Are You Accidentally Kicking Out SMS Subscribers?

Prevent Accidentally SMS Opt-Outs

Don’t worry. You’re not getting Rickrolled. We just thought that this classic 1987 dance-pop song’s lyrics were perfect for what we are covering in this blog.

“You know the rules and so do I (do I)

A full commitment's what I'm thinking of

You wouldn't get this from any other guy

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling

Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up

Never gonna let you down

Never gonna run around and desert you

Never gonna make you cry

Never gonna say goodbye”

Now you know the rules, and so do we. If a customer wants to opt out of your SMS, you’ve got to let them go. But that doesn’t mean letting go of subscribers that accidentally text one of the opt-out words when they are looking for something else. By using enhanced opt-out logic you can be sure not to kick out loyal customers.

Fuzzy Opt-Out Examples

Normal opt-out behavior is when a subscriber sends a one-word text with a keyword like “stop”, “unsubscribe”, or “cancel”. In these cases, everything is pretty straightforward. The subscriber wants out of the SMS marketing list, so these subscribers are automatically opted-out.

Where you can accidentally kick happy and loyal subscribers out is what we like to call fuzzy opt-outs. For example, a subscriber might send the following message: "Please stop messaging me." Rather than automatically opting out the user, Voyage’s fuzzy opt-out logic will detect the keyword "stop" and automatically send the following reply to the subscriber:

“It appears that you may want to opt-out. Please text STOP to confirm, otherwise, ignore this message.”

Fuzzy opt-out logic takes into consideration the keywords mentioned above when they are used in a sentence. While the message in the previous example contains clear opt-out intent, this is often not the case.

For example, a subscriber might send a message along the lines: "Please cancel my order!"

Without fuzzy opt-out logic, this subscriber would be opted-out since their message contains the keyword "cancel". However, with our fuzzy opt-out logic, the subscriber will receive the reply to ensure that everything is understood. Without this logic, you would be automatically opting out a customer that is looking for help, which would create a horrible customer service experience and eat away at your CLTV. “I’m never gonna give you up. I’m never gonna let you down.”

Overall, you do not want to accidentally unsubscribe customers that are engaging with your SMS campaigns or are looking for customer service help, so make sure your SMS marketing platform has the logic to protect your customer lifetime value.

How to Unstop, Restart, or Resubscribe to SMS Messages

Continuing with our “I’m never gonna give you up” theme, what’s the protocol when it comes to subscribers that have opted out and want to now opt-back in? This is possible, but the correct keywords must be used to remove the block on their number.

To get your subscriber back with Voyage, they must reply with the word "UNSTOP" (without quotes) to any previous campaign that was sent from your Voyage account. With this being the resubscribe process, we’d recommend adding a line to your “successfully unsubscribe” text such as “Reply UNSTOP to resubscribe” so the customer has a clear CTA if they would like to get back on your list.

Send smarter SMS. No B.S.

At Voyage, our goal is maximizing customer lifetime value (CLTV). But we don't just talk the talk, we walk the walk. Our innovative SMS platform (with the most advanced SMS-first segmentation builder on the market) is paired with expertise from our team of accomplished eCommerce founders and best-in-class technical product managers — so you send the right message to the right person at the right time.

See what the most powerful SMS marketing and message commerce platform in the world and expert eCommerce guidance can do for your brand. Request a demo today!