Consent is key to engaging positively with consumers—including potential voters.
Wireless text messaging is a powerful and effective way to organize, inform, and engage voters, which is why billions of texts are sent in election cycles from political campaigns of both parties.
But it is important that campaigns use text messages to reach voters in a responsible manner.
To engage most productively with consumers, all message senders should get meaningful, opt-in consent prior to sending messages.
Americans rightfully expect that they will not receive unwanted texts. That starts with the consumer belief that all organizations should obtain consent before sending any type of text message—including texts from political campaigns, causes, and candidates.
More than 4 out of 5 consumers express frustration with receiving unsolicited political messages, and that feeling is growing even stronger with each election cycle—up 20% from 2020. A recent survey also confirmed what consumers say every day—spam is spam, whether it’s an unwanted text from a bank, a concert promoter, or a campaign.
In general, message senders, including political campaigns, should:
- Obtain a consumer’s opt-in consent to receive text messages.
- Ensure that consumers can opt-out from receiving all future messages from a particular message sender—and that these requests are honored.
- Take steps described in the CTIA Messaging Principles & Best Practices to send text messages consumers want and refrain from sending texts they do not want.
Frequently Asked Questions