SMS Marketing Services Help
SMS stands for Short Message Service and are generally 160 character texts sent between mobile devices. SMS uses a unique network that alerts the recipient the next the message arrives. SMS is an extremely fast and personal communication method on par with a telephone call in perceived trust.
SMS marketing is the practice of building lists of mobile numbers than sending SMS advertising messages to those lists. Lists may be built in many ways but you can find compliance rules set by the ACMA on how people consent to be opted into your lists. Unsolicited commercial messages sent to someone is called spam and is illegal under the Australian Spam Act 2003. Mobile marketers usually use an online SMS system to deal with the SMS sending process. These bulk SMS systems range in price and functionality. The best SMS marketing platforms have a good combination of cheap SMS and web SMS features. Ensure you only deal with a reputable SMS gateway as delivery reliability may vary a whole lot.
The idea behind consent is the fact that the recipient should want to receive your message and find it useful when they do. You will find two kinds of consent.
An opt-in checkbox on a web subscribe form. This checkbox must not be checked by default, the individual completing the form must willingly select the checkbox to indicate they want to hear from you.
If somebody completes an offline form like a survey or enters a competition, you may only contact them if it was explained to them that they can be contacted by email And they ticked a box indicating they will like to be contacted.
Customers that have purchased from you in the last 2 years.
If someone provides you with their business card and also you have explained to them that you're going to be in touch, you can contact them. Whenever they dropped their business card in a fishbowl at a trade show, there has to be a sign indicating they're going to be contacted by SMS.
The recipient has to be clearly aware that he or she may receive commercial messages later on. You can't send an electronic message to seek consent: this is in itself a commercial message, since it seeks to set up a business relationship. Keep a record of consent, you may need to prove it later.
Through an existing business relationship. If an organisation has a substantial relationship with the owner of the number such as a club member or service subscriber receiving messages may be implied.
Through conspicuous publication of a work-related number.
Consent could also be implied by the publishing of numbers on web sites, in magazines or any other publications. The recipient must be identified as relevant to your message. eg if you want to send details about a technology product the recipient has to be identified as the IT manager. If there's a statement that unsolicited commercial messages are not wanted you're not able to infer consent.
Developing a mobile marketing list should be done with care and good intention. As mobile numbers and SMS are a very personal way to communicate, people don't want to receive messages from you that waste their time and also are not relevant. By opting people in correctly and only sending them relevant and useful messages will they stay on your list.