To help your SMS marketing plan succeed, we’ve curated some “Do’s and Don’ts” to help you prepare for your venture into SMS marketing.

SMS Marketing Dos

1. Stay up-to-date with compliance rules and regulations

It’s important to understand the rules and regulations for messaging in your region, country or state. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulates SMS marketing in the United States and requires companies to obtain written consent before sending their first text. 

You can ask for written consent with clever opt-in strategies, but that’s only one part of the compliance requirement. Here are guidelines for asking customers to opt in:

• Get consent before sending first message
• Include company name in first text
• Provide coupon or discount upfront
• Mention message frequency
• Disclose possible carrier costs and fees
• Give an option to ask for help and opt out of future texts

If your customer asks to opt in, send a confirmation message immediately. Here’s an example:

Reply OK for texts from YUM Pizza & get 15% off coupon. Max 1 msg/wk. 

Msg & data rates may apply. Text HELP for more info & policies.

Text STOP to unsubscribe. 

This reply text takes care of notification requirements. You can set up automated responses when someone texts “OK,” “STOP,” or “HELP” with links to more information and the coupon. 

2. Grow your list with easy opt-in strategies

Growing your SMS list may seem daunting when you can’t text your consumer to get consent, but you can invite them to opt-in in imaginative ways. Adding an incentive for signing up for your messages is key, and don’t forget to add your compliance language when using a mixture of these innovative methods. 

• Website pop-ups: Enable an opt-in pop up for both mobile and desktop and include compliance language. 
• Collect at checkout: Consumers are already filling out information at checkout, so adding an opt-in checkbox for them to consider is easy.
• Email assist: Add a dynamic sign-up button in emails to non-SMS subscribers. 
• QR Codes: Place your QR code on products, social media, flyers, and more. Consumers will scan straight to your opt-in screen.
• Social Media: Create interactive stories and post QR codes on your social media platforms. 

3. Utilize campaign flows

Sending a campaign that engages your customer over a period of time is the perfect way to build interest about a product or launch. You may have lots to say about a new release. Yet, when you consciously package your ideas into smaller messages sent at regular intervals, your audience stays engaged throughout the campaign. A multi-messaging flow for a product release could look something like this:

• “Coming Soon” teaser message 
• Introduce your product with a date and time of release
• A pre-order message with a discount offer 
• Create urgency by establishing a deadline
• Follow-up and sweeten the discount offer

4. Use automated message flows

Automations are an efficient way to send your customers personalized messages triggered by their behavior at different milestones. Your triggers should fire automatically while your customer naturally moves through their shopping process. For example, if a customer abandons their cart, a trigger sends an automated conversational message like: “Did you forget something?” Abandoned carts aren’t all treated the same, though. Factors such as the value of the purchase or a repeat purchase should trigger different automations.

SMS Marketing Don’ts

1. Send messages after hours

Don’t forget the “quiet hours” rules when working to stay compliant. The TCPA prohibits any telephone solicitation – including SMS messages – any time before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. in your recipient’s time zone. Have customers in different time zones? You’ll need to build that into your automation.

2. Pre-check opt-in boxes or forget double opt-ins

Even though you’ve created a checkbox for opt-ins on your forms and paperwork, stay compliant by keeping those boxes unchecked. The customer must check that opt-in box on their own, not uncheck it to opt-out.

You might also consider using a double opt-in. When a customer responds to your invitation to receive messages, you send an immediate message asking them to confirm their request. Double opt-in messages can be sent automatically, making sure everyone receives one.  Forgetting to create a double opt-in is a missed opportunity to validate subscribers and ensure you’re staying compliant.

3. Forget to use segmentation

Creating a segmented list before sending a campaign is a powerful tool for your SMS marketing strategy. By using subsets of subscribers, you’re ensuring that the right message gets to the right person at the right time. And when consumers receive relevant messages, you’ll see more engagement and opportunities for cross-sells, up-sells, and product suggestions. Some good segment samples include engaged subscribers, VIPs, those who used a keyword to subscribe, and anyone who has yet to purchase.

