SMS marketing is one of the fastest ways to increase customer engagement, with 80% of consumers reading and responding to texts within 30 minutes. But you can't just buy a contact list and start messaging everyone. There are processes you must follow to ship in compliance SMS marketing messages. Done right, you'll be able to ensure that customers and regulators alike like the messages you send. This article will help you do that.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice, but I've worked with tens of thousands of businesses on this over the past decade.

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The TCPA and the FCC: What They Mean for You

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) implements and enforces communications law in America. They passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 to prohibit businesses from using automated telephone machines to call random customers. They have since passed updates and clarifications about how organizations can – or can't – send messages to consumers. The main relationships are:

• Contacts must explicitly opt-in to receive texts from your organization

• You must instruct contacts how to opt out of receiving texts from your organization

• If they back off, you should stop texting

You can get an opt-in permission if the contacts have had a previous business relationship with you (they bought something or contacted about the purchase), but it's better to ask the contacts to specifically opt-in to SMS marketing messages .

Mobile carriers and 10DLC registration

Mobile carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, and their telecommunications partners, want to make sure their customers only receive text messages they want to receive and that come from legitimate organizations (ie carriers are trying to get rid of spam- etc.). It's a tall order, but they've done a lot to get there. The most important step they have taken is to implement “Registration 10 DLC.” This is a fancy term for registering your business's phone numbers so you can send messages over their networks. To do this, you'll need:

• Your company information, including employer ID

• The phone number you will use to send and receive messages

• Your use case for messaging

• Examples of text messages to send

• Evidence of how contacts are selected

You will need to submit this information to Campaign Log and wait for approval to start sending messages. Once approved, you are welcome to start sending SMS campaigns. (A messaging service should handle the 10DLC registration for you).

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Get contacts to choose

The two easiest ways to get in touch select SMS messages are:

To get contacts to message you, you'll usually want to use a keyword and a the promotion. For example, you can promote “Subscribe to SMS messages for 20% off your next purchase. Text DEAL to (our number) to subscribe.” Your messaging service should enable an auto-reply to confirm they've opted in and share the discount code and add them to a keyword-specific contact list. You can also get contacts to send you messages by replacing “Text or call us…” on your website.

On contact forms, make sure you have a form field for their mobile number. Then add opt-in language to your form, such as: “By submitting this form, you give (the company) permission to contact you through the information provided, including SMS marketing messages and updates.”

Send SMS campaigns that contacts actually like

You need to make sure that people really like the messages you send them. This creates a better customer experience and prevents them from opting out. Successful SMS marketing campaign are:

• relevant — based on what subscribers have chosen

• In time — seasonal promotions, last-minute opportunities or reminders

• Clear and convincing – they tell you what to get and how to get it

Stick to it, and your SMS marketing campaigns should keep up (and increase revenue).

Avoid carrier spam filters

Like email, mobile carriers have spam filters, looking for things that are common in messages they've previously labeled as spam. Things that trigger carrier spam filters include:

• Too many emojis (one or two tend to be fine)

• Use of the dollar sign ($), especially multiples

• Sending shortened or Bitly links (clients can't see where the link goes)

• Ending a message in a URL (has some text after it)

• Reports the length of emails

• Too many typos

• ALL CAPS

It's possible to get away with any of these, but the more you have and the higher the sending volume, the more likely you are to be flagged as a nuisance mailer and potentially blocked. You want to avoid it.

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Grow and trim your contact list

In order to see the most success, you need to constantly accumulate new SMS subscribers and you also need to weed out – for lack of a better term – bad subscribers. Occasionally, someone enters the wrong number or a phone number that cannot receive messages (such as a landline). Those messages will not be sent and it damages your reputation with the operators, so remove them.

Also, you will inevitably have someone try to back off by replying something like “leave me alone” or “don't text me”. These responses will not trigger unsubscribe automations, but you should remove them. This creates a better one customer experienceand it also proves to mobile operators that the messages you're sending are good and wanted, which improves delivery rates.

The best time to start anything that helps your business is sooner rather than later. SMS marketing is no exception. And by following the tips in this article, you can send consistent SMS marketing campaigns that create a benefit for your business.