Collecting SMS Consent in PropFuel: Text Message Opt-ins

The consent requirements for SMS messaging are generally stricter than those for email marketing. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), you are required to obtain prior express written consent from consumers before sending marketing messages over SMS. This means that the consumer must have explicitly agreed to receive SMS marketing messages.

Luckily, PropFuel makes it easy to get started collecting consent from your members and contacts. There are three main ways you can collect consent for SMS

Email Campaigns

The easiest way to get your contacts to opt-in to SMS is the most familiar - running a PropFuel email campaign. Create a campaign that contacts people who haven't already given consent, and ask them to give you their mobile phone number and affirm consent to receive SMS messages. 

Inbound SMS

You can also collect consent to receive messages directly over SMS. In PropFuel, create an SMS campaign with the interaction of “Opt-In.” In the campaign editor, you will have the ability to set an Opt-In code. If anyone texts that code to your phone number, they will be opted-in to receive SMS messages from you in the platform.

Offline or Externally

If you already have opt-ins collected in your signup flow or some other system, you can easily sync that data from your AMS into PropFuel as part of your field mapping configuration on your integration. Or, if you have the data in some other format, you can always import it to PropFuel from a CSV import.

No matter how you are gathering consent, there are a few requirements driven by the TCPA and industry best practices to keep in mind

• You must explicitly state who you are, what you are planning to text them about, and how often you will text them

• You must clearly communicate how they can opt-out of further messages

• You must state that message and data rates may apply to receive SMS messages

• You should link to your data privacy policy

Here is an examples of opt-in text designed to satisfy these requirements. PropFuel is unable to offer legal advice, and you should run all compliance questions through your company’s counsel.

You are agreeing to receive recurring text messages (e.g. membership renewal reminders) from {Company}. Reply HELP for help and STOP to cancel. Msg frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. View Privacy Policy. {Privacy_Policy_Hyperlink}

Once someone has given consent to receive SMS messages, you should send a welcome message. Remember, all your contact will see on their phone the first time you text them is a message from an unknown number. A good welcome message should tell them who you are, and what to expect from having opt-in to SMS messaging. You are also required to remind them how to opt-out from further messages.

Here are some examples of welcome messages you can send after receiving consent:

Welcome to the {Association Name} SMS messaging service! You'll receive occasional alerts with important information about your membership. Reply STOP to opt-out at any time. If you have any questions or comments, please reply to this message and we'll be happy to assist you.

Thanks for subscribing to the {Association Name} SMS messaging service! We'll send you occasional alerts with the latest news and updates about your membership. To opt-out, simply reply STOP. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reply to this message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Welcome to the {Association Name} SMS messaging community! You'll receive occasional alerts with valuable information about your membership, including events, resources, and more. If you ever want to opt-out, just reply STOP. And if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to reply to this message and let us know how we can help.

One key requirement that is touched on throughout your opt-in process is the ability for people to easily opt-out of receiving further messages at any time. PropFuel makes it easy to manage this legal requirements by automatically handling opt-outs any time someone sends a message to one of your numbers containing the keyword “STOP.”

In the case of an opt-out message, PropFuel will remove consent to send any further SMS messages to that contact and remove them from any campaigns they are currently active in. They also receive a short, automated message, confirming their opt-out with the following text:

You have successfully been unsubscribed. You will not receive any more messages from this number. Reply START to resubscribe.

PropFuel SMS messages are sent using 10 digit phone numbers known in industry terms as 10DLC (10 digit long code) A2P (application to person) numbers. In order to use these numbers for automated messaging, wireless carriers require your organization and phone numbers with the Campaign Registry. This registration process will verify your ownership of your phone numbers as an organization, and unlocks better deliverability to your end users.

PropFuel manages this registration on your behalf, your CSM will walk you through the process during your onboarding and collect the necessary information to handle your registration.