Obtaining consent from your contacts before sending marketing emails and texts is not only a good business practice that builds trust with your customers, it's also a requirement for maintaining a healthy marketing strategy. This article explores the concept of consent in email marketing, why it matters, and its impact on your email reputation.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) manage and control the cellular network infrastructures that deliver messages. ISPs handle internet-based communications and actively work to filter and block spam to protect users from malicious content and maintain network integrity. MNOs, dealing primarily with cellular networks, monitor and regulate SMS and MMS messages to prevent spam and fraudulent activities. Both ISPs and MNOs use monitoring systems to ensure that spam is minimized and that legitimate messages are delivered efficiently to maintain a trustworthy communication environment for users.

To ensure compliance with regulatory standards, both ISPs and MNOs require that senders obtain explicit consent from recipients before sending marketing messages. Consent, in this context, means obtaining express permission from individuals before you send them marketing communications. The term "express consent" means it is given in a clear, straightforward way--usually in writing. This also means it is not inferred from other actions or bundled with different agreements.

Not obtaining proper consent can lead to several negative consequences, including:

Consent directly impacts your reputation as an email or SMS sender. Sender reputation is a score that ISPs and MNOs assign to an organization that sends messages. It's similar to a credit score and affects whether your emails and texts will make it to your customers' inboxes or be filtered as spam.

A good reputation is crucial because it ensures that your marketing messages reach your customers. There are several factors that influence this score. They include the number of spam complaints your messages generate, how often your messages are opened, and the frequency of messages being marked as spam or directly deleted.

Securing express consent is not just a requirement; it's a foundation for successful marketing. By respecting your customers' preferences and maintaining a robust reputation, you maximize the effectiveness of your marketing efforts while building trust with your audience. Always remember that a well-maintained customer list is a valuable asset in your digital marketing toolkit.

To enhance compliance and ensure effective communication between Pros and your customers, Housecall Pro is introducing an email consent requirement. Starting June 19th, 2024, it will be mandatory to obtain consent from customers before sending them marketing emails. This change aims to increase customer trust, ensure compliance with email marketing best practices, and improve the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Previously, customers were added to email campaigns automatically whenever a Pro included them in a customer list. This practice leads to an increase in spam complaints which negatively impacts your Sender Reputation Score and hinders your campaigns from reaching your customers. To address this, we are implementing multiple opt-in paths to facilitate customer consent more easily and transparently.

Your customers can opt into marketing emails through various touchpoints:

Customers who have previously received emails from you will automatically be considered opted-in and will not need to take further action to continue receiving emails.

How can customers sign up for communications?

Customers can opt in to email communications through automated emails from new jobs, estimates, and invoices.

If a customer opts out of email communications, will that prevent them from receiving any communications?

We have a transactional domain and a marketing domain. Campaigns operate off a specific marketing domain, so they won’t interfere with transactional emails. Therefore, if customers opt out of marketing email communications, they will still receive transactional emails and communications, such as “On my way” texts, estimates, and job invoices.

This change is a step forward in our commitment to uphold best practices in customer communications and privacy. Ensuring compliance with these new requirements will not only benefit your business legally but also enhance the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Before you can send your first SMS campaign, you need to get consent from your customers.

Launch the SMS consent dialog by clicking Marketing on the navigation bar at the top of your account. This will take you to the Campaigns page for the marketing center.
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On the Campaigns page, click the rounded SMS CONSENT button, which is located to the left of the NEW CAMPAIGN button.
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This will launch the consent modal, allowing you to see which customers you've already gained consent from, you can also select new customers from the list by clicking the box next to their name(s).
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Make sure you check all the pages of customers by clicking the arrow button located at the bottom right of the consent modal.
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To learn more about SMS marketing consent view the consent guide here.
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Once you have selected the customers who gave you SMS consent, select the rounded blue Next button. On the next page, click the checkbox stating you have explicit consent from your select customers to send them SMS marketing, then click CONFIRM SMS CONSENT in the lower right.

You may get an error saying certain customers could not get consent confirmed. This usually happens if the customer does not have a phone number listed on their profile or you already have that same mobile number under another customer.
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Any customers that do not show up in the error dialog were successfully verified. You can press the Cancel button to exit the Modal.

There are many factors that determine whether or not your marketing emails reach their intended destinations. It's important to understand that sending unwanted emails will lead to higher unsubscribes and spam complaints which impact the deliverability of your future messages.

In email marketing, each sender is assigned a sender reputation score. This is a crucial metric used by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Google and Yahoo, to evaluate the trustworthiness of an email source.

Think of it like a credit score for your email domain. Similarly, building a solid email reputation takes time and consistency in following best practices. A good sender reputation means your emails are more likely to be delivered directly to inboxes, while a poor reputation can lead to your emails being blocked or automatically landing in spam folders.

This score is influenced by several factors, including the volume of emails you send, how frequently you send them, the rate of recipient complaints (spam reports), and the number of bounces (emails sent to non-existent addresses). With all of this in mind, the Marketing Center has built in tools and features that help you maintain a strong sender reputation for long-term email marketing success.

When you send an email, it does not necessarily go to your customers' email inboxes. Email deliverability refers to the successful delivery of your marketing emails into the inboxes of your target audience.

The following items influence email deliverability:

Spam filters are automated systems that email providers use to protect users from unwanted emails. They assess emails based on complex algorithms and a variety of criteria to determine if an email should be delivered to the inbox or redirected to the spam folder.

Avoid Common Spam Filter Triggers:

Understanding and improving email deliverability and managing spam are crucial for successful email marketing. By utilizing the tools and strategies provided by Housecall Pro’s Marketing Center, you can ensure that your emails reach your customers effectively, enhancing both customer engagement and your marketing results.