Getting consent to send SMS marketing messages

Learn how to capture SMS marketing consent from your contacts, including contacts that previously opted in for email

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Spam Act 2003, companies may not send messages to consumers without their consent. Anything other than explicit consent can be considered spam, and even if you have received consent from contacts to send emails, you must separately and explicitly receive consent from your contacts to send SMS messages as well.

At Constant Contact, we make it easy for you to send messages only to the contacts who genuinely want to receive them. We have implemented tools to help keep you compliant.

Important: There are certain groups you are not allowed to text, and certain SMS content you cannot send, even if consent has been granted (such as messages about high-risk financial services or gambling). Read our Constant Contact's SMS permission policy article and our Guidelines for using SMS marketing through Constant Contact article to learn more.

• Getting express written consent
• Tell me more about the double-opt-in requirement

Getting express written consent

Express written consent is when an individual has opted in or specifically requested to receive text messages from you via an opt-in form or other written mechanism.

Constant Contact offers a few ways for you to begin capturing this consent: 

• Sign-up landing page: In your Constant Contact account, visit Channels, and select Sign Up Forms to generate an embeddable form that includes the proper written consent. Contacts who submit the form will receive a double-opt-in SMS message. They must reply "Yes" to that SMS message to confirm they would like to join. Set up an SMS-enabled landing page.
  
  
• Text-to-join: With Text to Join, contacts text the word "Join" to a phone number assigned to your account specifically for this feature. Contacts will receive a double-opt-in SMS message. They must reply "Yes" to that SMS message to confirm they would like to join. You first must enable the Text To Join feature and get your dedicated number. Enable Text to Join. 
  
  
• Prompting existing email contacts to opt in to SMS: We have an email template designed to share your SMS-enabled sign-up landing page with existing email contacts, asking them to opt in to your SMS marketing messages. Alternatively, you can create your own email and include an SMS-enabled sign-up landing page in it. Ask your existing email contacts to opt into SMS. 

Read Grow a permission-based list of SMS contacts to find out how to put each of these methods into practice. 

Note: If you have contacts who opted into SMS marketing through another provider, you can add them to your Constant Contact account—you just need their SMS phone number and the date they provided their SMS consent. Import a list of SMS-only contacts.

Tell me more about the double-opt-in requirement

Double-opt-in is designed to ensure consent from your contacts. Contacts who submit the SMS-enabled sign-up landing page form or text "Join" to your Text to Join number will receive a double-opt-in SMS message. This message asks if they would like to be added to your list.

They must reply "Yes" to that message to confirm they would like to receive your marketing SMS messages. It's an extra layer of confirmation. 

To learn more about the pre-set SMS messages that are used throughout the SMS feature, including the double-opt-in message, read Guidelines for using SMS marketing through Constant Contact.

Questions?