Mobile Marketing or Spam – Orange Please Explain

I’m in a bit of a huff with Orange. In most respects they’re a great provider but I’m getting increasingly hacked off with their mobile marketing campaigns. I don’t mind them sending me stuff that might be of interest but I don’t understand why I’m not given the chance to unsubscribe from their list.

I had a rant about Bannatynes who also committed the cardinal sin of not including an unsubscribe option on their bulk sms activity. The Information Comissioner’s Office, whose job it is to set out the rules on this, state very clearly on their website, that you must…

“give them the opportunity to opt out of receiving further marketing messages each time.”

So I’m curious to understand why Orange believe the rules on mobile marketing don’t apply to them. It’s possible that when you sign up with Orange, there’s a clause, buried in the depths of the small print, that gives them permission for all time to push you bulk sms messages. Or perhaps they would argue that the messages aren’t mobile marketing, but are merely information bulletins that customers would find useful.

Whatever their reasoning, I do wish they’d stop. If I had the energy, I’d switch networks, but realistically that’s not going to happen. Being on the receving end of sms ‘spam’ makes you realise how important it is to give customers the chance to unsubscribe.

So a heartfelt plea to all our customers and users of bulk sms marketing tools. Please, for pity’s sake, include an opt out on your mobile marketing campaigns or risk seriously aggravating your punters.

For Text Marketer customers, if you haven’t yet discovered how your free opt out tool works, please find more information here.

If you’re new to this and would like to explore how sms marketing might work for you, feel free to set up an account. You’ll get 10 free text credits and of course a free unsubscribe tool.