This article is meant to provide a framework for businesses to properly communicate with their customers via text messaging. Please keep in mind we at Heymarket are not your legal counsel and the information presented here is our interpretation of best practices for SMS mass texting. You should consult with your legal counsel to ensure that text messaging process is compliant with applicable law and consistent with industry standards.
There are federal and state regulations surrounding telemarketing communications, namely the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, hereby referred to as TCPA. TCPA places restrictions on telecommunications such as voice calls, SMS texts, and fax to protect consumers from unauthorized communications. Violations of TCPA carry heavy fines of $500 to $1500 per unwanted text message. Consumer consent is an essential defense under the TCPA and should be a primary focus of any business that communicates with consumers and customers directly via text messaging.
This is not meant to scare away businesses from texting their consumers! In recent years, 89% of consumers want to text message with businesses*. However, when mass texting is used incorrectly, consumers feel that messages are unsolicited, irrelevant, useless, and way too frequent. 41% of customers stopped doing business with a company after a poor communications experience**. Don't lose your customers with a poor mass texting experience.
- For more details on how you can use Heymarket for mass texting, click here: Can Heymarket be Used for Mass Texting?
- For best practices on list messaging/mass texting, click here: Best Practices when using lists and campaigns.
*2016 Twilio and Vanson Bourne Mobile Messaging Consumer Survey
**Bridging the Divide, Twilio & Lawless Research