Housecall Pro lets you reach customers by Email and Text (SMS) for marketing — think promotions, seasonal offers, and re-engagement campaigns, as distinct from the transactional job updates customers always get. This article explains how customers get notified about marketing messages, how they can opt in or out, and how you add customers to your marketing audience.

Every marketing email you send includes an Unsubscribe link and a link to your Terms and Conditions in the footer — on every send, not just the first. A customer can unsubscribe at any time by clicking that link; they're removed from future email campaigns immediately.

Customers are Opted In to email marketing by default. You can Opt Out a customer from the customer’s profile, however once this customer's email marketing consent is removed, you will not be able to opt them back in.

The first text message your organization ever sends a given customer automatically includes a short message: for Campaign-enabled organizations where the customer is not already Opted In, something like "[Your Company] will send job updates. Reply Y for marketing texts & special offers. HELP=Help, STOP=Stop." This appears once per customer, not on every message.

From that point on, a customer can text STOP (or STOPALL, END, QUIT, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE) at any time to opt out — they get an instant automated confirmation and are immediately removed from future marketing texts. Texting START (or YES, UNSTOP) opts them back in, with its own confirmation reply.

Individually: From a customer's profile, you can view a customer’s opt in status for marketing email and SMS. A customer starts Opted In by default for Email marketing and Opted Out by default for SMS marketing.

You can Opt Out a customer for Email marketing on their profile.

You can also Opt In a customer for SMS marketing on their profile. If the customer has previously Opted Out of SMS marketing (replied STOP or unsubscribed), if you attempt to Opt In, they will receive a message asking to “Reply Y to get marketing texts.” Once they reply Y, they will be Opted In again. Their status shows as pending until they respond.

You can also send the customer an option to Opt In to SMS Text Marketing when you Create a customer. Check “Send marketing opt-in text” and it will send a message to the customer to reply Y for marketing.

In bulk, with documented consent: If you already have explicit, documented consent from a group of customers, you can confirm that consent for many customers at once using the Confirm SMS Consent tool in Campaigns.

One-Time Campaigns by default pull in any customers who meet your targeting criteria, unless they have explicitly Opted Out by replying STOP or unsubscribing. When you go to send a campaign, you will be provided with a Confirm SMS Consent checkbox. If you have documented consent for all these customers, you can confirm you have consent by checking the box and sending. If you do not, you can not check the box and still send the campaign only to those who are listed as Opted In on their customer profile – either because they have Opted In such as via replying Y, or because your organization has previously confirmed they have consent for that user via a bulk opt-in tool on the Customers Page or Campaigns page.

Checking the confirmation box there is an attestation: you're telling Housecall Pro you already have that consent on file, not requesting it. Only use this if you have documented support of consent if asked.

One important protection: bulk-confirming consent only works for customers who don't already have a consent record. If a customer has ever explicitly opted out by replying STOP or having unsubscribed to SMS, they're not swept back in by a bulk action.

Bulk SMS marketing Opt In also exists on the Customers page (select customers then click “Confirm SMS Consent”) and the main Campaigns page (by clicking “Text Message Consent”).

Customers Page:

Campaigns Page:

Is bulk opt-in available for Email the same way it is for SMS?

Not the same tool. SMS marketing has a dedicated bulk confirmation flow in Campaigns. Individual customers can also be toggled one at a time from their profile. Email marketing is Opt-In by default.

When do customers get notified they can opt out?

Email marketing: every marketing email includes the unsubscribe link.

SMS marketing: the opt-in/compliance language appears on the very first text a customer receives from you, and STOP always works.

Is a customer notified if I opt them in manually?

Not through the bulk confirmation tools or the individual profile toggle, where you confirm your attestation that you already have consent. The flow that does message the customer directly is the individual "request opt-in" action when creating or updating a customer, which texts them asking them to reply Y, and holds their status as pending until they do.

Should I only use bulk opt-in if I have documented consent?

Yes. Confirming consent in bulk is a legal attestation that you already have it. If you're not sure you have it, don't use bulk confirmation.

Can I bulk opt-in everyone and catch previously-opted-out customers along the way?

No, by design. Bulk confirmation only applies to customers who have not explicitly Opted Out, via STOP or unsubscribing. Anyone who has ever explicitly opted out keeps that status; bulk actions can't override it.

Does my customer list update when someone opts in?

Yes, a customer's marketing status updates to Opted In as soon as they consent, viewable on their profile page.

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