The revised TCPA presents both challenges and opportunities for mobile marketers. According to the new guidelines, marketers cannot send autodialed text messages for advertising purposes without the express auditable and written consent. Of course, this is not good news for mobile marketers. But before you press that panic button, remember that the changes also present a great opportunity to launch a smarter and more creative marketing campaign.
If SMS is an important part of your cellphone marketing
strategy, you will definitely want to explore newer and more effective ways to
encourage more and more people to subscribe to your messages.
Make it fun and
relevant
Depending upon the scope and nature of your campaigns, you
may have to re-opt potential consumers. If you intend to include other
advertising methods in addition to this campaign, you will probably have to do
a double opt-in. This can sound daunting. But it is also an opportunity to
start fresh.
What you need to do is to launch user friendly mobile opt-in
campaigns to allow consumers to express their interest by giving you their
phone number and/or email address and permission to send messages to them. Remember
that quality and quantity are not always mutually exclusive. You cannot expect
consumers to opt-in if you do not give them something of value.
Offer content to gain
consent
Under the revised TCPA guidelines, a straightforward web page
can serve as written consent. This allows you to easily leverage existing
resources. Offer a free app, a song download or movie clip to encourage
consumers to opt in. Include a checkbox and your terms and conditions in straightforward
language. When consumers check the box, they also agree to receive your text
messages at the cellphone number they have provided.
Target recently tested the efficiency of this method by
allowing people to download a song for free. People who were interested in
downloading the song had to call a certain number to receive a message that
contained a link to a landing page. The campaign asked them to check a box and
reveal their email address before they could download the song. This strategy
enabled Target to quadruple consumer engagement.
Launch contests and
sweeps that pair social and mobile
The revised TCPA guidelines are not applicable to one time
campaigns where you ask users to call or text a number to receive a message
that includes a hyperlink to download a song or an app, a sweeps entry, or a
single coupon. These campaigns are exempt provided that they do not contain
additional advertisements. That means by adding sweepstakes to your existing
marketing efforts, you can reap rich benefits. Sweepstakes can be implemented
pretty easily. They are also a great mechanism to measure the efficacy of your
media placements.
Here is how Wendy took advantage of this: To promote their
new sandwich launch, Wendy offered their customers several prizes for uploading
a video clip shot with a mobile phone. They launched a mobile-optimized website
for the campaign, included a hashtag and allowed participants to upload the
video on Twitter, Vine, or Instagram. The participants had an opportunity to
win an American Express gift card worth $6,000. The campaign was hugely
successful.
There is a certain degree of ambiguity
and uncertainty around recent regulatory changes. But launching marketing
campaigns that comply with the guidelines are not all that difficult.
