We're Investigating These Industries for Unsolicited Text Messages
Automotive
Auto dealerships use text message marketing to promote their products and services. Car dealerships offer many deals through text message promotions such as raffles, prizes, free car washes, test-drive incentives, lowest-price guarantees, anniversary offers, free oil changes, and referral incentives. They also offer discounts on service, maintenance, and inspections. Their main goal is to get people onto the car lot to browse and purchase their new and used cars, trucks, SUVs, motorcycles, RV motorhomes, and campers. Many dealerships also run promotions about financing opportunities to further incentive people to visit their car lot.
Other businesses in the automotive industry also utilize text message marketing and loyalty programs. Some of these businesses include rental car agencies, taxi companies, car-sharing or ride-sharing services, gas stations, oil change specialty shops, along with many others.
Cannabis & Marijuana
Cannabis and marijuana dispensaries usually have loyalty or reward programs that utilize text message marketing campaigns. These recreational and medical retail shops build brand loyalty through this advertising. These pot shops advertise a variety of their products through these text messages, including various types of marijuana, flower, pre-roll joints, edibles, CBD, concentrates, and topicals.
Many of these cannabis and marijuana retailers ask for customer phone numbers during the checkout process or sign you up for their loyalty programs. The customer will then receive text messages from these shops without the customer having ever given consent to receive these text messages. The text messages usually offer a rewards wallet, deals, and discounts, and promote various cannabis and marijuana products.
E-Commerce
In the internet age, buying and selling goods and services online has exploded. The brick and mortar stores of the past have been replaced with online retailers that take advantage of a more mobile world. In a highly competitive industry, many of these e-commerce websites use text message marketing to offer promotions and discounts.
With e-commerce, many customers shopping online will browse and add items to their online shopping cart, but will not complete the purchase of those items. E-commerce retailers use text message campaigns to turn those abandoned shopping cart items into sales by texting extra offers to those shoppers who abandoned their carts. E-commerce stores will also typically entice you to sign up for their text messages by offering a discount on their products. However, some stores still fail to give you proper text message disclosures or obtain your clear and affirmative consent to receive texts.
Entertainment
Many businesses in the entertainment industry use text message marketing to increase memberships or customer loyalty. Movie theaters promote upcoming releases, discounted or advanced ticket sales, midnight showings, or special events. Bars and night clubs promote happy hours, food discounts, bands and music, or holiday specials.
Fast Food Chains
The fast food industry operates on thin profit margins. Text message marketing can increase foot traffic to fast food restaurants and significantly boost their profit margins. Fast food restaurants use text message marketing for their loyalty programs, where customers build points to redeem in future visits, for promotions of new menu items, and for discount offers through digital coupons and QR codes. They also use text message advertising to attract customers to their stores during certain hours and special events.
Finance & Insurance
Banks and credit unions utilize text message marketing to grab the attention of their current clients and prospective customers. Banks and credit unions may offer text messaging services for non-commercial purposes for things like updates concerning customer account balances and recent transaction history. But they may cross the line when they send commercial text messages to promote or advertise things like low interest rates or new financial services.
Insurance companies and their agents likewise utilize text message marketing. They may text advertisements when your policy is about to expire, offering discounts, upselling policies, or encouraging you to renew. They may also advertise for things like insurance quotes and referral incentives.
Gyms & Fitness Centers
Gyms and fitness centers primarily send text messages to advertise promotions and discounts. They may text offers for free trial periods, discounted lessons with a physical trainer, member referral discounts, membership renewal deals, or limited-time offers for a specialty class like yoga or pilates. These types of promotions increase gym and fitness centers’ memberships and grows their sales.
Hotels
Hotels, motels, inns, lodges, and resorts are businesses in the hospitality industry that use text message marketing to book more guest reservations at their properties. These businesses use text advertising to offer exclusive deals and room upgrades, share special events, and promote their services and properties.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry typically uses text messaging as a customer support solution. Businesses in the healthcare industry are generally allowed to send informational text messages for non-commercial purposes like appointment confirmations and reminders and prescription refill notifications. However, when healthcare marketing involves commercial texts that promote products or services for sale, healthcare businesses must have your clear and affirmative consent to send those texts.
Real Estate
Real estate companies, realtors, brokers, agents, apartment complexes, and property management companies, benefit from text message marketing to current and prospective homebuyers and renters. Most properties are now advertised online, so the real estate industry has adapted to more modern advertising approaches, including text message marketing. This industry uses text messaging to let customers know about promotional offers, special sales, open houses, new listings, and many other items.
Refer-A-Friend
Companies with mobile apps tend to use a Refer-A-Friend program. In this Refer-A-Friend program, you can send a text message to your friend in your phone contacts list and both you and your friend will receive some sort of incentive if the friend creates an account. Refer-A-Friend marketing is very profitable for these businesses, which is why they use us consumers to do their advertising for them. However, the unsuspecting friend who never consented to the text message may have a claim for damages.
Restaurant Industry
Text message marketing helps businesses in the restaurant industry remain fresh and relevant. Like fast food chains, they also operate on thin profit margins, so they look to gain competitive edges where they can. Text message advertising keeps their customer base up to date on menu items and gets customers back through the door with promotions, discount offers, and special events. Some types of businesses that utilize text message marketing are coffee shops, pizza places, sandwich or deli shops, and many fast-casual restaurant businesses.
Retail & Services
Many retail stores and other businesses in the service industry use text message marketing to increase their sales and customer base. Many of them have loyalty programs or club memberships to entice you to keep coming back. Their text messaging campaigns offer coupons, discounts, holiday shopping promotions, flash sales, exclusive events, membership tiers, and points-based programs. This industry includes big box retailers, department stores, warehouse clubs, supermarkets, grocery stores, convenience stores, discount stores, outlet retailers, specialty stores, salons, spas, barbershops, and many more.
Travel & Tourism
Many businesses make use of text message marketing in the travel and tourism industries. Businesses in the travel and tourism sectors make use of loyalty programs, offering incentives and discounts to make further bookings with them. Airlines use text advertising to sell last minute fares at reduced rates and to advertise new flight routes and destinations. Travel agencies build their brand image and improve customer loyalty through text advertisements for special and exclusive trip offers, as well as rewards for bookings. Other business types in these industries that may use text message advertising include transport services, car rentals, cruise ships, time shares, and many more.