Getting Started
Before you can launch a text marketing campaign, you need a list of customers who have opted in to receive text communications from your business.
“The biggest hurdle to getting started with text campaigns is collecting opt-ins,” said Myers. If you don't have those explicit opt-ins, it's not legal to market and you start getting that fatigue and people getting tired of receiving messages and opt out straight away.”
Offering coupons through text can be a great way to start collecting opt-ins from your customer base and reward them for opting in.
Once you have a legal list of phone numbers, you can start developing your marketing plan.
“Appointment reminders are a perfect entry level to text messaging,” said Myers. “You don't have to set up a bunch of campaigns or get creative with your messaging. It's just getting them used to getting texts from you, continue collecting your opt ins, and then as that base grows, then you're able to really focus more on those other types of campaigns.”
Keeping Up-to-Date with Current Regulations
In order to make sure your messages are not getting filtered and to avoid fines, properly registering your business is crucial. Starting this fall, the consequences for not doing so will get much worse.
“It's evolved over time,” said Myers. “Late last year, it was a simple registration, and if you didn't, there would be some additional fees for text messages and possible filtering. They were collecting minimal information at that point. As of this year, they've gotten a little bit stricter. In the past, people would just pay fines and keep going. Now the fines and fees are much steeper.”
This summer is your last opportunity to make sure you are properly registered before the switch occurs at the end of August.
“As of July 5, any brands that aren't registered as well as their campaigns, are running the risk of potential filtering,” said Myers. “So what they're doing is ramping up from July 5 through August 31. Like a grace period, in essence, to get everything registered. And then, as of August 31, the carriers have announced that they are going to filter messages that go out, which means if you send these campaigns they won't be received and will show as error messages.”
How KUKUI Can Help