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WHAT IS THE TCPA?

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And how do federal laws affect business texting?

You’ve studied business text messaging, and you know how effective it is. You’ve seen the trends, the stats, and the analytics. SMS text messaging for business is a powerful tool for communication and marketing. 

But it comes with a risk—if you don’t follow the rules, your company may be on the hook for many fines. Your text messages, particularly your text messaging platform, must follow text message privacy laws and regulations.

Most specifically, the TCPA and its partner, the CAN-SPAM Act. These two acts rule the business text messaging world.

We here at getLouie have studied these acts and built our platform to help you stay in compliance. You’ll see a lot of the evidence both in your subscription and in the text messages you send to your customers. 

We’re experts in compliance so that we can protect you and your business—and here’s why.

WHAT IS THE TCPA?

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991 to fight the annoying influx of telemarketing calls. TCPA also deals with SMS text messages, among other forms of business communication. 

Under TCPA and CAN-SPAM, businesses may not send messages to consumers without their consent—even if they’ve given their phone number to the company. Your business must get explicit written permission to add subscribers to your texting list. You have to have that documentation as well!

As consumers opt into SMS marketing campaigns, you also have to tell them clearly—what kind and how many text messages they can expect. They must also agree to receive these messages on their mobile device. 

 WHAT IS THE CAN-SPAM ACT?

 

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act expands upon and works with the TCPA to regulate text messages, along with emails. Under CAN-SPAM, businesses can’t send unwanted text messages to cell phones. You also have to make it clear if a commercial message is an advertisement. Finally, you have to give your customers the option to opt-out of your texts at any time.

 

HOW DO THE TCPA AND CAN-SPAM AFFECT BUSINESS TEXTING

These two protection acts make it clear that businesses can’t just upload a contact list and start texting away. Instead, your customers have to opt into your business and the getLouie platform. 

What’s at risk: penalties of $500- $1,500 per text. That can add up fast!

These two acts are not going to be the last word, either. As more businesses take to text messaging, consumers will demand more regulation. 

getLouie will be staying on top of breaking developments—and adjusting your platform as needed.

(for instructions and best practices on how to build your contact list, check out XXXXX)

 HOW GETLOUIE HELPS YOU STAY COMPLIANT

getLouie has made compliance far easier by automating much of the process. For example, just have your customers text your new getLouie business phone number, and they will be opted in – twice! 

The getLouie business texting platform is a 100% opt-in platform with a variety of automatic features, including: 

  • Double opt-in & opt-out functionality. 

  • Privacy, terms, and conditions are available right when your customers first opt-in 

  • getLouie can also auto-generate privacy, terms, and conditions for your business 

We are also a proud Campaign Service Provider with The Campaign Registry, the nation’s central hub and industry leader for registering text messaging campaigns.

WHY WE TAKE THE RULES SO SERIOUSLY

To protect you, of course. But there’s another reason that we built our platform, and this company, with a focus on consumer protections:

We believe in them. We believe that marketing should be effective but not intrusive, and we believe that all companies succeed when their customers are in the know. Not all businesses follow these texting rules…and they don’t seek us out.

We’re proud to partner with companies and people like you, who want to maximize business texting while still maintaining excellent relationships with customers. 

Both goals can be achieved.

getLouie is proof of that, and so is your business. Your texting platform will reflect your values and ours, creating customer goodwill along with revenue growth.

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The Articles published on the getLouie.ai blogs are to be regarded as an online educational resource for text messaging and SMS marketing. The User in use of this content must fully comply with the legal requirements of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA). All contents of Blog are to be used for informational and education purposes only and not as legal advice or a replacement for legal representation. Upon using the Blog, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and this TCPA disclaimer policy. Under the Terms of Use, you acknowledge that any use of the Blog does not serve as legal advice.

All information within the Blog is not guaranteed to reflect the most current legal standards or to be correct with up-to-date developments. Efforts by Blog editors to modify and update information on the Blog do not guarantee the information is most up-to-date or still legally active. getLouie.ai is not liable for outdated information.

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