Using SMS to Promote Your Shows? Make Sure You Get Explicit Consent!

On Tuesday, I read about another text messaging lawsuit in MediaPost’s Online Media Daily that should certainly be of interest to event marketers using or planning to use SMS. According to the article, last week, a U.S. District Court Judge in Seattle made a ruling that opens the door for a potential class-action lawsuit against B2Mobile and LeadClick for allegedly sending unsolicited text messages to Illinois resident Christopher Kramer. This story here is very similar to the situation I highlighted in my July 2010 blog post entitled “$90 Million SMS Lawsuit Offers Valuable Take-Aways for Event Marketers”, involving two other companies.

If you read the MediaPost article, you will see the similarities with the lawsuit covered in my July post, most specifically the alleged failure to obtain “prior express consent”, mobile numbers shared between companies, the defendants arguing that federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) doesn’t apply to SMS, and the Court disagreeing with their argument. One new point in this case that was not in my July post is that the plaintiff claims that he continued to receive messages after he opted-out.

Despite multiple text messaging lawsuits and the uncharted territory here, I still remain extremely positive on the SMS channel as it offers excellent marketing potential for shows, especially the ability to leverage existing media spends and drive attendance. With that said, I encourage you, as I did in my July post, to take the time to understand the key points in these types of lawsuits, and follow best practices and regulations regarding SMS, especially obtaining explicit consent before sending text messages. It will be time well spent!

Posted on January 6, 2011