Learn The Lingo

If you plan to use mobile marketing as part of your overall strategy, it is important to understand the terminology — as well as the relevant laws — and how the laws apply to each type of mobile message.

SMS
“SMS” stands for short message service and is a means of communicating on your mobile phone by sending and receiving plain text messages. Other words for SMS include text messaging, texting, mobile messaging, and wireless messaging.

The Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Federal Communication Commission’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act regulate the use of SMS or text messages.

MSCM
“MSCM” stands for mobile service commercial message and refers to commercial mail messages that are transmitted directly to a wireless device. You must be a subscriber of a commercial mobile service to receive these messages.

A commercial message is considered a MSCM if it is sent to any address containing a reference (whether or not displayed) to an Internet domain listed on the FCC’s wireless domain names list.

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 regulates MSCM messages.

Need more help with ensuring that your mobile marketing strategy is compliant? Contact the experts at PossibleNOW at (800) 585-4888 or info@possiblenow.com.