Massive year-to-year growth of SMS wine messaging means thousands of DTC wineries are poised to profit this year by sending compliant text messages to their best customers.
With text messaging outperforming email 35-to-1 in the wine industry, alcohol merchants adding SMS marketing to their mix enjoy a decisive competitive advantage this holiday season.
But before you press the “send” button, are you sure your text messages are compliant?
Since text marketing is relatively new in the wine industry and compliance rules are still evolving, even experienced professionals have questions about the compliance rules U.S. wineries must follow.
In this article, with the help of a world leader in alcohol messaging – SimpleTexting – we’ll demystify SMS wine marketing compliance so your business can delight customers and confidently profit from text messaging this holiday season.
By complying with these simple rules, wine marketers can confidently use text messaging to stay in touch with customers and sell more wine.
What Compliance Regulations Apply to SMS Wine Marketers in 2024?
If you’ve worked in the wine industry for any time at all, you won’t be surprised to learn text marketing for alcohol is highly regulated by federal & state governments, powerful industry associations, and SMS service providers.
At the federal level, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulates what form of consent alcohol merchants must obtain before texting consumers. And unlike email marketing, these regulations are strictly enforced by the FCC.
For example, in 2012, Papa John’s agreed to pay over $16 million to settle a class-action lawsuit against them for failure to get proper consent before texting their customers.
At the state level, Alabama, Florida, Minnesota & Oklahoma have laws about business texts.
In addition to federal and state requirements, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) requires formal business registration before merchants can send automated texts to consumers. The CTIA also prohibits alcohol merchants from texting consumers under the age of 21.
SMS wine marketers accepting credit cards should also be familiar with the payment card industry’s PCI-DSS standards for securing payment card data.
These industry standards aren’t the law but often govern relationships with telecommunication companies and credit-card processors. If you don’t comply with their standards, your business can be subject to costly fines and/or permanently lose your ability to text your customers or accept credit cards.
The great news is that any SMS provider still supporting the wine industry has skin in the game, so most vendors employ extensive in-house legal teams that insist on built-in safeguards to keep their clients from sending non-compliant messages.
But even with help, individual wine merchants are ultimately responsible for sending consumer texts that comply with laws regarding:
Consumer Consent – wine marketers must obtain proper consent before texting any consumers.
Message Restrictions – wine marketers are responsible for sending appropriate content at a predictable frequency from a verified business number.
Customer Service – wine marketers must promptly support SMS subscribers when they ask for help or want to unsubscribe from your list.
3 Types of Business Texts = 3 Types of SMS Consent
Unlike email marketing with binary consent options (subscribe/unsubscribe), U.S. consumers can subscribe to three types of business texts, each potentially requiring different levels of consent.
Conversational texts initiated by consumers inherently come with “implied consent,” meaning you can reply to SMS queries if you have reason to believe you’re texting a consumer over 21.
However, since “implied consent” doesn’t allow you to send promotional messages later, this type of consent is only appropriate for one-to-one text conversations.
Transactional texts like order/shipping notifications – require merchants to obtain “written consent.” Adding a line to your checkout process that says, “Provide your number for order status and shipping updates” is one way consumers can consent to receive transactional texts.
But since “written consent” doesn’t allow you to send promotional messages later, this type of consent is only appropriate transactional messages
A well-designed SMS wine marketing signup form requires consumers to actively consent to your terms and conditions by using a check box.
Promotional texts – like flash sales, new wine releases, tasting room specials, and upcoming events – all require wine merchants to obtain “express written consent” before sending any promotional SMS campaigns.
Unless you’re never planning to send promotional texts to wine consumers, the simplest way to build a compliant list is to require all business contacts to opt in using “express written consent.”
In practice, all you might need to do is to insert a box consumers can check if they consent to receive your texts. But you can also use SMS keywords or paper forms to collect express written consent as described here.
PRO-TIP: if you already have a mixed list of SMS contacts who opted-in using “implied” or “written” consent, it’s essential you carefully manage your lists and train your marketing staff so you don’t accidentally send promotional messages to anyone who hasn’t provided express written consent.
SMS Business Verification, Frequency, Content & DOB Restrictions
Learning from the failed experience of regulating email marketing, federal & state lawmakers worked with mobile carriers to make it harder for spammers to ruin text marketing.
So, now any business planning to send automated text messages must go through a formal Campaign Registry process. This vetting process aims to weed out spammers and deter repeat offenders from sending unwanted texts.
Since the TCPA requires businesses to communicate the type of texts they plan to send and how often they plan to send them, a critical part of any SMS marketing program is to comply with the terms and conditions you offered when you invited consumers to join your list.
If you plan to send promotional your opt-in methods must include specific elements:
Who will be texting them
What type of messages they’ll receive, and how often they’ll receive them
Confirmation that consent to receive text messages isn’t required for purchase
Instructions on how consumers can stop receiving your automated texts
A link to your privacy policy and a disclaimer about data/message rates that may apply
Automated age verification tools help today’s wineries comply with industry requirements.
It should probably go without saying, but professional wine marketers shouldn’t send more messages than you promised. And don’t try “bait & switch” by luring subscribers with one offer but spamming them with something else. If you need further incentive to play nice, read more about Papa John’s.
And because the vast majority of U.S. wineries still produce alcoholic beverages, today’s mobile carriers and SMS service providers routinely quarantine any messages linked to winery websites that aren’t protected by a functioning age gate.
Fortunately for wine marketers, our industry is already familiar with the importance of compliance. Many SMS wine marketing solutions now include complimentary brand verification and built-in consent forms that comply with the law.
Responsive SMS Customer Service
Stung by complaints about email marketers failing to respond to consumer requests to unsubscribe or change their contact information, the TCPA also mandates that businesses using SMS to communicate with customers must conspicuously include instructions on how to STOP receiving text messages or ask for HELP.
To help wine merchants comply with these requirements, some SMS service providers now include free compliance messages that explain how to unsubscribe or ask for assistance.
As of yet, you don’t have to include these instructions in every message you send, but if you send promotional texts, you must include opt-out/help instructions at least once a month to comply with federal law.
PRO-TIP: To simplify compliance management, we recommend always following promotional texts with a free compliance message.
The Bottom Line on SMS Wine Marketing Compliance
Compliance with the law and industry standards should already be familiar to any wine marketer. After all, we’re selling a highly regulated product.
Although SMS marketing has unique rules, compliance issues shouldn’t keep your customers from staying in touch via text. With strong headwinds facing our industry this holiday season, text messaging can breathe new life into any DTC wine marketing plan.
And now that you understand the three most important compliance guidelines that apply to SMS wine marketing, your business can profit too.
Happy Selling!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Founder & CEO of VinterActive, Bryan St. Amant, is a pioneer in developing preference-based direct marketing and its successful application in the wine industry.
His award-winning work has been featured in books, magazines, and seminars, including CFO Magazine, Inc., CNN Money, eMarketing Magazine, Integrated Direct Marketing, Direct Marketing Association, Grapevine Magazine, Wine Marketing Report, and the Wine Industry Network.
