Upcoming SMS Consent Management Enhancements
This winter we will be introducing enhancements to the TargetX Communication Planner for SMS consent management designed to improve visibility, compliance, and consistency across SMS messaging.
Summary of What's Changing
- Messaging Service-Level SMS Opt-In and Opt-Out Tracking to capture subscriber consent activity directly related to each messaging service used with Communication Planner.
- Communication Planner admins will choose whether they want SMS sending to be based on messaging service opt-ins or opt-outs.
- If based on opt-in records: an opt-in record for that messaging service will need to be associated to that recipient.
- If based on opt-outs: a recipient with an associated opt-out record for that messaging service will not receive SMS messaging sent from that messaging service.
- Communication Planner admins will choose whether they want SMS sending to be based on messaging service opt-ins or opt-outs.
- Introduction of a new SMS Opt-In field that can be used to manage SMS consent across your organization.
- You can map an existing checkbox (boolean) field where you may already be capturing opt-in for SMS messaging. If the checkbox value is ‘true’ in the selected field, a Contact will be considered eligible to receive any SMS from your Communication Planner system.
- If you aren’t capturing SMS opt-in in your CRM, you can create a custom checkbox field or use the packaged field provided by TargetX.
- If the value of the connected field is found to be ‘false’, that recipient will be ‘skipped’ when sending SMS content through the Communication Planner. They will also be unable to receive 1:1 communication via SMS Inbox until the global opt-in field has been marked true.
- You can map an existing checkbox (boolean) field where you may already be capturing opt-in for SMS messaging. If the checkbox value is ‘true’ in the selected field, a Contact will be considered eligible to receive any SMS from your Communication Planner system.
If you plan to send SMS messages out of Communication Planner, choose the field that will serve as your source of SMS consent:
- The new Global SMS Opt-In field provided by TargetX (released with the Winter Communication Planner package).
- An existing SMS opt-in field already maintained in your CRM.
If You Already Capture SMS Consent
If you currently use a field to store SMS opt-in status and that field is a checkbox field on the Contact record, you can use that field in the Communication Planner SMS consent settings. No action is needed until the January Communication Planner package is released.
What if I am currently tracking SMS opt-out?
If you currently track SMS opt-out status (for example, a field indicating a customer has unsubscribed), we recommend updating your data model to instead track SMS opt-in consent. Existing records may need to be updated through Salesforce Data Loader, Informatica, Flows, formulas, or other automation tools so that the field accurately reflects customers who have provided permission to receive SMS messages.
If You Do Not Currently Capture SMS Consent or Lack of Consent
Option 1: create an SMS opt-in checkbox field now and populate it for Contacts or Parents who should be considered opted in.
Option 2: wait for the January release and use the new Global SMS Opt-In field, updating it based on criteria to determine whether a recipient should receive SMS messages.
If You Use a Non-Checkbox Field
If your current SMS consent field is not a checkbox, you will need to create a checkbox field and populate it based on your existing SMS consent data. You can update it using Salesforce Data Loader, Salesforce Flow, Informatica, or a formula or automation indicating that a Contact or Parent has consented to receiving SMS.
Next Steps
- Make a plan for capturing SMS opt-in in your CRM for contact and parent records in preparation for the winter release.
- If you capture a global ‘opt-out’ for SMS, update your field so it reflects a Contact ‘opting in’.
- If you do not capture opt-in for SMS yet and want to use the Communication Planner provided field, that will be available in January.
- Enable Advanced Opt-In in your Twilio account in preparation for the winter release.
- TargetX Communication Planner Opt-Out management will automatically create and update records of messaging-service opt-in and opt-out activity. For this to work as expected, admins will need to enable ‘Advanced Opt-In’ settings in their Twilio account. If your Twilio account is managed through TargetX support, please open a support ticket to confirm that it has been enabled.
Additional details and implementation guidance will be provided closer to release. We encourage organizations to review their current SMS consent processes now and determine which opt-in field they intend to use.