While many customers accept the option to receive special offers and details by text messages, randomly messaging people can lead to a plethora of unwanted messages. Not only do they see it as spam, but they also fail to make the difference between the stuff they want to receive and junk. At this point, you probably ask yourself – is text marketing legal?

In order to avoid and prevent such problems (but also to boost the customer experience) many countries have implemented specific laws and regulations about texting customers. Most of these laws target text marketing and can guide your business in the optimal direction. Most principles are similar and work on the same rules.

Prior consent

As a general rule of thumb, the prior consent is one of the main rules in this industry. In other words, you are not allowed to text random people out of nowhere with a special offer or a new product. You have no idea whether or not they are interested in your stuff. Plus, it could be a waste of money – how many of those people would actually look for your stuff?

Prior consent means people must sign up to receive these offers. It benefits everyone. It benefits potential customers, as they gain access to things they are interested in. It also benefits you because you advertise to potential customers, rather than random people. Simply put, this rule puts people on the same page together.

There are more ways to grab someone’s consent. You could come up with a subscribing list. Most websites have this feature, only people subscribe to emails or blog feeds. You could also have one where people add their phone numbers to receive special offers and customized discounts. Other than that, you could also get people to text a keyword to your number to sign up.

Possibility to unsubscribe

So, is text marketing legal? According to JookSMS, it is perfectly legal if you follow the rules. Each country has its own rules, yet they are usually basic and follow the same principles – prior consent and the possibility to unsubscribe. What does the second one mean then?

If someone on your list no longer wants to receive your text messages, they should be able to unsubscribe. They should be able to get on your website and find a form to complete and stop getting text messages. You can also mention something clear at the end of your texts, such as reply a keyword to unsubscribe. In other words, you must give people the option to get out of your campaign.

Final words

Bottom line, is text marketing legal? Absolutely! But just like any other type of marketing, text advertising has its own rules as well. It is important to do a bit of research before committing to such a strategy in order to gain access to all of its benefits. More importantly, make sure you follow the rules and use common sense – not to mention keeping your customers engaged without spamming them.​