4. Forgetting to create enough triggers

Triggers should fire when customers take action, like leaving after browsing, subscribing, or when their order was delivered. To make the most of your automated messaging and to keep your brand at the forefront of your customer’s mind, you should have multiple triggers set up to send personalized automated messages at various stages of your customer’s experience.  

SMS and MMS messaging can bring added success to your multi-channel marketing efforts. By following a few simple suggestions – and avoiding others – you can increase customer interest in your products and responses to your messaging campaigns. If you’re ready to give messaging a try, contact SMS-Magic for a demo or a free trial today!

The legislation initially will affect large companies including Apple, Google, Amazon, Meta and Microsoft. For example, it will not allow Google to collect personal data from different services to target ads to consumers without the users’ consent. And Apple may have to allow users to download apps from sources other than the App Store.

“Faced with big online platforms behaving like they were ‘too big to care,’ Europe has put its foot down,” Thierry Breton, one of the top digital officials in the European Commission, said in a recent NY Times article. “We are putting an end to the so-called Wild West dominating our information space.”

The EU is also expected to pass legislation next month that would force social media companies to police their platforms more aggressively.

The new legislation may extend its influence in two key areas. First, experts believe more restrictive legislation will appear around the world in response to the DMA – as it did after the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was adopted. Launched in 2018, the GDPR restricted the collection and sharing of personal data in the EU and became a model for countries like Brazil and Japan. Also, the new European standards may expand to become global standards because it’s easier for companies to apply them across all their markets rather than carving out rules for a single geographic area.

Messaging services can also be affected by the legislation. WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, could be required to make its system accessible to users of rival services like Signal or Telegram. Signal or Telegram, for example, would have the option of making their systems compatible with WhatsApp. As the law takes effect and enforcement begins, other modifications may cascade from those that are initially apparent.

So, if you thought you could simply wait out the implementation of U.S. and international privacy laws and fly under the radar, you might need to rethink your strategy. Privacy regulations are not going away. They are, in fact, growing.

SMS-Magic Can Help

We’re always watching text messaging regulations around the world so that we can help you stay compliant. As the DMA takes effect, we’ll let you know how new laws may affect your customer outreach.

We can help make compliance easier, particularly if you’ve tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. We can help you keep up with the details like customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Protecting privacy is a complicated question, but with the right partner, the answer can be simple. We’ll keep you updated as laws around the world change. Let SMS-Magic help you reach your customers while you’re protecting their privacy.

Start a free trial today! Your customers will love you for it!

Here’s a beginner’s guide to compliance for companies using business-to-person texts in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. And even if you’re an old hand at text messaging, we may have some good advice for you, too.

TCPA – the Federal Regulation in the U.S.

The U.S. Congress originally created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to combat unsolicited phone calls, and it has expanded to include new technologies like text messaging. It contains specific restrictions and penalties that companies ignore at their peril. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

Perhaps the most important portion of the TCPA concerns acquiring permission to text. You must have express written consent before your company can legally send text messages to anyone. Before that first text goes out, your customer must say it’s okay or “opt in” to receiving your text messages.

That generally means the first contact must made by a different type of communication. Email, online applications, online communication preferences, direct mail, comment cards, and point-of-purchase materials are some of the most common. Some companies ask customers to text them first, and that action starts an automated chain of messages that allows the customer to opt in.

When a company responds to a request to text, the first text they send must contain a few elements. Here they are:

• Company name.
• Customers agree to receive texts from your company.
• Customers don’t have to receive texts to purchase anything from you.
• Frequency of messages. Be up front about how often you plan to text.
• Message and data rates may apply.
• How to reach customer service.
• How to opt out. For example, “Reply STOP to unsubscribe.”
• Provide a link to your privacy policy.

