Any business owners aware of marketting laws? (Texts/letters etc)

[Vegeta]

Hi guys.

I own a small fast food shop and i've built up a considerable database of addresses and mobile phone numbers I would like to market to. I've googled marketing laws but I find them a bit iffy some resources say one thing and another place says another.

Basically my addresses and contacts are all previous customers they have ordered from us. Am I able to send marketing text messages (allowing them to opt out) and send letters/offers to their homes? (Once again allowing them to opt out).

There's a bit of confusion on my end simply because in most instances customers have to 'opt in' unless you have got their details as a previous customers and are offering them a deal similar to what they've previously had from you - so it essentially appears they are automatically opted in but have to 'opt out'.

Could someone clarify? I'm sure there are many business owners on here who have marketed in similar ways.

 

[Vegeta]

Thanks for answering the question guys much appreciated...

 

[Vegeta]

Thanks Mynight.

We use epos systems that automatically store the data - a lot of places use these so i'd be surprised if it was illegal to store their data although not completely shocked (laws do change).

I think i'll avoid SMS just seems like a mine field although a lot of customers collect so unfortunately they'll miss out on offers if they don't follow us online as I don't have their address details.

 

[Vegeta]

same here, if they did that to me I wouldn't buy from them again

Anyone cold texts me they get filed under "use their competitor".

OK got the message

Do you know about online orders and email marketing Mynight? Do I require them to opt in? I don't use an account based system for my online ordering just a guest function where you fill out a form that auto-fills when they comeback. There is no 'Tick this box to opt in' function at the moment but I could add it (if required).

 

[Vegeta]

Domino's end out text's to people who called via mobile. Not sure if they have small print somewhere that said they will do it.

This is my issue I've ordered from places like this before and definitely didn't give consent/have the ability to opt out but received the messages.

I appreciate all the ideas but if you think I haven't done everything you've already mentioned then quite frankly that's naive. I leaflet all areas I have sent out letters before and there's a lot of personal opinions which say 'it doesn't work' but every single thing we do add's to the total revenue we bring in.

Everytime we leaflet = More customers and same customers returning (people just forget about you sometimes)
I did one letter campaign - Brought a lot of customers back and kept a lot of them.

The way I run things are pretty simple I try to promote the business as much as I can which brings an influx of customers in and I make sure that influx have a good experience/service. This is turn for the short term brings our takings up a lot for the week/month. Once the initial rush is over we see our weekly turnover may have increased a bit. Reason I ask about sms marketing is because I have the numbers so I thought i'd try a different avenue.

We are growing just fine but there's nothing wrong with wanting more and quicker.

 

[Vegeta]

Thanks Youstolemyname i'll have a read. Letter's are fairly cheap we do them by hand (posting them would cost a fortune) and they work really well. Half the battle is maintaining standards when we do get busy... But that's another problem for another day.