SMS Marketing – Should You Buy a List?
Starting an SMS marketing campaign can be a daunting task. Gathering explicit opt ins can take time, as you need to make an investment in advertising. So why not just get a jumpstart and buy a list of mobile numbers from an organisation that already has the opt ins?
You could do that, but it’s probably harder than just getting people to opt in on their own.
Here’s why.
There have been some changes, or updates, to the rules and regulations for direct marketing using electronic media. Organisations and businesses can still use a “soft” opt in if they choose to with their own customers. But when people opt in to accept third party marketing (which would be you if you bought a list from someone), they need to be expressly told who will be marketing to them (by name or specific category) before they sign up.
It’s no longer ok to just use the phrase “third party retail partners” or the like. The regulations also say that only the first third party can use this indirect consent. So you can’t buy a list from someone who bought a list. If you use such a list, you will be in violation of the regulations.
It's Already Happened
The new rules have already been used by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in one high profile case. Better for Country Ltd, the organisation behind the Leave.EU campaign, sent 501,135 SMS messages to people on a list it received “from a third party supplier” according to the ICO.
The messages were considered direct marketing because they were promoting a cause and asking people to take action. Here is the text of one message from the ICO documents:
“Hello, it’s Richard from The Know. Text YES to support our fight to leave the EU or see https://goo.gl/sOS9DU for more info. Reply STOP to opt-out”.
Over the course of the six-month campaign, the ICO received 134 complaints to their 7726 service (you can forward an SMS message to the ICO with the keyword SPAM added using the shortcode 7726 to report it as spam). Another six complaints were made directly to the commissioner.
After an investigation the ICO found that Better for Country did not have permission to send the SMS messages. The people had agreed to a more general opt in with a clause about messages from third parties, but the permission was not explicit enough to cover the messages the Leave.EU campaign sent.
Even though the Commissioner found the company hadn’t deliberately tried to violate the electronic communications regulations, they were responsible for it. In the end, Better for Country was fined £50,000.
What To Do Instead
This is just one example of what can go wrong by trying to take the easy route out by buying a list. Even though the Leave.EU organisation tried to ensure they did everything right (and if you read the full report from the ICO you’ll see they really thought they were complying with the regulations), they still ended up in trouble.
So while running an opt in campaign seems like a lot of work, it’s easier than trying to understand the legal implications of a third party list. There are still regulations for building your own list, but they are much easier to understand.
And in light of the new changes, the ICO has published two new documents. One is a guide specifically for political campaigning. Non-profits and political causes are required to follow the same rules as everyone else. But because of the activities of some organisations, the ICO created the “Guidance on political campaigning” to make the requirements placed on those groups clear.
For everyone else looking to use SMS marketing, they’ve provided the “Direct Marketing” document which outlines everything you need to know to stay compliant with privacy and communications regulations. You can download either document using the links provided or find them on the ICO website.
Related Articles
SMS Opt-In: Why You Want It and How To Get It
The first thing to remember is that legally, you must give the customer the chance to both opt-in and opt-out of your SMS campaign - but the good news is people are happy to opt-in - 49% of them according to a 2014 survey. So all you need to do is stay compliant and follow some basic guidelines to grow your list.
Why You Need a Blacklist and What It Can Teach You
One of the major metrics in SMS marketing is how many people opt in to receive your messages. But there’s a flip side to that metric: how many people opt out. In the ideal world, no one would ever leave your list and instead continue to make purchases or support your organisation for as long as you decide to message them.
4 Simple Steps to Staying Compliant When Using SMS Messaging
Yet another company (Quigley and Carter Limited) have been fined by the ICO for not having permission to send SMS messages. In this case, they had outsourced their marketing to a third party who then sent messages on their behalf. So is staying compliant with the regulations regarding SMS messaging so difficult? It doesn’t have to be.
A Demonstration on How Not to Build Your SMS List
Over the last month or so I've signed up for quite a lot of webinars. I'm always trying to learn more about technology, marketing, best practices – you get the idea. So I've been excited to see many organisations offering SMS reminders for webinars. But there is one experience I had with an SMS reminder for a webinar that I simply had to share.
What You Can Learn About SMS Marketing from These 7 Companies
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued seven monetary penalties against companies this year. We’ve read through them all – so you don’t have to – and discovered two lessons every company should learn about SMS marketing if they want to be successful.
3 Compliance Tips for Your Next SMS Marketing Campaign
When conducting an SMS marketing campaign, there are a number of compliance regulations you should be aware of, to ensure that your communications are as effective as possible, without being potentially damaging to your campaign or your business. If you're marketing to a UK market, the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) gives clear guidelines on what falls within the rules. Here we've highlighted some key tips to ensure your next campaign is compliant, based on common questions that arise.
3 Important SMS Marketing Concepts You Need to Know
If you are looking to get going with SMS marketing it's worth learning a bit about the "tricks of the trade" so you avoid the common pitfalls and get off on the right foot. Read about three important marketing concepts that will maximise your success in this venture.
What Your Customers Want From SMS Marketing
Mobile marketing offers an unprecedented access to your customers virtually any time, anywhere. This is particularly true for SMS marketing because it is “always on”. Customers don’t have to be surfing the web, or using an app to receive messages. Instead, they see the marketing messages right alongside ones from their friends and family.
5 Key Points to Ensure Your SMS Marketing is GDPR Compliant
Can You Use SMS for “Cold Calling”?
Does the thought of cold calling fill you with dread? You might think it would be easier to use SMS messaging instead. And though it’s legal to do so in some circumstances, you might want to rethink using it that way. Read the full blog to find out why.