That’s quite a bit to include in 160 characters, so you can design a series of automated texts that contain the information. Your second text can explain any coupons, discounts or other promotions you’re offering.

GDPR Sets Regulations for EU & UK

In the years since the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) hit the streets in the European Union, it’s become clear that all businesses, regardless of size, need to understand what the GDPR requires. The EU is serious about enforcing its provisions.

Fines have ranged from €2.5 million to €225 million for non-compliance. Although these fines may be negligible to multinationals, smaller companies could be devasted by them. Smaller companies and individuals are not exempt from harsh penalties and the costs associated with defending the charges.

The same rules apply in the United Kingdom as they do in the European Union. The UK agreed to GDPR and Brexit has not changed anything.

Who is Affected by GDPR?

Of course, companies that conduct business in the EU and the UK are directly affected by the GDPR rules. But so are companies with customers there. That could be you. Also, your company might be affected if someone living in the EU or UK visits your website and allows you to install cookies on their computer. The more contact you have with people in the EU, the more risk you assume.

GDPR’s Seven Principles for Privacy Rights

The GDPR is based on seven basic tenets:

1. Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency: personal data shall be processed lawfully, with fairness to the data subject, and fully transparent. 
2. Purpose Limitation: The organization shall process personal data concerning the contract or business operation, which are explicit or specified before processing. 
3. Data Minimization: data shall not be held or processed further than is required for the purpose.
4. Accuracy: data must be updated, rectified, or erased if inaccurate. 
5. Storage Limitation: you cannot keep personal data longer than necessary; your data retention must have a deletion time. 
6. Integrity and Confidentiality: all personal data must be kept secure and protected against theft, accidental loss, unlawful processing, or damage.
7. Accountability: Organizations must be able to demonstrate that they put appropriate technical and organizational safeguards in place.

What’s New with the GDPR in 2021?

As the EU has updated the GDPR, you need to know what’s changed:

1. All parties who have access to customer data are responsible for data security. When data leaves your company, the company that receives it becomes a “joint controller.”
2. Special data-collection rules between the EU and US have expired. If you handle EU data, you must include standard GDPR contractual clauses in your terms and conditions.
3. When collecting data, you must have clear and explicit consent for which data you collect and process.

Privacy Regulations Are Here to Stay

If you thought you could simply wait out the implementation of TCPA and GDPR and fly under the radar, you might need to rethink your strategy. They are not going away, and privacy regulations are growing.

Tracking Explicit Consent

You must track who opts in and who opts out of your text marketing campaigns, and you must have explicit consent to collect and process a customer’s personal information. You’ll also need to track who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times, and you’ll need to be able to erase a person’s data from all parts of your system, if requested.

SMS-Magic can make compliance easy, particularly if you’ve tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. We can help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Protecting privacy is a complicated question, but with the right partner, the answer can be simple. Let SMS-Magic help you reach your customers while you’re protecting their privacy.

Contact us to answer your questions, set up a demo or start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

CSAT scores are great measures of how delighted a customer is after a single experience with your company. Measuring customer satisfaction is a must for most industries.

The first place our customers use text messaging is in sending satisfaction surveys. When they’re measuring customer-service interactions or conversations, our customers tend to send out surveys by text immediately after the interaction. With products like furniture, they may wait several weeks to give the customer time to enjoy the new additions before sending a satisfaction survey.

The surveys often consist of only one question or just a few carefully chosen questions. If our customer needs responses to a longer survey, they can link the text message to an online survey form. And with text, the response rate goes up almost immediately.

The greatest benefit to sending any survey by text is that your customers will read it and respond. We know that globally we send 5 billion texts a day, and we open 98 percent of them. Conversely, we only open emails 22 percent of the time, according to Gigaom. Research from Asurion shows that we look at our phones 96 times a day or once every 10 minutes.

If you want to know what your customers are thinking, ask them via texts. You can use text-only SMS messages or multi-media MMS messages. Visit our recent blog to determine which is best for your use.

