Email and Texting Laws for Business Owners

Email and text message marketing can help brands get in front of customers and prospects. With the right strategy, these means of communication can help brands connect with consumers in meaningful ways. However, the wrong strategy can backfire, especially when you consider the legal ramifications of ineffective and illegal marketing practices that can lead to some hefty fines. If you own a small or medium-sized business we urge you to get familiar with the CAN-SPAM Act and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act before you plan your email and text message marketing strategy. This is especially important if you plan to use any mass email and SMS marketing tools.

 

 

The CAN-SPAM Act was created to protect consumers from spam, also known as; unsolicited messaging. One of the simplest ways to avoid violating the rules is to only email people who give you persimmon to email them. It may be tempting to email contacts who you believe want to hear from you and just don’t know it yet by data scraping a list from a relevant site or even purchasing one, but we recommend not following these practices. Emailing people who give you permission to do so is more effective because people are more receptive to receiving emails from brands that they are familiar with. Here are other guidelines you should consider:

 

For more information on the CAN-SPAM ACT please visit: www.ftc.gov

 

 

It is safe to apply the rules learned from the CAN-SPAM ACT to SMS or text message marketing but it’s a good idea to become familiar with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The most notable difference between regulations for email vs text messaging is that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act requires businesses to get written permission in order to send messages to customers for marketing purposes. Email consent can be given verbally but this is not the case for SMS. Additional points to consider include:

 

 

Taking these guidelines into consideration can not only help you avoid fines of up to $41,484 per infraction, but it can also create a better experience for consumers. Most people do not like to receive unsolicited or nonrelevant communications at inappropriate times. Building a quality list of emails and phone numbers that belong to people who want to hear from you and distributing relevant content, in a way that takes people’s preferences into consideration, is most effective. It may take more time and effort to build these lists, plan your messaging and execute the proper timing. However, these meticulous details will serve you and your customers well versus going rogue or buying lists only to message as many people as often as you can. But we urge you to do things the right way. Patience is key and we would be happy to help you with a marketing plan that could work well for you, for free. Just schedule a time with one of our marketing strategy experts here: Free Assessment.