Hat’s off to winery compliance officers!

Managing a successful wine business without running afoul of state & federal laws has never been easy.

Without you – our unsung heroes – our industry would only exist in the shadows.

With wine sales down and more consumers craving convenient connections with their favorite brands, you’ll probably soon hear your sales/marketing teams asking for guidance as they deploy automated SMS messaging.
 

A Brief Overview of SMS Wine Messaging Compliance
Since business texts are subject to unique laws and regulations at the state and national levels, we asked SimpleTexting, the world’s leader in SMS alcohol messaging, for guidance we could share.

And here it is – a virtual “SMS Compliance Bible” for wine marketers looking to profit from compliant text messaging:

• SMS compliance for business text messaging: A refreshingly brief overview of the essentials and best practices.

To help wine marketers looking to add SMS to their mix, in the next few weeks, we’ll share three simple lessons all aspiring text marketers should learn before launching their first text campaigns.

LESSON #1 – Collecting Consumer Consent
Nobody likes spam except for spammers. So, learning from the challenges faced by email and telemarketers, federal regulators and national telecom providers strictly regulate who wine businesses can contact via SMS.

It turns out the way regulators currently interpret – according to the compliance pros at SimpleTexting – the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act, your winery can use SMS to contact adult consumers in three ways:

• By replying to unsolicited texts sent to your business.
• Sending transactional messages essential for the use/enjoyment of the products/services your customers ordered.
• Texting adult consumers after they affirm their desire to receive your promotional messages.

Here’s the part that trips up many wineries: the type of consumer consent you collect will determine what type of text messages your winery can send.  Here’s the  big picture:

Avoiding the #1 Pitfall Facing SMS Wine Marketers
According to SimpleTexting, if you have any questions about how you’ll be using your SMS wine marketing list, you should always base your SMS program on express written consent.

That way, you minimize the compliance risks of managing a co-mingled SMS list, including implied, express, and express written consent.  If you only collect express written sent, it’s harder to go wrong.

Why bother? 

When Papa John’s texted its SMS list about promotional offers when some customers only asked for transactional texts (ex: your pizza is ready to pick up), the company's violation of the TCPA cost at least $16M in fines and legal expenses because it didn’t collect the correct type of consent. Ouch!

Taking Action While Complying with Regulations
As an industry selling a controlled substance, the only way we can succeed is by complying with the rules.

Fortunately, winemaking is much more complex than text messaging, so compliance shouldn’t be a reason for your business to forego the competitive benefits of SMS wine marketing.

To learn more about these benefits and how VinterActive can help you delight your customers with compliant SMS messaging, visit https://www.vinteractive.com

Happy Selling!

textmarketing compliance