I'm Derek Johnson with tatango.com.
And today, I'm talking about the TCPA, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which is
federal law here in the United States and it protects consumers from receiving text
message spam on their mobile phones.
And it does that by requiring brands to get a consumer to opt-in to text messages before
they can actually text message them.
So there's two different things that need to be disclosed during the opt-in process
based on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
So, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna walk you through those two different things and show
you, on this mobile phone, how that looks.
So first off, I'm going to join an SMS campaign by texting an SMS keyword to a shortcode.
A shortcode is a five to six-digit phone number used by a brand.
I'm going to text in this SMS keyword to the shortcode.
And at this point, I'm going to receive a double opt-in message.
This message is going to require me to reply yes to consent and to opt-in for future text
messages.
I'm gonna read it off to you, "Brand Name," which you would insert the brand name there,
"Reply yes for recurring autodialed SMS/MMS marketing messages.
No purchase required.
Message and data rates may apply.
Terms apply," and then linking out to your terms and conditions for your mobile messaging
campaign.
Now, at this point, before I reply yes, I'm not actually opted into the text messaging
campaign.
And the reason that brands do this and use a double opt-in is because I first have to
reply yes to two specific things that the TCPA requires that I reply yes to.
Those two things are that I need to reply yes that I'm going to receive recurring autodialed
marketing messages.
That's the first component that I'm agreeing to.
And that would then satisfy the TCPA.
The second component is no purchase required.
When I reply yes, I'm essentially consenting to those two things which are required by
the TCPA, and then I'm officially opted in to their text messaging campaign.
And the brand has satisfied the rules and regulations with the TCPA.
So let's explain both of these.
"Reply yes for recurring autodialed marketing messages."
So essentially, this means there's going to be recurring messages.
So this is not a single message campaign, this is recurring, meaning I'm going to receive
these messages on a frequent basis.
The software that this brand is using is sending autodialed messages which means that the software
is autodialing the messages.
This isn't, you know, done by hand.
And then it has to be very specific here that you're receiving marketing messages.
So you're not receiving information alerts, you're not receiving emergency alerts, these
are marketing messages.
That's the first component.
Then the second component is no purchase required.
This essentially means that you are aware that the brand is not requiring you to opt-in
just because you made a purchase with that brand.
Pretty simple.
So there's two components here, the recurring autodialed marketing messages and no purchase
required.
And by replying yes, I'm not only opting in, I'm consenting to do these two different things
that are required by the TCPA.
And when I reply yes, I'm going to get a message that says, "Brand Name: You agreed to receive
recurring SMS/MMS messages.
Text STOP to end, HELP for help.
Message and data rates may apply.
Terms apply," and then linking out to the mobile terms and conditions.
By replying yes, I'm now opted into the text messaging campaign and I've satisfied the
requirements of the TCPA, which those two requirements are that I consent to recurring
autodialed marketing messages and no purchase was required to give up my consent to opt-in.
So hopefully that helps marketers understand what is required in text message marketing
to comply with the TCPA when consumers opt in to your text message marketing campaign.