Constant Contact's SMS permission policy

The types of contacts sources, whom you can and can't send text messages to through Constant Contact's SMS tool, and how to grow your list responsibly

In order to send a text message to someone’s mobile number for commercial purposes, you must have express, written consent beforehand.

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), companies may not send messages to consumers without their consent. Even if an individual provides their phone number or has a long-standing relationship with the business, the company cannot text the individual if they have not granted written consent.

• Whom you can send SMS message to
• Whom you can't send SMS message to
• Spam report guidelines

Get written permission: Using Constant Contact's Sign-up Landing Page ensures that you receive and document express written consent from your SMS contacts, which satisfies Constant Contact's SMS permission policy as well as TCPA regulations and CASL.

Whom you can send SMS message to

Express written consent

Express written consent is when an individual has opted-in or specifically requested to get text messages from you via an opt-in form or other written mechanism. Some examples of this are:

• Anyone who goes through a double opt-in or confirmed opt-in process. Constant Contact has a Sign-up Landing Page with the proper written consent, along with a double opt-in text message sent to your contact confirming their consent to messaging.
• Someone who signs up and provides written consent to receive your SMS messages through a sign-up form on your webpage. 
• People who sign up using a form with the specific purpose of being added to a text messaging list, if the proper consent disclosures are present. Constant Contact offers Sign-up Landing Pages for collecting new SMS sign-ups.

Whom you can't send SMS message to

Important: Email consent is separate from SMS consent. You must obtain explicit written consent from your contact, before you can message them via SMS, even if you already have a contact's phone number and permission to email them. Adding or importing names that go against our SMS permission policy or anti-spam policy may result in the termination of your account. If you want more information, please see our anti-spam policy for all the details.

You are never allowed to text any of the following:

• Someone who provided their phone number to you, but who didn’t provide written consent specific to SMS communications.
• To contacts who have only provided permission to email them.
• Any purchased, rented, or appended list of phone numbers from any source, no matter what the source claims.
• Any shared list of phone numbers that haven't given you direct written consent to message, such as:
  • an affiliated company contact list.
  • a trade show attendee list.
• Any collected phone number obtained by surfing the internet or "scraping" web pages.
• Any phone numbers obtained through social media connections where the contact has not explicitly requested messaging. This includes:
  • Facebook friends or followers.
  • LinkedIn connections or followers.
  • Twitter friends or followers.
  • Instagram followers.

Did you know? There are lots of places you can share your Sign-up Landing Page, like from your website, blog, or social media profiles, to grow your permission-based SMS list and keep spam complaints to a minimum.

Spam report guidelines

Constant Contact always strives to provide the best possible delivery rates for your SMS campaigns. In our decades of experience within the industry, we have found delivery rates are directly tied with the sender's reputation and adherence to industry best business practices.

While we do not expect our customers to always achieve a 0.0% complaint rate, we are a permission-based service provider, and it's expected that you are only sending SMS campaigns to those who have provided express, written consent to you, and that you respect your contacts' opt-out requests.

It is important to note that a spam report is not generated simply by an unwanted text message landing in someone's messaging app. These are complaints that are generated through an action taken by the text message recipient.

Be a better marketer: Want to learn more about SMS marketing? Check out SMS Text Message Marketing Best Practices to Build Relationships and Increase Sales, and to keep your spam reports low.

Any links we provide from non-Constant Contact sites or information about non-Constant Contact products or services are provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as an endorsement by Constant Contact.

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