SMS Marketing: Ensuring Compliance with the Law
All businesses are subject to the law when it comes to advertising and marketing. Companies cannot make false claims or mislead consumers via advertising materials, for example. Designed to protect consumers and commercial clients, the law regulates most forms of marketing in some way.
When marketing your business, products or services, it’s essential that you consider the relevant regulations and ensure that your campaign adheres to them. Failure to do so could result in the business receiving fines so it’s important to comply with the appropriate legislation.
With companies carrying out various forms of marketing activity, it can be difficult to keep on top of the relevant laws and guidelines. By working with SMS marketing experts, however, you can ensure that your marketing campaigns are fully compliant with the necessary laws and that you’re able to connect with your target audience lawfully and effectively.
Ensuring SMS marketing compliance
Both the Data Protection Act and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations apply to SMS marketing, as well as other forms of marketing, such as telephone calls and emails. Whilst there is a myriad of specific guidelines laid down by the law, one of the most important issues for businesses to note is that prospective customers must have provided consent before you’re able to send SMS marketing texts to them legally.
Whilst the law requires potential customers to have given consent before they are sent SMS marketing messages, it is slightly different if the recipient is an existing customer. If an existing customer has provided their details whilst purchasing a product or service and you use these details to market similar products and services to them, this will not breach the regulations.
All SMS marketing texts should, however, give the recipient the chance to opt out of future campaigns.
Can businesses still use SMS services?
Absolutely! Despite the legislations governing SMS business texts, SMS marketing still remains one of the most effective forms of contacting existing and potential customers. With a read rate of over 95%, millions of businesses are making a significant return on investment by using SMS marketing.
Whilst the law regarding SMS marketing may seem onerous, it is not particularly burdensome. Much of the regulations apply to other forms of marketing and certain types of marketing activities are subject to additional guidelines as well.
It’s evident, therefore, that businesses will need to comply with relevant legislation, regardless of what form of marketing they choose to use. With the high level of results obtained by SMS marketing, it is still an extremely effective method of B2C communication.
In fact, SMS marketing can provide better returns than other forms of marketing due to the relatively low cost of launching an SMS marketing campaign. Whereas other forms of marketing may require costly graphic design services or expensive bespoke artwork, an SMS campaign condenses your marketing materials to a text-only basis.
Whilst still achieving enviable results, an SMS campaign can be considerably more cost-effective for business and is, therefore, the preferred choice for many companies.
Furthermore, businesses needn’t get too bogged down by the law surrounding marketing activities. By seeking expert help and working with an SMS provider, UK businesses can benefit from their experience. Obtaining SMS services from a reputable text message provider ensures that businesses can contact consumers legally and that their marketing activities are carried out in accordance with the most effective frameworks.
Connecting with existing customers via SMS
Although businesses often use SMS marketing to connect with potential new customers, there can be a considerable amount of value in using SMS services to contact existing customers too. In general, a customer is worth over ten times the amount of their first purchase, so cultivating your existing customer base could lead to a significant increase in revenue.
There are, however, additional reasons to stay in touch with your existing customers via business text messaging. You can use SMS messages to obtain feedback from the customer, for example, and this can be extremely beneficial to businesses.
Adapting your in-house processes as a result of the feedback you receive can ensure that customer satisfaction increases and that your business benefits from increased profits as a result.
In addition to this, SMS marketing can be used to increase brand loyalty and trust in your company. In an increasingly digital age, many businesses want to gain ongoing support from their customers. Creating social networks and two-way dialogues with your customers is an ideal way to do this.
As well as boosting sales, increasing brand loyalty will result in customers sharing your details with other consumers, engaging with your customers across various platforms, issuing positive feedback and recommending your products and services to others.
It is clear, therefore, that SMS marketing can be used to foster a valuable ongoing relationship with existing customers, as well as enticing members of your target audience to try your products and services.
Building your business with SMS marketing
Whilst business SMS services can be used to market your products and sales, you can also integrate SMS delivery into your existing systems. An application programming interface (API) is an ideal way to incorporate SMS marketing into your current activity and, via this, you can offer a variety of functionalities.
Of course, handling business SMS marketing in-house isn’t always viable for companies. In addition to addressing compliance issues, companies may be unable to access the appropriate software or be unable to hire permanent in-house staff to manage this form of marketing.
Fortunately, outsourcing your SMS marketing requirements is a cost-effective way to get results. When you work with reliable, trustworthy SMS providers in the UK, you can obtain strategy advice, compliance assurances, as well as assistance with your campaigns.
Due to this, many companies prefer to work with a experienced text marketer when launching these types of campaigns. With increased brand awareness, company loyalty and significant profits all achievable via SMS marketing, it can be the ideal way for you to build your business.
To find out more about the benefits of SMS marketing in your industry, why not contact us today?
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