What is “consented to receive SMS”?

In SMS marketing, “consented to receive SMS” is a metric that indicates whether someone gave their explicit consent to receive text messages from your brand. This is important for making sure you only send messages to subscribers who have opted in, which is key for staying compliant with SMS marketing regulations.

You need to get explicit (also called express) consent from your audience before sending them any type of SMS message, whether promotional or conversational. 

Here’s how you can obtain consent before sending text messages to your audience:

1. Use sign-up forms on your website

Sign-up forms are one of the most effective ways to get consent to send SMS. A great place to start is setting up a pop-up on your website that targets your email subscribers. Since your email subscribers already have a relationship with your brand, they’ll be more likely to consent to receive SMS. 

2. Reach out to email subscribers

To comply with regulations, you must collect SMS consent independently from your other marketing channels. Having someone’s consent to send them emails doesn’t mean you can send them SMS messages, too.

In addition to a website pop-up, you can launch an email campaign or flow that incentivizes your current subscribers to subscribe to SMS. Email your most engaged segments first to maximize your success.

3. Use a check box at check-out

Another efficient way to grow your SMS list is to include an opt-in checkbox at the end of the check-out process. 

Visitors who have bought products from your brand are already interested, so this is a great opportunity to invite them to join your SMS list.

4. Use a QR code 

QR codes are great for cross-channel promotion. Use a QR code to link your social and physical media (receipts, cards, brochures, etc.) to a link to a form where people can enter their phone numbers to join your SMS list.

Grow your SMS lists using a marketing automation platform like Klaviyo. Use easy-to-build sign-up forms, custom keywords, and a customer data platform to grow and manage your SMS list. 

Sign up for Klaviyo today to start sending SMS messages that lead to sales.

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