In addition to sending surveys via text messaging, you can improve your customer experience with text messaging. Here’s an insider secret from one of our customers – consider using the SMS-Magic Mobile App.

One of our customers is a property management company, and needed a way for tenants to reach property managers during an emergency. The PMs weren’t always at their desks waiting for the calls to come in, and tenants were frustrated by what they perceived was a lack of concern.

Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Often during working hours, the property managers were out visiting properties. After hours, they weren’t in the office, but relied on a dedicated phone line to handle emergencies. The only problem was that tenants texted the company instead of calling, and no one responded to them. The system wasn’t set up to respond to texts.

So, the company deployed the SMS-Magic Mobile App. A tenant could text the company about emergencies, and the PM on call could field the text on a personal mobile phone. The text would even be recorded in the company’s CRM as if it had come through the desktop computer in the office. You can imagine how much happier the tenants are – their emergencies are getting prompt attention. And how much happier staff members are because they can handle emergencies away from their desks.

Another of our customers is a disrupter in the world of travel accommodations. The company works with condominium and apartment developers to identify properties that are empty during the construction phase in major U.S. cities. They design high-end interiors, stage the empty condos and apartments with furniture and accessories, and rent them to travelers looking for luxury accommodations in highly desirable neighborhoods, mostly in downtown areas.

SMS-Magic helps the company’s customer service reps easily reach out to the right people to resolve issues. For example, if a guest is arriving late and has a question about checking in — they can call, email, or text customer support. The inquiry is logged in the support center and any customer service rep who checks that guest record later can see the complete interaction. It makes solving guest issues easier, especially when handing off open cases during shift changes.

Connecting a guest and a customer service rep via text is an important functionality needed to resolve issues. Text is also likely to be a guest’s preferred method of interaction since messaging is the fastest growing conversational medium on the planet.

We can help you set up automated responses to incoming texts. With an automated system in place, your customers will have an immediate response that often can provide the information they need. You have the option to switch to live responses when you need to.

We’ve also thought about the customers who use more than the native SMS capability in their phones. You can receive, track and respond to multichannel queries such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, text and MMS.

Security is always top of mind for us. With all our products, we ensure data privacy and regulatory compliance while you’re using text messaging to manage your customers’ issues.

It’s a competitive world and if you’re able to respond to your customers faster than your competition, you have earned an amazing competitive advantage. Your customers may not expect much from customer service, but you can earn new customers, while keeping your existing customers, by delighting them every time they contact you. Quick responses to their emergencies or inquiries can help you develop the positive customer relationships that drive your business.

We’d like to help you wow your customers with outstanding customer service. Contact us for more information about the SMS-Magic family of products. We have a solution that’s right for you!

We’re always interested in how companies are using text messaging, and when one of our team members parked recently, she was directed by a sign on the parking meter to text her location to the parking company. That started a text interaction that allowed her to pay for her parking space. And if she needed more time, she could text her payment without returning to her car.

Because she works for SMS-Magic, she was interested to see that the parking company didn’t ask for permission to text her. That’s because text conversations initiated by the consumer don’t require permission; consent is implied because the consumer acted first. Our colleague knew, however, that almost every other contact requires the consumer to “opt in” to receiving messages.

The dilemma is that a company can’t text a customer to ask for permission. So how do you get your customers, clients, patients or prospects to say “Yes” to the texts?

Get ‘Express Written Consent’

You must have “express written consent” before your company can legally send text messages to anyone. That means more than just asking for their phone number. And it doesn’t matter who it is – an existing customer, a former client, a trade-show lead, or someone on a purchased marketing list. Before that first text message goes out, your customer must say it’s okay.

