Dispensary SMS Marketing is a powerful tool you can use to market your marijuana products or location. However, you cannot send text messages to people that have not opted-in to receiving them. You can solve this by using double opt-in for your dispensary SMS marketing.
In the United States, cannabis is not federally legal. It’s imperative that your customer database is opted-in to receiving SMS marketing from you. And, ideally double opt-in your dispensary marketing recipients for SMS marketing compliance.
Single vs double opt-in for dispensary SMS marketing
How people opt-in to your dispensary or cannabis marketing is accomplished with either a single or double opt-in.
Dispensary single opt-in
A single opt-in occurs when a customer agrees to receive SMS marketing from you. For example, when a customer is in your dispensary buying products, you may provide an opt-in during the checkout process.
This can be a simple “click here to opt-in to receiving text messages from us”.
Generally this is a safe and valid opt-in.
However, if you are collecting customer information online, it’s best to double opt them in. Because, you are not guaranteed that the information you receive is from the person who wants to receive your marketing.
Dispensary double opt-in
A double opt-in occurs when your ask the individual to re-confirm their intent to opt-in. This is done by sending a separate confirmation through email or text for the recipient to confirm their intent to subscribe.
A double opt-in creates an auditable trail of consent to receive a brand’s text messages. Doing so ensures the dispensary can prove the consumer knowingly opted-in.
Why dispensary double opt-in is important
To outline why double opt-in is important, here is a potential scenario:
Mike visits a dispensary website. A popup is shown asking Mike if he would like to receive email and SMS marketing from the dispensary.
Mike decides to instead sign up his friend Anne. And, instead of using his email and mobile phone number, he uses Anne’s email and mobile phone number.
Suddenly, Anne begins receiving email and SMS marketing that she doesn’t want and didn’t sign up for. And, this puts the dispensary into legal jeopardy. Because they are sending marketing communication from their dispensary to someone who did not opt-in!
Instead, if the dispensary used a double opt-in Anne would first receive a confirmation email and text message confirming her intent to sign up. If Anne does not confirm her intent for either the email and the text message, she will not receive the marketing communication in those channels.
Double opt-in is common in email marketing, but not as widely used for SMS marketing.
Always double opt-in dispensary SMS marketing recipients
SMS marketing for cannabis and CBD is already challenging enough. And, it’s best to make sure that any SMS marketing is compliant – that means maintaining an opted-in marketing list!
Automate the double opt-in process
In DailyStory we accomplish this using a double opt-in automation.
First, a text message is sent to any customers, such as “At [Dispensary] we appreciate you and also respect your privacy. Please reply JOIN to this message to receive text promos and deals. Reply STOP to opt out of any future messages.”
An automation runs to check if any replies were received from that text message:
If a reply is received with the keyword “JOIN”, three things happen:
- An audit log entry is written confirming when the message was received.
- A text message reply is sent back confirming they are opted in.
- Optionally, the contact is added to a segment.
Audit log of double opt-in confirmations
Below is an example of an audit log for a double opt-in automation:
Is dispensary double opt-in a requirement?
No, double opt-in is not a requirement of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). However, using double opt-in with auditing is the only reliable way to remain compliant with TCPA.
In conclusion
Double opting-in your SMS marketing contacts isn’t required, but is a good idea. Learn more about SMS Marketing Best Practices for Cannabis and CBD and follow our updates on Application-to-Person (A2P) 10 digit long code (DLC) carrier updates.
Next, read how to take advantage of email marketing for cannabis and CBD clients. We created a detailed guide how you can use email marketing in the cannabis market and put together an on-demand webinar.
