While SMS can be an incredibly efficient communication channel to reach customers, it's also the most private one, which is why it's subject to different regulations than most marketing platforms.
Navigating the landscape of FCC text message regulations is critical for any business that relies on SMS to communicate with customers. To keep your business compliant and avoid hefty fines, your enterprise needs to follow the most recent regulations and establish workflows to learn about recent updates if necessary.
We're here to take some of that burden off your shoulders by walking you through the most critical requirements, such as properly obtaining customer consent, clear opt-out instructions and maintaining accurate records. Implementing SMS best practices not only helps you avoid penalties but also safeguard your business reputation. So, let's learn how to create an SMS strategy that's an asset, not a risk.
Overview Of FCC Rules And Regulations Affecting Text Marketing
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates texting and voice calls to protect consumers from unlawful text messages. These regulations ensure businesses use text messaging responsibly and legally.
Although the FCC regularly updates its requirements, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) remains a key regulation business owners need to be aware of. Other regulations and organizations to know about include:
- Campaign Registration: Your text messaging campaigns regardless of channel (10DLC, Toll-Free, Short Code) must be registered and approved in the US. Swift SMS Gateway as a CSP (Campaign Service Provider) will vet your approvals through mobile carriers to ensure you are not blocked as SPAM.
- Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association: The CTIA is a trade group representing wireless carriers. As such, it conducts regular audits and can shut down shortcodes and long codes for violations, even if your business isn't in violation of TCPA rules.
- CAN-SPAM Act: Although it's mainly concerned with email spam, the CAN-SPAM Act addresses the same type of behavior in text messaging.
- State-Specific Regulations: Depending on your business's or your recipients location, additional local laws may apply, examples being the California Consumer Privacy Act or the Florida Telemarketing Act.
As a business, you also need to factor in SMS surcharges on commercial text messaging, which may differ depending on your mobile carrier and location.
However, the FCC and other organizations keep reviewing their guidelines to adequately protect SMS recipients and consider new patterns in consumer behavior and spammers' strategies. In late 2023, the FCC announced new amendments to address robotexts and robocalls — a change that was already implemented in February 2024.
New FCC rules are regularly proposed to address emerging technologies and practices. While the recent proposals mostly focused on robotexts, they also repeatedly discussed the different ways of giving and revoking consent.
As a rule, those regulations try to enforce decent and courteous behavior. If you're not trying to game the system, staying compliant is probably less of an issue. For those rare niche cases and detailed rules, it's still important to keep up with the latest changes. We always make sure to discuss recent FCC updates here on the blog, but when in doubt, you should always go straight to the source.
This ensures your marketing strategies remain compliant with federal regulations.
Main Rules To Follow For Text Messaging Compliance
While you'll encounter different sets of rules from one regulation to the next, some are widespread, so it's good to make them a core part of your SMS strategy and to understand the reasoning behind them.
The TCPA's primary aim is to protect consumers from unwanted communications, ensuring that businesses engage in responsible and respectful marketing practices. If you would feel unnatural saying your message's content out loud to a client in person or on the phone, there's a good chance you may need to rethink your strategy.
As a rule, the TCPA places strict limits on the use of automated systems to send texts or make calls. Businesses must ensure that their automated marketing efforts comply with these restrictions to avoid legal issues. The cornerstone of the TCPA is obtaining consent. Before sending any marketing messages or informational updates, every organization must secure express written consent from consumers. This consent must be clear, unambiguous and obtained in a manner that is verifiable.
Since the idea of consent entails not only agreeing to being contacted but understanding what type of content you'll receive, enterprises must clearly inform consumers about their SMS strategy, ensuring that consent is both informed and explicit.
Types of TCPA Consent
First, consent is related to the person your business is contacting, not the communication channel. For your enterprise, that still means you should specify the way in which you'd like to contact them to be as transparent as possible.
Most regulations will also specify the type of consent for staying compliant. While implied consent was previously not regulated by the TCPA, it has recently added very specific rules around express consent. If a client willingly enters their contact information in a form after a visit at your office but doesn't explicitly agree to receiving marketing communications, this action could be considered implied consent. However, this type of consent is riskier and less reliable to comply with most regulations.