Why? The U.S. Congress created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to combat unsolicited phone calls. Through the years, however, the Act has expanded to include new technologies like text messaging. It contains specific restrictions and penalties that companies ignore at their peril. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

But you can secure permission with a few simple steps:

• Add a “permission to text” checkbox to any initial paperwork a new customer will complete. That includes applications, sales paperwork, installation appointments, requests for more information, medical or financial profile information, or contests.
• You can send emails to your existing clients to give them the opportunity to opt in. You can offer a coupon or discount to incentivize your customers.
• After you have permission, send the first text right away. If permission is included in an online document, send the first text immediately. Whenever you send the first text, however, mention your company’s name, the frequency of messages, any carrier charges that apply, and provide an option to get help or to opt out.
• If you’re offering a coupon, discount or other promotion to opt in, mention how to redeem the offer in the first text you send.

The more you automate these processes, the happier your staff will be.

Record Keeping on the Back End

Of course, you’ll also need to keep a list of everyone who has given you permission to text – and everyone who hasn’t. If you’re ever challenged, you’ll need to be able to prove you only send texts to customers who have opted into receiving text messages.

Receiving, logging and responding to messages from your customers may seem daunting, but SMS-Magic is designed to make it easy by working seamlessly with your CRM. SMS-Magic not only receives and sends text messages, it logs messages so that anyone in the system can see what has been sent to whom.

In addition, if your customer-service reps are working on a complicated matter, the system will log all interactions, including phone calls and emails, eliminating the need for the customer to explain the situation every time they change reps. It saves hours of needless work.

SMS-Magic works seamlessly with Salesforce and Zoho and has the capability to work with most systems. We can help you even if you don’t use a CRM at all.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the partner you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

That rule is courtesy of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a law enacted in 1991 to govern phone calls and then updated to include texts and emails. TCPA seeks to protect consumers from receiving unwanted marketing solicitations, and its fines and penalties help ensure businesses take it seriously. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

Fortunately, with a little planning and a savvy text messaging partner like SMS-Magic, you can gain consent, reach out to your customers legally, and keep the necessary records to defend any actions against you. And most importantly, you can establish a relationship with your customers that lets them know you’re not going to fill up their inboxes with unwanted messages.

What Does the TCPA Require?

TCPA guidelines require that you must:

• Receive consent before any message can be sent.
• Mention your company name
• State the coupon or value proposition
• Mention the frequency of messages that will be sent monthly
• Disclose possible carrier costs and fees
• Give an option to ask for help and opt out of future texts

How Can You Approach Customers to Gain Consent?

Remember: You can’t text until you have permission. So don’t even think about buying a list of phone numbers and starting without consent. But if you play by the rules, where can you solicit customers for your text marketing campaign?

In a recent blog post, we provided a list of 20 ways to attract new customers to your texting campaigns and there are many more. As you design your campaigns to grow your text marketing list, you can include the initial TCPA information your customer needs in a small text block on the emails, trade show materials, business cards, product packaging, or other marketing materials. Here’s an example of how you can structure that text for a fictitious pizza restaurant:

Headline: Want Great Pizza Deals Sent Directly to Your Phone?

Subhead: Text CHEESE to 999999 to Start Receiving Weekly Offers

Graphics: Include your logo or other graphic

Small text: Message and data rates may apply. Max 5 msgs/mo. Consent not required to buy goods/svcs. Terms and conditions at pizzastore.com/terms. Privacy policy at pizzastore.com/privacy. For help, text HELP to 555111. To opt-out, text STOP to 555111.

If your company requires additional legal text for offers such as “May not be combined with other offers” or “Limited time only,” you can include the necessary text in the small text block. Notice that you can provide the web address for terms and conditions and your privacy policy. If your customers have questions, you’ve given them a resource for answers. You’ve even provided information about opting out before they need it.

Consider Using a Double Opt-In

Let’s assume your customer has opted into receiving text messages from your company with the offer we’ve just discussed above. They’ve texted CHEESE to your short code. Now what happens?

Simple. You automatically send them a confirmation text immediately. In that first message, you can provide some valuable information to them and keep yourself legal.

