An Intrduction to CASL Compliant Text Messaging

In Canada, the law governing the sending of text messages is known as “Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation” or CASL (pronounced “castle”).

This law does not pertain to text messages alone, but applies to most forms of digital communication, including email and social media communications. In order to send CASL-Compliant Text/SMS to your contacts, prospects and clients, it is critical you abide by this law for three reasons…

1. The penalties for sending unsolicited messages can be very harsh, with fines running into 6 figures.
2. Sending unsolicited messages to your clients can be very damaging to your brand.
3. Spamming reduces the viability of this marketing channel for everyone.

CASL is significantly more flexible than U.S. law, allowing Canadians more opportunities to reach their respective audiences, but unfortunately that flexibility no longer includes text messaging.

Here’s the 3 most important things you need to know about CASL complaint text messaging… 

1. Express Consent

Express consent means pretty much what it sounds like it means; your contact, client or prospect gives you “express” permission to contact them via text messages. This can happen via…

1. A handset initiated opt in (i.e., your client subscribes to your service on their phone by texting a keyword to either a long code, toll free number, or short code).
2. Oral permission (you will need to document this in some way so you can support it should you ever be challenged).
3. Written permission (either physical or digital).

Express consent is the most desirable form of consent because it does not expire (it can be revoked by the client at any time, but that’s a different story). You’ll see why this is important in a moment.

If you do not have express consent, don’t worry. Very few Canadian business owners have written or signed consent from their clients of contacts for text messaging.

 2. Implied Consent

In the U.S., if you don’t have express consent from your audience you’re out of luck.

You can’t message them.

In Canada however, business owners catch a bit of a break. An existing business relationship with a client gives you their “implied consent” to contact them…

If and only if the date of your last transaction occurred within the last two years.

In other words, the tricky thing about implied consent is that it expires.

Businesses that have regular ongoing relationships with their clients—like dentists, chiropractors, dog groomers, furnace maintenance, massage therapists, etc.—almost never have to worry about obtaining express consent for messaging. That’s because the two-year expiration period necessary for implied consent is reset with every new transaction.

In other words, every new transaction resets the clock on that two-year time period.

However, if you have only periodic contact with your clients and your business doesn’t lead to regular repeat business, this two-year expiration data becomes critical. That’s because if you send promotional messages to them outside of this time frame you are technically spamming them, and subject to stiff government fines.

The Bad News about Implied Consent and Text Messaging

Under Canadian law, it’s perfectly legal to send text messages to clients for whom implied consent applies.

The bad news is that in order to get approval for the verified toll free number or short code you’ll need to send bulk text messages over the carrier network, you’ll need to demonstrate that you have express consent from your clients.

Implied consent is simply no longer good enough.

And while this is frustrating, I completely understand why this restriction is in place.

It has to do with the nature of text message communication.

Because it’s a uniquely personal and intimate communication channel, many people feel strongly about receiving text messages that they didn’t specifically request, in a way that they would not had that communication arrived via email.

Because frankly, your clients don’t know about “implied consent.” To them, receiving messages they didn’t specifically request feels a lot like spamming, even if a) it’s legal and b) they are offered an option to unsubscribe.

As a result, complaints are high, as are opt out rates.

For the carriers, insisting on express consent may seem like a burden to business owners, but it does offer one big benefit…

You’ll never damage your business’ brand by sending messages that are perceived as spam.

While it is still technically possible to send text messages using implied consent using 10 digit longcodes (i.e., standard phone numbers), there’s no much practical point in doing so, since there’s no way to guarantee delivery rates.

 

3. Messaging Compliance

CASL compliant messaging requires two things…

First, a one-action opt-out or unsubscribe option. This is the “reply STOP to end” message you may have seen tacked on to the end of SMS marketing messages. Replying with “Stop” must immediately remove the contact from the messaging database, with no additional steps required.

Second, information identifying the identity of the message sender. In an email, this information can be included in the email itself, but because of the character limitations of text messaging, doing so is not practical. It is possible to include a shortened link to these details in a text message. Today, however, including links that disguise the final destination to the recipient may cause your messages to be filtered, so that’s not really an option either. As result, most compliant messaging does not include sender identity details, only the opt out option.

Local Text Marketers’ BROADCASTsms service builds the unsubscribe option into every campaign message by hard-coding it into the message template. There ensures there is no way for a client to send a message without the unsubscribe information included in their message, which means there’s no way to send messages that aren’t in compliance.

By default, our templates no longer include a shortened link to your business’ details, but it can be enabled for clients who want it.

The software also manages unsubscribe requests without any input from you, putting your campaigns on complete autopilot.