SMS marketing

SMS marketing is the sending of commercially oriented messages: promotions, announcements, invitations. Its strength lies in the channel — read almost immediately, unlike email — and its limit in law: it requires prior opt-in, clear sender identification, an unsubscribe mention (STOP), and respect for sending windows. In France, the CNIL and the consumer code govern the whole.

For a local business, SMS marketing works exactly where you'd expect: targeted promotion to customers who said yes. Filling a slow Tuesday at the salon, announcing autumn service openings at the heating company. What it doesn't tolerate: frequency (beyond two a month, people learn to ignore it), and betraying the initial promise (a customer who accepted appointment reminders didn't accept promos). The border with transactional SMS is the border between service and solicitation.