Here’s an example of the confirmation text:

Please reply YES to receive updates from the Pizza Store. Std. msg&data rates apply. Max 5 msgs/month. Reply HELP for help, STOP to cancel.

You’ve repeated your company’s name and asked your customers to confirm that they want to receive texts from you. You’ve provided a reminder about possible texting charges. You’ve told them how many messages to expect, and you’ve given them the tools to ask for help or stop the messages. And you’ve done all of this in seconds without disturbing your customer.

Extend an Offer

Of course, you can offer a special deal, coupon, discount or promotion with either the first touch or the confirmation text. Often, this type of extra incentive will prompt customers to opt in right away by providing a sense of urgency.

In the first example above, the Pizza Store could have offered an immediate discount with the promise of more to come via text messages throughout the month. Adding an incentive would only require a slight rewrite of the copy.

Be careful, however, how you word your incentive. Don’t use a vague statement like “Text us to receive a 10% discount.” Instead, be clear about what the customer must do to earn the discount. This is better: “Get 10% off when you join our SMS text list.”

Test, Test, Test

Your text campaigns will require thoughtful planning, and it will be easy to figure out what’s working and what’s not. Texts are immediate. You won’t have to wait long to determine if your appeals are successful or not. Adjustments are easy to make when you have data driving your decisions.

So, plan some A/B testing with email appeals for your text messaging lists. You can determine which email subject lines and body copy prompt the most customers to opt in. And as you build your text messaging lists, you can do similar testing to see what campaigns produce the best results. The beauty of text messaging campaigns is their immediacy.

Keeping Track of Who Opted In and Who Opted Out

You’ll also need to keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out, as well as who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times. SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze, particularly if you have tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, finance or others, we’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you how SMS-Magic can help you build and automate your text messaging lists!

In the three years since it took effect, however, it’s become clear that all businesses, regardless of size, need to understand what the GDPR requires. The EU is serious about enforcing its provisions.

The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined WhatsApp €225 million, the Luxembourg National DPC has fined Amazon £630 million, and the Italian DPA has fined Deliveroo €2.5 million, among many other fines levied for non-compliance. Although these fines may be negligible to multinationals, smaller companies could be devastated by them. Smaller companies and individuals are not exempt from harsh penalties and the costs associated with defending the charges.

SMS-Magic can help you understand the privacy risks you run, and we can help you manage your text messaging programs. Our products are designed to make it easier to comply with GDPR regulations.

Who is Affected by GDPR?

Of course, companies that conduct business in the EU are directly affected by the GDPR rules. But so are companies with customers in the EU. That could be you. Also, your company might be affected if someone living in the EU visits your website and allows you to install cookies on their computer. The more contact you have with people in the EU, the more risk you assume.

You might not do business in the EU and no one from the EU has visited your website or ordered a product from you. That doesn’t give you a pass.

You still must be aware of the worldwide repercussions from the regulation. GDPR was just the first international privacy legislation, not the last. Other countries, like Brazil, have followed suit with their own versions of privacy regulations, as has the state of California. And three years in, the EU has modified the GDPR to include broader responsibility for managing data safely.

Chances are even the smallest businesses that are active on the web will be affected. How familiar are you with the GDPR?

GDPR’s Seven Principles for Privacy Rights

The GDPR is based on seven basic tenets:

1. Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency: personal data shall be processed lawfully, with fairness to the data subject, and fully transparent. 
2. Purpose Limitation: The organization shall process personal data concerning the contract or business operation, which are explicit or specified before processing. 
3. Data Minimization: data shall not be held or processed further than is required for the purpose.
4. Accuracy: data must be updated, rectified, or erased if inaccurate. 
5. Storage Limitation: you cannot keep personal data longer than necessary; your data retention must have a deletion time.
6. Integrity and Confidentiality: all personal data must be kept secure and protected against theft, accidental loss, unlawful processing, or damage.
7. Accountability: Organizations must be able to demonstrate that they put appropriate technical and organizational safeguards in place.

