SMS Marketing: Double Opt-In Explained

I’m a firm believer that SMS marketing as my blog posts such as Mobile Marketing - Five Steps to Start the Art and Master Targeted SMS and The Beginning of SSPs: SMS Finally Getting the Email Treatment attest. So I talk about it a lot as a great, new channel, even if only used as a higher form of email marketing. One thing I note to marketers is the fact that double opt-in gives you an automatically targeted audience. After all, the sheer work needed for a customer to double opt-in filters out - for the most part - those customers who will be offended by too many touches via their mobile phone. This, however, leads to the inevitable question: “Can you explain double opt-in to me? I’ve heard of it but I don’t exactly know what it is.” Understandable. Mobile marketing, after all, is still new. Well, today, you’re in luck. I’ll join the PacSun Mobile Alerts program and let you follow along so that you know exactly what double opt-in is…and what it looks like when initiated from a web site.

1. I find the PacSun mobile site here: http://shop.pacsun.com/mobile/.
2. Then I enter my information. Yep, that’s my real information. You call me, though, and I won’t be happy.



3. Now here’s where it gets interesting. With email, we’re done and my email goes into the PacSun database and I start getting approximately one email a week. Alas, not with SMS. This is where the “double” part of double opt-in happens. Within the minute, PacSun (39668) sends an SMS to my cell phone with the short code 39668 that reads:
   PacSun. Reply Y to receive 2-4msgs/mo. Std. or other charges may apply. AutoRenews. Help? Reply HELP. Quit? Reply STOP.T/C:pacsun.com
4. Now I have to reply to that SMS with my own SMS that reads ‘Y’ to receive the “2-4msgs/mo” from PacSun. This, my friends, is, you guessed it, the second opt-in.
5. Finally, PacSun replies via the 39668 short code to my phone:
   PacSun. Thanks for joining the PacSun mobile alerts. Msgs begin soon. Help? Reply HELP. Quit? Reply STOP. T/C:pacsun.com

And now folks, I am officially double opted in and, as far as PacSun is concerned, very willing to receive their Mobile Alerts. Ta da. The double opt-in…for those who didn’t know what it meant and/or were unwilling to give up their mobile number to see exactly how it works.

For more on double opt-in and all things cellphonish in the world of marketing, check out the Mobile Marketing Association.

Tags: sms

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 10:17 pm and is filed under SMS Marketing, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.