Canadian business text messaging best practices
Updated: Jun 10
According to Canada’s biggest Retail, Marketing, and Technology Event Dx3 75% of respondents said they are open to receiving brand communications via a text message from a brand they trust, and only 4% of the respondents state that currently, they are communicating with brands via text which leaves immense growth for text message as a marketing channel and medium.
As a business owner or as a person who handles marketing and promotions for your business the above stat might have come as an eye opener and if you are looking to enable text message marketing then we are just a meeting away. As marketers, we also should focus on being responsible marketers following best practices, and keeping our customers and compliance makers happy.
Canadian SMS Marketing Laws and Regulations
Canada has some strict laws regarding digital communications to Canadian citizens known as Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL). The standout requirement of this legislation is that all businesses native or foreign should have valid written consent from the individual before sending them a Consumer Electronic Message (CEM).
A CEM is an electronic message which is delivered by a medium like an email or text encouraging the participation of the recipient in a commercial activity. Now, the message will not be considered a CEM if it falls under the below-mentioned instances.
The information provides general company updates.
SMS messages to add value and engage various stakeholders.
Messages around brand enhancement.
Hyperlinks to a company website.
Now, as you have understood the what's and what's not of CASL. Let us now look into some of the best practices for using text marketing as a medium for a Canadian audience.
How to start SMS marketing in Canada
01. Obtain consent (Opt-in) from consumers
If a consumer has purchased from your business in the past two years or inquired within six months of CEM it can be considered as implied consent and you can send your CEM to the customers without any apprehensions. But once you have exceeded the time you will be required to take the consent again from the consumers.
With our automating and scheduling message feature, you can now send reminders to your consumers seeking consent for CEMs.
02. Easy opt-out
Your customers must be given an easy way to opt-out of your CEM. With Falkon SMS, your customers can simply opt out by just simply texting you ‘STOP’ and once a customer chooses to opt-out you will not be able to send them any further CEMs.
03. Clear message and a perfect medium
If you have made it here, let us share some interesting facts with you. According to a study, the average attention span of human beings is around 8.25 seconds and in this modern era, the average human being is being bombarded with information everywhere.
But another stat that might cheer you up is that text messages have an open rate of 98% which is second to none. SMS marketing is the perfect medium to reach out to your audience and having a clearer message in the limited 160 characters is the way to go!
04. Making customer segments
It is always advisable to sort your customers into segments for your convenience. This will help you in making specific messages for the respective groups. If you are a business promoting Tobacco, Alcohol, etc., then the onus is on you to verify the receivers are of legal age and are allowed to receive messages from them.
Also, make sure you filter out the contacts who have enrolled in the “Do not call registry”.
05. Make sure you are using Falkon SMS
Well, yeah not just because we are promoting our product but also because we have some of the awesome texting features suited for the Canadian market such as group texting, auto-replies, keyword replies, shared inboxes, and much more.
If this sounds exciting enough, then hop on the journey with us!