What’s New with the GDPR in 2021?

As the EU has updated the GDPR, you need to know what’s changed:

1. All parties who have access to customer data are responsible for data security. When data leaves your company, the company that receives it is also responsible for it as a “joint controller.”
2. Special data-collection rules between the EU and US have expired. If you handle data from the EU, you must include standard GDPR contractual clauses in your terms and conditions.
3. When collecting data, you must have clear and explicit consent for which data you collect and process. You can’t restrict access to your website by requiring a user to accept cookies.

Privacy Regulations Are Here To Stay

If you thought you could simply wait out the implementation of the GDPR and fly under the radar, you might need to rethink your strategy. GDPR is not going away. Indeed, as we mentioned earlier, more countries, states and territories are devising their own privacy regulations.

So perhaps it’s time to review your company’s data collection and processing practices. As part of that review, you should review your vendors’ privacy practices, as well. As a joint controller, your vendors can help you comply or can help put you in harm’s way. At SMS-Magic, we are your partner and have developed our systems to help you comply with privacy regulations.

Tracking Explicit Consent

With the changes to the GDPR, you must keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out of your text marketing campaigns. You must have explicit consent to collect and process a customer’s personal information. You’ll also need to track who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times, and you’ll need to be able to erase a person’s data from all parts of your system, if requested.

SMS-Magic can make compliance easy, particularly if you’ve tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, finance or others, we’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Protecting privacy is a complicated question, but with the right partner, the answer can be simple. Let SMS-Magic help you reach your customers while you’re protecting their privacy.

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

We’ve got tons of suggestions. But first, let’s make sure we spell out what express written consent means.

You must have express written consent before your company can legally send text messages to anyone. That means more than just asking for their phone number. It doesn’t matter who it is – an existing customer, a former client, a trade-show lead, or someone on a purchased marketing list. Before that first message goes out, your customer must say it’s okay.

The U.S. Congress created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to combat unsolicited phone calls. Through the years, however, it has expanded to include new technologies like text messaging. It contains specific restrictions and penalties that companies ignore at their peril. The fines can be as much as $1,500 per message sent. In one of the first class-action lawsuits concerning texting, Papa John’s settled the case against it for $16.5 million in 2013.

What do you need to include in your messages asking for express written consent? Our recent blog will give you the details for your calls to action.

Here are our suggestions for gaining express written consent while abiding by TCPA regulations:

Trade Show Touches

If you regularly exhibit at trade shows, you can promote your text messaging program to prospects,  existing clients and lapsed clients with your booth signage. A stand-alone sign or banner can provide the initial instructions, and your text messaging program can automatically handle the exchange when the customer responds.

Business Cards

If you use business cards at trade shows or other business meetings, you can include initial instructions for opting into your messaging campaign on the business card.

Product Packaging

Include instructions for opting into your messaging campaign on product packaging, shopping bags, tote bags, napkins, or other peripheral materials you regularly give to customers.

Coupons & Discounts

You can offer coupons and discounts if someone signs up for your SMS marketing program, but be careful how you word your offer. Make sure you explain the coupon or discount is only available if they sign up to receive SMS marketing messages from you. So “A 20% discount is available when you join our text messaging list” is okay. “Text us to get a 20% discount” is not.

Emails

If you have permission to email your customers, you can send instructions for opting into your messaging campaign. Be sure to take care in the wording when you offer a discount, coupon or added bonus in your email.

Website

Pop-up windows on your website can prompt users to opt into your messaging program. You can also include information on static web pages that have high traffic.

Contests

Start a contest that includes opting into your texting program. Social media channels work well for this type of customer interaction.

Social Media

Use your social media channels to extend your offer.

Online Ads

Include your offer in online ad campaigns.

Signage, Point of Purchase

If you have a physical location that your customers visit, include your text messaging offer on store signage or point-of-purchase materials. Using a short code phone number can make it easy for a customer to respond.

