I was reading a report recently about the psychology behind marketing and human perception and it brought up some interesting points that I think relate directly to sms marketing, more specifically the ability for people subscribed to your lists to opt out.
You may think, as i did, that giving the subscriber that little reminder that he / she can opt out may encourage some, however quite the opposite is true. Of course some people will choose to exercise this right for whatever reason, however, by giving them the choice, openly and easily, consumers are given the power of choice and shown that you as a business care enough about your customers to enable them to walk away if that’s what they want. Belief it or not, this actually encourages them to stick around and improves their perception of your brand.
So, with all the rules and regulations that say you have to offer opt outs making you feel slightly cheated, they really are doing you a favor. In addition to this it is important for you from a marketing perspective to increase the quality of your lists, the easiest way to do this is to have the people who really have no more interest in your messages away. There is no point in you spending the money to market to someone who has no chance of ever returning that investment.
So just remember, opt outs are good, they help to make your campaigns more successful and help keep your customers happy.