Text messaging is an invaluable tool to connect with your customers and it has some complexity when it comes to the regulation and mandates surrounding a customer’s right to privacy and also your right to contact them via text messaging. TCPA is one of the major parts that you need to be careful of while sending text messages during customer outreach. TCPA is an important law that you, or your marketing team, need to know before getting started with SMS marketing. At this time most innovative companies out there want to connect with the customer using SMS and text message to grow sales.
What is TCPA and how we apply to SMS marketing?
The telephone consumer protection(TCPA) act is affected and signed in the year 1991. It dictates how and when businesses connect with customers or consumers. It provides protection on unsolicited calls and texts message to cell phones. It can protect consumers from unregulated use of their personal information.
30 years later most brands of all shapes and sizes are looking for a way to connect with their customer through SMS and text message for their brand marketing. That because text message has more than 98% read rate. That read rate is much higher than email marketing where a good average open rate is 20% and click rate is about 2-5%. This makes a great marketing channel for so many brands where you talk to customers through text message.
There are two section, section 4 and section 5 that defines what apply most to brands looking to use SMS marketing.
Section 4: The term “telephone solicitation”, means the initiation of a message or telephone call to encourage your customer to the purchase or freight of, or investment in property, goods, or services, which is transmitted to any person. But these terms do not include a call or message to-
(A) any person with that person’s prior express invitation or permission
(B) to any person with whom the caller has established a business relationship.
(C) Or by a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
Section 5: The term “unsolicited advertisement” means any material for your brand advertising like commercial availability or quality of any assets, goods, or service which is transmitted to any person without their prior express invitation or permission in writing or otherwise.
Again, the TCPA’s only goal is to protect the consumers and businesses from unsolicited advertisements. For brands, it means that you cannot send an unsolicited marketing text message to consumers without their consent. Consumers give their information to you via a website where it is clear what type of information is used. Its sounds pretty simple except for unsubscribes, and a variety of other rules and regulation.
Penalties for violating TCPA:
So, when you violating or break the law of TCPA you will be fined a lot of money. They can fine you in the range of $500-$1500 per violation.
TCPA Compliance Requirements:
TCPA mandates that your employee firstly writes a secure consent from customers before sending them a text message and honor opt-outs. It also tells that your businesses are completely transparent when advertising your texting services. Simply stated that the purpose of both the U.S. regulatory and telecommunication industry rules that govern businesses and organizations.
To achieve SMS compliance, your business must have-
Point out your texting service clearly:
Whenever a company want to connect with the customer, customer need every information what they are signing up for before they opt into your business SMS program. When you want to send SMS so you have to publicize SMS service, list the content you want to send to the customers, frequency you want to contact customer and reasons why customer reach out to your team.
Opt-in compliance when texting:
One of the most important requirements of TCPA is that your team need to obtain opt in before texting them. Opt in are simply a written consent. Customer can text your business a certain keyword for e.g. “START, SUBSCRIBE etc.” Opt ins are very important when a customer text you first, then your team can answer the questions without opting them in your service. You cannot reach the customers without securing that digitally written opt in.
Opt out compliance for your customer:
Customers must have an option to opt-out of your texting service at any point. Customers must be able to text you a simple certain keyword e.g. (“STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, etc.” or other standard opt-out keywords) when they want to stop receiving a text from your team. Your business text messaging platform should do automatically opt-out of those customers and add them to an opt-out list.
How Text Messaging Cloud can help customers in USA comply with TCPA?
Text messaging can help you to reach your customer in a fast and cost-effective way because its read rate is 95%+. That said, In the USA you need to understand TCPA messaging guidelines for compliance before you take advantage of text messaging or SMS marketing campaigns. You need to know that the federal communications commission(FCC) is the apex body in the US for regulating Communication by satellite, wire, radio, television, and cable, so also text messaging marketing falls in its territory.
With CRM text messaging cloud, you can easily use to manage SMS and deploy the setup for conversational messaging for your business in the USA. Using text messaging cloud, you can connect with your consumers and can provide the best services to them. We have provided the opt-in and opt-out compliance module to our consumers where they can easily subscribe and unsubscribe to the text business with Opt-in and Opt-out compliance.
