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SMS Service

Best Practices

While SMS is becoming a must have communication tool for businesses, the laws surrounding SMS compliance can be complicated and expose your business to legal issues.

Before creating any SMS marketing automations, you’ll need to confirm all clients have opt-ed in to SMS marketing messages (Hint: providing a mobile number in your booking software is NOT the same as opting in to SMS communications).

If your business plans on using SMS as a marketing communication channel, please make sure you have opt-in records for every client.

Action Best Practices: Using the right communication channel is just as important as targeting the right users with the right message, at the right time.

Action Type Best Use
Text Message Transactional
Email Marketing
To-Do Assign tasks to staff

We notice higher unsubscribe rates when using text messages for mass marketing. To best respect your customers and avoid the dreadful unsubscribe (or worse, potential legal issues), we recommend only using texts for transactional communications or very targeted messaging.

Below are a few tips for best SMS practice. We also recommend periodically researching current industry trends, and consulting with a legal counsel before setting up any mass marketing SMS communications.

Do

Below are a few tips to ensure a better SMS experience for you and your customers.

  • Segment your audience: SMS communications should be used for transactional or very targeted communications only. To remain compliant and prevent clients from unsubscribing, avoid the urge to send non targeted “text blasts” to your entire client list. SMS communications should remain under 500 recipients per one-time automation.
  • Personalize SMS content: Adding personalization to your SMS will make these automations seem more personal. LoopSpark provides a lot of personalized merge tags such as {{FIRST_NAME}} , {{STUDIO_NAME}} , {{LAST_VISIT_TEACHER_NAME}} , {{NEXT_VISIT_TEACHER_NAME}} {{STUDIO_MANAGER_NAME}} to help tailor each SMS communication to the recipient.
  • Set delivery windows: To avoid sending SMS too early in the morning or too late in the evening, we recommend using delivery windows for SMS communications that are not tied to immediate client actions (such as attending an event, making a purchase, booking an event etc).
  • Limit the cadence of SMS communications: We want clients to receive important information via SMS and not get burned out on daily/weekly marketing blasts. To avoid clients opting-out, make sure you limit the frequency in which you’re texting clients. Using targeted audience segments will help.

Don’t

Below are a few things to 100% avoid while setting up SMS automations.

  • ⚠️ Don’t include Bit.ly links or public links⚠️: Link shorteners, especially Bit.ly, forms.gle , tinyurl have been widely used for SMS spamming. Because of this, most major mobile carriers will block messages that contain bit.ly or other popular link shortener URLs. LoopSpark provides a 320 character limit (instead of the standard 160 character limit) to help you fit your entire URL without needing a link shortener.
  • Don’t send mass text blasts: While providing a mobile number to your business can be considered implied consent to text, this does not permit your business to send large text message blasts containing marketing content. Client’s must be opted-in to marketing related SMS messages. For this reason, for all marketing related communications, play it safe and send via email.
  • Don’t request single word feedback that matches opt-out words: Don’t request single word feedback that matches opt-out keywords, such as “To cancel your appointment, respond with Cancel.” The following responses from clients will result in the client becoming unsubscribed from SMS communications: STOP, END, QUIT, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, UNSUB & STOP ALL

Unsubscribing from SMS service

There are 2 ways for a client to become unsubscribed from your SMS service.

Client Unsubscribes by keyword

Your clients can opt-out from SMS messages at any time by sending any of the following keywords. Keywords opt-outs are not case sensitive, and need to exist in a message as stand alone keywords:

  • STOP
  • END
  • QUIT
  • CANCEL
  • UNSUBSCRIBE
  • UNSUB
  • STOP ALL

Once a client has unsubscribed:

  • Client will receive a confirmation opt-out message reading: “You have been successfully unsubscribed. You will not receive any more message from this number. Reply START to resubscribe.”
  • Client will not be eligible to receive SMS from your LoopSpark account.

Inbound opt-out keyword messages will not appear in your LoopSpark account. Client may continue to send your business SMS, but you will not be able to respond until the client sends another opt-in message.

Manually unsubscribe a client

LoopSpark users also have the ability to manually unsubscribe a client directly from the client’s LoopSpark profile. This can be very helpful if a client sends an opt out request with a typo (such as “STPO” or “Please do not contact me”)

To manually unsubscribe a client:

  1. Locate the client’s profile on LoopSpark by searching for their name
  2. Click on the “info” tab in a client’s profile
  3. Click the “Unsubscribe from SMS” button

Subscribing & Resubscribing to SMS service

Current Client

Current clients (imported from your booking software) can subscribe or re-subscribe to your SMS service by sending any of the following keywords. The sender phone number must match the phone number in an existing client profile, otherwise a lead account will be created. Keywords opt-ins are not case sensitive, and need to exist in a message as stand alone keywords:

  • START
  • YES
  • RESUME
  • RESUME ALL
  • UNSTOP
  • GO

Inbound opt-out keyword messages will not appear in your LoopSpark account.

Lead

Leads are contacts that do not currently exist in your LoopSpark account. If a lead sends an opt-in keyword, and the sender phone number does not match any current client phone numbers, LoopSpark will create a lead account.

This feature allows your business to grow your SMS marketing list by posting your LoopSpark SMS number on-site at your business, or in the footer of your newsletters and email communications.

You can segment your audience to create reports and automation trigger points for leads using the following filters:

Opt-in confirmation text

Once a client or lead sends an opt-in keyword, LoopSpark will send a confirmation text confirming SMS subscription and providing instructions to receive help and opt-out.

The following message will be sent after a client or lead sends an opt-in text:

You successfully subscribed to SMS communications from {{STUDIO_SENDER_NAME}}. Text HELP for help, STOP to cancel Msg & data rates may apply.

{{STUDIO_SENDER_NAME}} passes the text message sender name you provided in your studio settings.

Help command

Anyone can send a help command to your LoopSpark SMS number to receive information to subscribe or unsubscribe.

When the keyword HELP is sent to your LoopSpark SMS number by a client, lead, or any number, the following instructional SMS response will be sent:

Text “STOP” to stop receiving any messages from this number. Text “START” to start receiving messages again from this number.

More information on SMS best practices:

For more information on messaging principles and best practices, please refer to CTIA’s guide on Messaging Principles and Best Practices