Text marketing is an affordable and stunningly effective way for organizations to create closer relationships with their customers and employees, and with message open rates of 98%, it’s hard to refute the proven communication benefits of texting. But there’s a price for admission to texting’s Land of Effective Engagement and that price is called “Compliance.”
There are four primary regulations that everyone exploring text message marketing should be familiar with. These regulations exist to help guide compliant messages and are not dissimilar to the rules governing most industries — they not only keep customers safe, but protect the health of the growing text marketing industry as a whole. A simple understanding of these regulations can save you some real financial heartache as messages sent in violation of, for example, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) could be quite costly, running between $500 and $1,500 per message sent.
It’s an iceberg easily avoided if you make yourself familiar with the basic details of the four text message privacy laws outlined below.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
The TCPA was passed in 1991 by the United States Congress and put forth into law by President George H. W. Bush. The legislation controls the use of “automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice, SMS text messages, and fax machines.”
This law is directly regulated by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Also according to this law, companies must obtain written consent from receiving parties prior to sending a text.
Below are regulations your business needs to comply with according to the TCPA:
- Inform the recipient of your business, organization, or nonprofit’s name
- Inform them of what kind of messages they will receive
- State how many texts they should expect each month
- Notify the recipient of involved cost of any associated fees
- inform recipients how to opt-out if they no longer wish to receive texts
The UK’s Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations
The United Kingdom put privacy and electronic communications regulations into place to provide consumers privacy rights specific to electronic communications. The regulations cover electronic marketing messages, electronic communication with the public, and the use of cookies, including:
- Unsolicited marketing calls, emails, faxes, and texts
- Ensuring secure communication services
- “Cooking” (alongside similar technologies)
- Customer privacy relating to traffic and location data, line identification, directory listings, and itemized billing
Violators of the above regulations are subject to criminal prosecution, audit, and non-criminal enforcement. These punishments may also lead to fines up to £500,000 directly served against the business or its directors. The regulations under the Privacy and Electronic Communication Regulation constantly evolve, with new revisions added throughout each year.
CAN-SPAM Act Compliance
The CAN-SPAM Act, put forth by the Federal Trade Commission, prohibits businesses and organizations sending advertisements and promotions for a product or service without consent from the recipient. The act also includes all commercial messaging such as, “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service.” Additional requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act include:
- Don’t use deceptive subject lines
- Don’t use misleading or incorrect information in the header
- Clearly label the message as an ad
- Let recipients know the location of your business or organization
- Inform recipients of how to opt-out of the text messages
- Honor requests to opt-out promptly
- Actively monitor messages sent on your behalf
The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
The GDPR put forth by the European Union requires all businesses to protect the privacy and data of citizens within transactions. The protection of these transactions extends to every state of the EU and regulates the export of personal data outside of the union. Under the GDPR, the European Union requires businesses to:
- Obtain consent from subjects for data processing
- Notify subjects in the case of a data breach
- Anonymizing all collected data
- Appoint a data protection officer
- Handle the transfer of data across borders safely
As one of the most powerful direct marketing solutions in the world, text marketing can help your business, organization, or nonprofit expand safely and effectively. By educating yourself about these regulations, you’ll stay ahead of the curve, creating top-notch text campaigns and driving incredible engagement.
