong>\u00a0enforces\u00a0the TCPA.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/uscode\/text\/15\/chapter-103\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CAN-SPAM<\/strong><\/a>, the law and associated rules that govern commercial email messages, also governs commercial emails sent to a mobile phone, e.g., 9525551212@vtext.com. The <strong>Federal Trade Commission (FCC)<\/strong> enforces\u00a0CAN-SPAM, as well as laws and rules\u00a0governing deceptive and unfair trade practices which apply to all marketing.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mobile carriers<\/strong> can have their own rules around text marketing through their systems.<\/li>\n<li>Industry groups have published\u00a0<strong>best practice guidelines<\/strong>\u00a0for companies engaged in text marketing,\u00a0such as the <strong>Mobile Marketing Association<\/strong> (MMA)\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mmaglobal.com\/files\/uploads\/Consumer-Best-Practices.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Consumer Best Practices for Messaging<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>CTIA<\/strong>, the wireless trade association which operates the \u201cShort Code\u201d system used by many companies for text marketing (the \u201c12345\u201d in \u201cText ABC to 12345\u201d), publishes the <a href=\"http:\/\/wmcglobal.com\/media\/CTIA-Short-Code-Monitoring-Handbook-v1.4.1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Short Code Monitoring\u00a0Handbook<\/strong><\/a>. The Handbook contains rules governing SMS marketing campaigns that use Short Codes. SMS marketers found to be in violation of CTIA rules may be reported to wireless carriers by CTIA, potentially resulting in temporary or permanent suspension of the ability to run text marketing campaigns through those carriers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Compared to email marketing or even print marketing, the rules governing US text marketing can seem downright draconian. For example, In US email marketing under CAN-SPAM, you can market to someone who hasn\u2019t opted-in as long as you follow CAN-SPAM\u2019s rules, including offering them the right to unsubscribe from further marketing emails, and consent for CAN-SPAM purposes can be oral or written. In US text marketing, to send a commercial text message to a mobile device you must have the <strong>unambiguous written consent<\/strong> <strong>of the mobile device owner<\/strong>, and \u201cwritten\u201d means \u201cdocumented and saved.&#8221;\u00a0 In email marketing, you can purchase opt-in lists; in text marketing, purchasing opt-in lists is not allowed.<\/p>\n<p>Why is text marketing different?\u00a0 There are <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">three<\/span> primary reasons.\u00a0 First, unlike marketing emails, <strong>text messages aren\u2019t free<\/strong>.\u00a0 Consumers directly pay for text messaging services, regardless of whether it\u2019s a flat monthly fee or a per-message charge. Consumers don\u2019t directly pay to receive email marketing messages (the cost of Internet access is an indirect cost).\u00a0 Second, text messages are viewed as <strong>more personal<\/strong> than other types of digital marketing, as they come right to a consumer\u2019s mobile device and not to a device-independent\u00a0email account. Third, text marketing messages are <strong>sent through already heavily-regulated cellular phone networks<\/strong>, and fall under many of the same stringent requirements that have been adapted or expanded to cover SMS \u2013 they\u2019re considered on par with (and just as regulated as) a phone call. Keeping spam off the cellular phone networks has been a long-time focus of the FCC and mobile carriers.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Double Opt-In<\/em><\/strong><strong>.\u00a0 <\/strong>One of the more misunderstood concepts in text marketing is the \u201c<strong>double opt-in.<\/strong>\u201d\u00a0 Many believe that written consent from a consumer on a paper or web form is all that\u2019s needed to send commercial text messages to that consumer.\u00a0 However, remember that in text marketing, you need\u00a0the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">unambiguous written consent of a mobile device owner<\/span><\/span> before sending text marketing messages to that mobile device.\u00a0 Don\u2019t just focus on the <strong>consent<\/strong> being unambiguous \u2013 <strong>the consent must unambiguously be provided by\u00a0the mobile device owner<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you get written consent via an SMS text from a mobile device itself (a \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">device opt-in<\/span><\/span>\u201d), you have the written consent of the mobile device owner, and since it came from the mobile device itself it&#8217;s pretty clear, for consent purposes that the mobile device owner gave the consent. \u00a0(You still have to send a welcome email with certain information, such as message frequency and how to stop\u00a0future text messages.)<\/li>\n<li>However, if you get\u00a0written consent through another method, such as a paper or web form (a \u201c<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">non-device opt-in<\/span><\/span>\u201d), it\u2019s not clear that\u00a0the person giving consent is the mobile device owner.\u00a0\u00a0 Even a statement on the paper or web form that \u201cI own the device associated with this mobile number\u201d is likely not sufficient \u2013 you can\u2019t demonstrate conclusively that it\u2019s true.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have unambiguous written consent <strong>unambiguously provided<\/strong> by the mobile device owner, and that&#8217;s where a second opt-in comes in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The CTIA and MMA rules require that in addition to a non-device opt-in, a marketer must send a single text message to the mobile number provided through the non-device opt-in, asking the mobile device owner to text a response to start receiving marketing text messages for a campaign (e.g., \u201ctext \u2018Y\u2019).\u00a0 If the mobile device owner\u00a0sends the correct reply text (\u201cY\u201d), he\/she is\u00a0confirming they want to receive marketing text messages (you still have to then send the welcome email noted above).\u00a0 This confirmation \u2013 the \u201c<strong>double opt-in<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 removes any ambiguity around who provided the original non-device opt-in, turning it into unambiguous written consent unambiguously provided by the mobile device owner.\u00a0The double opt-in isn\u2019t to confirm the initial consent\u00a0is valid \u2013 <strong><strong>it\u2019s to unambiguously confirm that the mobile device owner was the one that gave the consent<\/strong><\/strong>.\u00a0 (It\u2019s important to note that double opt-in is a <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">recommended best practice<\/span><\/span> for device opt-ins too.)<\/p>\n<p>The laws, rules and requirements around text marketing can seem daunting, but the potential rewards and ROI from well-executed text marketing campaigns can be quite significant for businesses.\u00a0 Many service providers provide turnkey text marketing solutions designed for compliance with the various rules and regulations around text marketing.\u00a0 And partnering with a digital marketing attorney focused on helping you achieve your business objectives while managing legal risk can help ensure you are on the right path as you move through\u00a0the thicket of text marketing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sending advertisements and promotions through SMS text messages to\u00a0mobile devices is a compelling\u00a0digital marketing method for a good reason &#8212; the incredibly vast number of mobile devices.\u00a0 Apple announced last week that it\u00a0sold a mind-boggling 74.5 million iPhones worldwide in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/2015\/02\/02\/demistifying-text-marketing-and-double-opt-in\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal","category-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericlambert.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}