Compliance is a big deal in the world of text marketing. Here's a step-by-step guide. We highly recommend reading it before sending any messages.
The reason it's a big deal is because no one likes spam. And there are a lot of laws in place to prevent it! The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)) and the wireless carriers’ trade association, the CTIA, have rules that companies must follow when using text marketing. These include:
Obtaining express written consent in response to a TCPA compliant disclosure before sending promotional texts (see our guide to understanding express written consent for more on this)
Disclosing your identity, the message frequency, how to opt out, and how to get help
Noting that recipients could incur message and data charges
How We Simplify Your Compliance
We want to help you remain TCPA compliant, so as a simple reminder when it comes to text marketing, it’s imperative that the recipient of the message has given you prior express written consent in response to a clear and conspicuous disclosure that they are agreeing to receive (a) marketing/promotional messages from you (b) sent by an autodialer and (c) their agreement to receive the message is not conditioned on any purchase.
Fortunately, we provide you with tools to help you obtain TCPA-compliant express consent if you choose to secure consent from your customers via the Simple Texting platform.
Once you’ve made sure you have TCPA compliant consent, we will help you make your CTIA compliance automatic. The first time a new contact receives a message from you, we'll send your CTIA disclosures in a free compliance text.
We're the only SMS marketing company to allow you to send your separate standalone compliance text free of charge. Others try to squeeze it in to your message, cutting away at your character count.
This message does not ask contacts to confirm their consent—because they should have already given it to you. It simply includes the necessary disclosures required by the CTIA.
What Does The CTIA Compliance Message Say?
The compliance message contains all the info required by the CTIA. Here’s an example:
You've agreed to receive messages from [Company Name]. Reply STOP to unsubscribe or HELP for help. Msg&Data rates may apply.
The company name in your compliance message can be adjusted by selecting the Settings button in the lower-left side of your account screen.
Then, go to Organization.
There, you can edit both the organization name along with the phone number that is sent to customers who text the word "HELP" to your SimpleTexting number.
Here is an example of the message that people receive if they text the word HELP to your SimpleTexting number:
Need help? Call 5551234567. Msg&data rates may apply. No more than 10 msg/month. Reply STOP to cancel.