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In the video above, Tatango CEO Derek Johnson discusses the requirements of a stop text message. Prefer to read instead? No problem, please see the post below. You can also find answers to all of your SMS marketing questions in our Q&A video library, click here to browse.
What is a Stop Text Message?
Before we dive into the requirements, let’s talk about what a stop text message is. A stop text message is what a consumer sends to unsubscribe from a brand’s automated SMS messages.
Usually, the consumer will text the word “stop” or “unsubscribe” to a brand’s short code. The brand then has to remove that consumer from their phone number list and stop sending them automated text messages. Once the consumer is successfully unsubscribed, the brand must send them a text message response that needs to include several items.
What is Required in a Stop Text Message Response?
There are two items that the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association) and the wireless carriers require a brand to include in the stop text message response.
- The first requirement is the brand’s name. For example, if the brand was Pizza Hut, they would need to include that name somewhere in the response.
- The second requirement is that the message needs to convey that the consumer has opted out of future text messages from that brand.
One More Recommendation for Stop Text Message Responses
The items mentioned above are required by the CTIA and the wireless carriers, there is another item that is not required but is a best practice within the SMS marketing industry. We at Tatango recommend including the directions for a consumer to be able to re-opt-in to receiving text message promos if they so wish. Adding this additional item will help decrease subscriber churn and also create an excellent consumer experience. Many consumers accidentally unsubscribe, do it out of curiosity, or simply want to take a break from receiving text messages and probably won’t be able to remember the keyword they had to text to opt-in originally.
This is why Tatango recommends including the opt-in directions in the stop text message response. Brands usually include a brief sentence about opting back in to receive weekly deals at the end of the response. This makes it easier for the consumer a helps you maintain a strong phone number database.
Crafting messages can be difficult, but don’t worry, as Tatango has a team of experts that make it a breeze. If you have more questions on this topic or any other one, you can always chat with us here.