Customer Receipts

Print your offer on customer receipts or include them on email receipts.

Radio, Television, Newspaper

Media that’s not online can provide a receptive, if different, audience.

Billboards

Drivers don’t have much time to read a billboard, so use clever short codes so that they can remember how to respond. Short codes, unlike long codes, use five or six digits to send a text. Sending “opt-in” to CHEESE could get you extra toppings on your next pizza.

Blogs

Include an opt-in message in all your blogs. Or create pop-up windows that appear while someone is reading a blog. You can provide a special white paper or case study as a premium for opting in. As with coupons and discounts, be careful how you word the offer.

Yard Signs

Yard signs are not just for homeowners. You can use them on your business property to encourage customers, clients or patients to sign up for text messaging.

Tee Shirts

Clever text on your team’s tee shirts can help spread the word at trade shows, charity events or community projects. Short codes would be a great way to keep the message brief.

What Should Happen After a Customer Opts-In

After your customer has opted-in, you’ll want to send a text confirming their participation. In that text, you can mention all the information they need to make an informed decision, such as what they can expect to receive, how often messages will arrive, applicable message and data rates, who you are, and how to opt out. That isn’t a complete list of the information you need to share, but you can find a list in our recent blog. Products like SMS-Magic can help you automate the messages that follow an offer response. What could be easier?

Keeping Track of Who Opted In and Who Opted Out

You’ll need to keep track of who has opted in and who has opted out, as well as who is already in the system to keep one person from opting in multiple times. SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze, particularly if you have tied your text messaging campaigns into your CRM. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, finance or others, we’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

Seemingly simple requests, like a request to opt out of communications, can sometimes have expensive consequences. Fines for illegal text messages can range from $500 per text to $1,500. If you’re sending thousands of texts, fines can quickly become overwhelming due to non compliance.

More than that, however, is the desire to build trust between your company and your customers. Customers these days want a transparent look into your motives and methods. Asking permission before you send a text and honoring requests to stop sending texts are small ways to demonstrate transparency and care for your customer.

Michael Weinhouse, founder and co-CEO of Logical Position, wrote in a Forbes leadership article, “But as scary as the idea of transparency might seem, I know from experience that, in the long run, it’s good not only for your customers but also for your business. In addition to attracting new customers, transparency allows you to better serve your current ones, ensuring they stick with you.”

We think asking customers to opt into your messaging program will help make the world (and your business) a better place. It demonstrates the kind of respect we all want.

What Are the Rules?

In the United States, commercial text messages are governed by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The Federal Communications Commission established the act in 1992 to slow the stream of unwanted telemarketing calls. In the subsequent years, the TCPA has been expanded to include text messages, too.

Here is a quick guide from law firm Whitfield Bryson LLP outlining what is not allowed under the TCPA:

• Unsolicited Text Messages – businesses are not allowed to text consumers without their permission. If a consumer gives permission for texts, the first text you send to them should confirm their permission.

• Requesting Payment – businesses may not request payment or additional identifying information before revealing the actual message.

• Scrambled Messages – businesses must send readable texts. They may not scramble the message or use unintelligible audio.

• Do Not Call Registry – businesses must respect the Do Not Call registry established by the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

• Robocalling & Automated Dialing – businesses may not use robocalling to generate phone numbers or send text messages.

• Restrictions for Residential Numbers – businesses may no longer use an “established business relationship” as the basis for texting someone’s home number. That includes mobile phones that are used as home numbers.

So what should you do? Here are suggestions from Gleantap, a customer management platform created for the fitness industry:

• Receive consent before any message is sent
• Mention your company name in the first text
• Give the coupon or value proposition upfront
• Mention the frequency of messages that will be sent monthly
• Disclose possible carrier costs and fees
• Give an option to ask for help and opt out of future texts

How Can SMS-Magic Help You?

Our customers use messaging in a wide variety of applications in a wide variety of industries. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, healthcare or others – SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze. We’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!