SMS text marketing is one of the most direct ways to reach your customers — messages get opened almost immediately — but that immediacy comes with rules and expectations you can't afford to get wrong. Constant Contact's SMS Checklist is a quick self-audit that helps you make sure every campaign you send follows best practices and stays on the right side of regulations. Its guiding principle: be timely, be unique, be personal.
The checklist is organized around a few key areas:
Follow the rules. Text marketing is regulated, and the guide walks through the questions you need to ask before hitting send. Did your contacts opt in, and can they opt out? Did you include the right disclaimers about your program, number, data rates, and privacy policy? Do you have confirmation messages for opt-ins and subscriptions? And are you texting at an appropriate time? Regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act require prior consent, and SMS messages can only be sent between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time.
Cater to your customers. Beyond compliance, the checklist helps you build a list people actually want to be on. Are you giving them a real reason to opt in, like exclusive discounts? Have you been clear about how often you'll text and what you'll send? Can recipients immediately tell who a message is from? Is the message genuinely right for SMS — concise and well-timed, since texts are short and read fast? And are you using reporting and automation to improve each message and deliver the right content at the right moment?
Whether you're just getting started with text marketing or tightening up an existing program, this checklist turns SMS best practices into second nature.
Note: this resource isn't a substitute for legal advice or full regulatory guidelines around text message marketing.
