How Opting Out from SMS Campaigns Works

This information is not legal advice. While we do our best to provide useful information to use as a starting point, Yotpo SMS & Email advises all merchants to obtain professional legal advice to ensure that all marketing campaigns are sent in full compliance with all applicable laws.

In this tutorial, we will explain in detail the opt-out and resubscription process when you send text marketing campaigns.

SMS & consent

SMS Marketing is consent-based. It means that you should send messages only to people who have explicitly given their permission to receive text marketing updates from you. Another equally important aspect of consent is that you should always provide your subscribers with an opt-out option: a clear and visible way to unsubscribe.

It is very important, as some mobile carriers require opt-out language in marketing text messages to prevent spam complaints from customers. Merchants who fail to comply with these requirements risk getting their SMS campaigns blocked. This can be easily avoided by adding simple opt-out verbiage at the end of your text messages.

Opt-out verbiage

If you want to implement SMS marketing as a direct channel of communication with your customers and start sending SMS campaigns on different occasions, you need to make sure that your campaigns have an opt-out option. It could be in the form of “STOP to opt out” verbiage or an unsubscribe link your customers would need to follow. With SMS & Email, this is a seamless process, as the campaign editor has a built-in compliance solution that automatically adds the required legal components within all your text messages.

Here is how it works: if one of your subscribers wants to stop receiving text marketing messages from you, all they need to do is reply with “STOP” to one of your texts, or click the opt-out link, to be successfully unsubscribed.

As part of our efforts to help our customers remain compliant at all times and don’t risk their SMS campaigns being marked as spam, the Opt-out language option within the SMS campaign editor is mandatory for all SMS & Email users. If you need additional information, don’t hesitate to contact us.

How to opt-out

Currently, your customers can opt-out of your text marketing services by replying STOP, UNSUBSCRIBE, CANCEL, END, or QUIT to any of your messages or by following the unsubscribe link (for international numbers).

U.S. & Canada numbers:

After a customer texts back to opt-out, they will receive an Unsubscribe confirmation message:

“You replied with the word “STOP” which blocks all texts sent from this number. Text back UNSTOP to receive messages again.”

International numbers:

When customers click on the unsubscribe link within the message, they will be redirected to a dedicated landing page containing the name of your store and the following message:

“Unsubscribe!

Please confirm your unsubscribe request from {SiteName}’s text messages by clicking on the “Unsubscribe” button below.”

If a customer clicks the “I confirm that I want to unsubscribe” button below, they will be removed from your SMS lists.

Manually unsubscribing customers

Keep in mind that if someone contacted you in a different way and requested to be unsubscribed from your SMS marketing, you need to do so manually in Lists & Segments in the SMS & Email app.

1.  From your Yotpo SMS & Email main menu, go to Audience >  All Subscribers.
   
2.  Click Remove Subscriber, fill in the subscriber's country and phone number, and click Unsubscribe. 

How to resubscribe (US/CA shoppers only)

As you have probably noticed - the unsubscribe confirmation message, your US or Canada customers will receive already includes a resubscribe option.

That means that if someone unsubscribes from your texting services and later wishes to opt-in again, they can do so by simply texting back the JOIN or UNSTOP keyword.

This was our guide on how opt-out and resubscription to SMS Campaigns work. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know!