Best practices in SMS marketing campaigns

In order for a recurring SMS mobile marketing campaign to be a success, its plan needs to follow a series of best practices.

It is imperative to respect the wishes of the subscriber. Even though they may have previously requested to be sent SMS messages to enjoy exclusive benefits, for a number of reasons, some consumers decide to stop receiving SMS messages.

On these occasions, you need to use a professional service such as SMS platform for businesses, which guarantees privacy. Complying with regulations doesn’t just involve knowing how to send SMS messages. The Telecommunications Industry Association in the USA has created a manual to help companies to comply with these requirements, called the monitoring handbook. Of all the information provided, two guiding principles are particularly important.

What an SMS marketing campaign should look like.

Potential subscribers to a recurring SMS campaign should be able to subscribe through one of the following systems: through their mobile phone, sending a code in a text message, or filling out a form on the company website. The first method is called mobile opt-in and the second, web opt-in.

With subscription via mobile phone, consumers should receive immediate confirmation that they have been added to the list of subscribers to the SMS campaign, along with the following details:

• The name of the company
• Instructions on how to unsubscribe or ask for help
• How often the consumer will receive messages
• Information on added charges which could occur when the consumer receives an SMS
• A link to the campaign’s terms and conditions and privacy policies.

Managing web-based subscription for an SMS mobile marketing campaign is stricter, considering that anyone could enter somebody else’s details into the website. For this reason it is recommended that there are two steps to the process, dubbed the double opt-in: asking the consumer to confirm their mobile number by responding to an automated text message. If this action isn’t completed, the subscription cannot be finalized. It also prevents your campaign database from becoming bloated with people that have not requested to join it. 

SMS marketing campaigns

In the message generated for the double opt-in, the following information needs to be included:

• The name of the campaign
• How to subscribe
• How often the consumer will receive messages
• Information on added charges which could occur when the consumer receives an SMS.
• Once they have responded to the message confirming their request to subscribe, they should receive another message containing the following information:
• The name of the campaign
• Instructions on how to unsubscribe or ask for help
• A link to the campaign’s terms and conditions and privacy policies.

What to do if you receive a request to unsubscribe or a request for help

The CTIA have set out how requests to UNSUBSCRIBE and for HELP (normally indicated by the words STOP and HELP in English) in an SMS mobile marketing campaign should fulfil good practice guidelines.

If a subscriber asks for help via the number indicated by the campaign, they should receive the following information:

• The name of the campaign
• Instructions on how to unsubscribe
• How often they will receive messages
• Information on added charges which could occur when the consumer receives an SMS.
• If a consumer asks to unsubscribe, their details should be deleted from the campaign’s database and they should be sent a message containing the following information:
• The name of the campaign
• Confirmation that they have unsubscribed correctly.

Together with the CTIA, the MMA (Mobile Marketing Association), which has members all over the world, has also made code of conduct available for its members, which has also been published in Spanish.