IPA Publishes New Guidelines On Mobile Marketing
The IPA is set to publish a new set of guidelines on SMS marketing in response to the increasing popularity of mobile media in the advertising mix.
The guidelines address the questions surrounding prior consent, opting-in, opting-out and self regulation, which are key issues in this emerging market.
Nigel Gwilliam, IPA e-commerce and new media consultant, commented: “SMS represents one of the most powerfully intrusive advertising media available in the marketer’s armoury. However, this very intrusiveness brings with it a major responsibility for advertisers to use the technique sensitively and ethically.”
The IPA’s new guidelines recommend that advertisers should avoid sending unsolicited SMS messages to consumers. They state that SMS ad messages should only be sent to consumers who have specifically opted in, suggesting that the target audience text a word as a clear confirmation of their desire to opt-in.
The IPA recommends that consumers are given clear opportunities to unsubscribe from receiving further SMS messages from the outset of a campaign, and that they are reminded again of their right to unsubscribe after every fifth message.
The guidelines state that competitions and prize draws provide clear and simple means to request terms and conditions, which include the identity of the promoter. The IPA also suggests that parental consent should be obtained before sending SMS messages to a minor.
SMS marketing is a growth area of advertising, which, according to the IPA, generates £1.5 billion per month in business. However, with this growth has come increasing concern over the intrusive nature of SMS advertising and the need for effective self-regulation within the industry.
Mobile marketing in the UK is currently self-regulated and broadly governed by various industry bodies including; the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and the Wireless Marketing Association (WMA).
The WMA codes of practice are very similar to those advocated by the IPA. However, the DMA has argued that the opt-in model could disadvantage European companies operating in the global wireless marketplace.
Many of those who support the opt-in model favoured by the IPA, claim that permission based marketing is more successful than unsolicited spam messages. According to the IPA, response rates from opted in mobile marketing campaigns have averaged at 15%, significantly higher than unsolicited campaigns.
The increasing popularity of text messaging was confirmed by the the latest figures from the Mobile Data Association, which reveal almost 17 billion person to person text messages were sent across the four UK GSM networks in 2002 (see Text Messaging Hits A New High In 2002).
IPA: 020 7235 7020 www.ipa.co.uk
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