How are companies sending all those SMS messages illegally?
Last month the Information Commissioner issued enforcement notices to two companies that violated regulations by sending marketing text messages to people who had not agreed to receive them.
Help Direct UK sent SMS messages regarding people’s pension values. The text implied that by replying, people would get help in recovering money lost over the last few years. An investigation into the 659 complaints received revealed the company had sent 187,960 SMS messages over nine months covering a variety of financial topics.
The other company, Sweet Media Ltd, sent 4.5 million marketing messages over a period of 8 months. The ICO received 796 complaints before issuing the warning. The details of the messages are not mentioned in the enforcement notice, but Sweet Media is a Lead Generation company according to the Information Commissioner Office (ICO).
How can these companies send so many SMS messages without prior permission? Well, they generally buy lists of mobile numbers. Even though regulations have changed so you aren’t supposed to send email or text messages (or any “electronic communication”) to those who haven’t asked for them, there are still companies out there selling the lists. Those that buy them are either unaware of the rules, or don’t care about them.
So while it might be tempting for you to buy a list of mobile numbers to get your SMS marketing campaigns started, don’t do it.
The first good reason not to do that is you’ll be added to the list of companies receiving enforcement notices. That’s because when you send marketing texts to people who didn’t ask to receive them, they will complain to the ICO. The investigation will then result in a notice to you to stop sending text messages to people without permission. If you want to know more about the regulations, you can find them on the ICO website.
The second good reason is that it just isn’t good marketing. One of the huge benefits of SMS marketing is that you have a fairly captive, and interested, audience after they choose to opt in to your offers. Unlike email, with low open and conversion rates, SMS isn’t about having the biggest list. It’s about having people choose to receive your messages, which means they will be more interested in your offers than a bunch of random people. In the end, you send less messages, therefore spend less money, and have a higher ROI because your offers are exactly what your list members signed up to receive.
If you have questions about how to grow your list legally, just give us a call or grab us in our live chat. We’re happy to help you build a list that fits your business, and keeps you out of trouble.
Related Articles
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.
How important is it to run an SMS opt in campaign?
Our 10 Best SMS Mobile Marketing Blog Posts
Need to know all about mobile marketing with SMS messaging? We’ve pulled together the top ten blog posts that tell you everything you need to know. The list starts with the basics and goes through analysing the success of your campaign.
Advantages & Disadvantages of SMS Marketing
SMS marketing is very different to most other more traditional marketing tools, specifically because of its short-form, text only nature. This certainly shouldn't put you off though. We have put together our guide to both the best things about SMS marketing and some of the potential problems, and how to work around them.
What Not to Do When the ICO Comes Calling
The regulations about SMS marketing are quite clear. But sometimes people, and companies, can make mistakes. Find out what happened to a company that reacted poorly to the ICO’s request for information, and how it made their situation so much worse.
What You Can Learn From a Bad SMS Message
In last week’s blog I covered how the Trump campaign sent unsolicited SMS messages to voters. This week I’m stuck on the same topic, but from a totally different angle: what we can learn from that failure. Because honestly, their biggest issue might not be violating the law. It might be the people they have writing their SMS messages. It’s time to dissect the message that spawned the law suit, and learn what we can from it.
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 Reasons Why Enterprises Shouldn’t Build Their Own SMS Gateways
Enterprises are large companies. Sometimes that means they think they should be able to do everything themselves. But when it comes to SMS messaging, building an in-house gateway is more difficult than you might think. Read why finding a good SMS service provider is a better option.