What is handset opt-in?

Handset opt-in refers to people opting to receive SMS messages from your brand by sending a text message with a subscribe keyword or opting in via your brand’s mobile app. It includes someone voluntarily giving their consent to receive promotional content from your brand, such as discount codes, cart reminders, and special offers.

Handset opt-in helps ensure your brand complies with legal regulations like the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation, which requires obtaining explicit customer consent before sending promotional messages.

3 benefits of handset opt-in for ecommerce brands

  1. Reduced risk of spam: Subscribers won’t mark your messages as spam if they have voluntarily opted in to receive them. This helps improve your SMS deliverability and reduce carrier filtering.
  2. Higher engagement: Since your subscribers have opted in to receive messages, they are more likely to engage and interact with your content, boosting your conversion rates.
  3. Better targeting: Handset opt-in provides zero- and first-party customer data, which helps you segment your audience and send personalized messages. Zero-party data includes information customers proactively share, such as their preferences, while first-party data includes insights from their interactions with your brand. 

How to implement handset opt-in for SMS marketing

  1. Spell out the details: Specify the types of messages you’ll send, how often you’ll send them, and who they’ll be from. Transparency builds trust and reduces opt-outs.
  2. Provide an easy opt-out option: Make it easy for customers to opt out at any time, either by allowing them to reply with an unsubscribe keyword like “STOP” or click on an unsubscribe link.
  3. Keep records: Maintain opt-in records, along with the time and date stamps, as proof of consent in case of legal disputes.

A marketing automation platform like Klaviyo can help you centralize customer data, manage opt-ins and opt-outs, and send personalized messages at scale. With Klaviyo, you can easily segment your audience and use pre-built templates to send TCPA-compliant SMS campaigns.

Sign up for Klaviyo today to optimize your SMS marketing efforts, ensure compliance, and deliver highly targeted messages.

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