In 2023, the FCC approved a new ruling to address those gaps. Since then, marketers and businesses need to obtain consumers' express written consent. That means, the customer needs to specifically authorize your business to send marketing messages.
Examples of Valid Methods To Obtain Consumer Consent
- A signed form agreeing to receive marketing texts.
- A checkbox on a web form that is not pre-checked, with a clear statement about receiving texts.
- A text message from the consumer responding with a keyword like "YES" after receiving an initial consent request.
Every marketing text message must include a clear and simple way for recipients to opt out of future messages. This transparency is not just a compliance issue but also a trust-building practice with your audience.
You should also implement some workflows to respectfully handle opt-out requests as soon as they come in:
- Immediately remove opted-out contacts from your marketing lists.
- Send a confirmation message to acknowledge the opt-out request.
- Regularly update your contact lists to ensure no opted-out individuals are inadvertently contacted again.
While the temptation to have a bigger list is understandable, nothing will hurt business more than contacting someone who has specifically told you they're not interested.
Also, to avoid overwhelming consumers, businesses must adhere to guidelines regarding their messages timing, frequency and content:
- Message campaign timing: Do not send marketing texts before 8 AM or after 9 PM in the recipient's time zone.
- Messaging frequency: Limit the number of messages sent to a reasonable amount to avoid being perceived as spam.
- Truthful and non-deceptive content: All text messages must be honest and not misleading. False advertising can lead to consumer mistrust and legal penalties.
- Clear identification: Messages should clearly identify the business or brand sending the message.
- Purpose of the message: Ensure the purpose of the message is clear, whether it's promotional, informational or transactional.
By following these rules, your business can effectively use text messaging as a powerful marketing tool while remaining compliant with FCC regulations. Regularly reviewing these guidelines and staying updated with any changes in regulations will help maintain a respectful and legally sound communication strategy.
Best Practices To Prevent Text Message Blocking
A well thought out long-term strategy is the only way to avoid legal consequences and possibly irreversible reputational damage to your brand. Transparency is key. Always tell customers what kind of messages they'll receive and how often. Create a clear plan for your SMS marketing, focusing on legal compliance first.
Make sure to get clear consent before sending any texts, and consider the opt-in and opt-out methods legally required for your location and those which customers might appreciate. You'll want to document all consents and use tools to manage them efficiently. Also, consider the types of text messages you're planning to send, as promotional SMS will be subject to different legislative requirements than informational messages.
Creating Clear and Effective Opt-Out Instructions for Consent Revocation
The most common opt-out method is the "STOP" command, where consumers can reply with "STOP" to unsubscribe from future messages. Other variations like "UNSUBSCRIBE" or "CANCEL" are also acceptable as long as they are clearly communicated and easy to use.
Whichever format you choose, make opt-out instructions straightforward and easy to follow. Here are some examples:
- "Reply STOP to unsubscribe."
- "Text CANCEL to 12345 to opt-out."
- "To unsubscribe from future SMS, reply "UNSUBSCRIBE."
Since your campaign will most likely be subject to several regulations, it's advisable to regularly audit your SMS marketing practices to ensure compliance. Use a checklist to review consent records, message content and frequency.
For bigger organizations, compliance is not only a matter of software choices but also of training. You want to set up the right systems and train employees on recent regulations so that it's easy and natural for every team member to use your marketing tools in a compliant way. Whenever regulations change drastically, those changes should also prompt internal training to support everyone in staying updated. This ensures that your team knows how to handle SMS marketing properly.
For more on creating a comprehensive SMS marketing plan, check out SMS Marketing 101: A Comprehensive Guide to Promotional Text Messaging.
SMS Compliance Doesn't Need To Be Hard. Start Sending Text Messages Customers Enjoy Today.
When you're first looking into regulatory compliance for SMS marketing, it can often feel overwhelming. It's important to remind yourself that you don't need any in-depth technical knowledge to send compliant messages.
For the sake of your customers and your business reputation, you'll want to stay on top of recent regulatory changes. However, if you approach texting with the intention of serving clients, most laws will feel like a natural extension of what you're already doing.
Here at Swift SMS Gateway, we've had a strong focus on regulatory compliance from day one, helping our clients send messages their customers enjoy.
If you'd like to confidently send messages without worrying about legal compliance, book a demo today and have one of our technical experts walk you through all the details.
