Age-gated SMS for alcohol brands
Generated by Klaviyo AI
The post explains how alcohol merchants can now use SMS marketing compliantly by validating subscribers’ legal drinking age with Klaviyo’s age gate block. It outlines the regulatory context, how age gating works in forms, and the basic steps to enable and configure SMS for eligible countries.
- Regulatory backgroundAlcohol brands have historically faced SMS restrictions from bodies like CTIA and TCPA, leading to inconsistent carrier support and delivery issues.
- Age gate capabilityKlaviyo’s age gate block collects and verifies subscribers’ date of birth by country to confirm legal drinking age before sending SMS in the US, Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
- Compliance data storageSubscribers’ dates of birth and subscription timestamps are securely stored to support regulatory compliance and data collection requirements.
- Form setup requirementsMarketers must add the age gate block to all SMS consent forms and create separate forms per country to ensure proper age verification and consent capture.
- Activation stepsGetting started involves enabling SMS in account settings, adding the age gate, activating a compliant phone number, and integrating the age gate block into sign-up forms.
In this product release
The popularity of SMS marketing in ecommerce is soaring. Brands recognize the importance of offering a mobile-centric experience that fosters direct communication with customers. SMS marketing has proven to be a powerful tool to drive sales, too: 73% of consumers have made a purchase as a result of a brand’s text.
In the past, certain sectors, including alcohol businesses, faced challenges in using SMS marketing due to compliance regulations surrounding sensitive content. But mobile carriers have extended SMS marketing permissions to alcohol merchants, provided they collect subscribers’ date of birth and verify their legal drinking age.
With the release of age gating, Klaviyo can now validate your subscriber’s age before texting them. This feature seamlessly incorporates compliant date of birth collection using the age gate block within Klaviyo forms. It confirms someone’s legal drinking age before initiating text communication with subscribers in the US, Australia, Ireland, and the UK.
This development unlocks the full potential of SMS marketing for alcohol brands and merchants, providing them with a powerful tool to reach their target audience effectively.
The challenge
Over the years, the alcohol industry has faced restrictions in SMS marketing due to regulatory bodies such as the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). While a few carriers allowed alcohol marketing through SMS, it wasn’t universally accepted.
This inconsistency presented substantial challenges for alcohol brands venturing into SMS marketing, frequently resulting in delivery problems.
The solution
With this recent update, Klaviyo forms now feature an age gate block that collects subscribers’ date of birth and verifies their legal drinking age based on the country the form is displayed. Klaviyo securely stores subscribers’ date of birth and subscription timestamp for regulatory compliance and data collection.
Alcohol brands and merchants can then leverage SMS marketing to engage subscribers, driving more sales through direct and personalized communication.
Getting started
To kickstart your SMS marketing journey, follow these steps:
- Access settings. First, navigate to the “Settings” page in your account. Click on the “SMS” tab.
- Enable SMS. On the SMS page, click the “Add Age Gate” button to activate SMS for your account.
- Activate your phone number. After enabling SMS, choose the phone number type for the country where you intend to use SMS marketing. Klaviyo will verify this phone number, ensuring compliance with mobile carriers’ regulations. For detailed guidance on selecting a phone number and the verification process, refer to these help center articles: “Understanding US and Canadian SMS Numbers” and “Understanding UK, Irish, Australian, and New Zealand SMS Numbers.”
- Integrate the age gate block. To proceed, add the age gate block to all your sign-up forms where you collect SMS consent. This step is required before Klaviyo can register your sending number. Drag the block into the form where you’ll collect SMS consent. In the block settings, select the specific country for which you are collecting the legal drinking age. If you plan to use SMS for multiple regions, you’ll need to create separate forms for each country. Remember that by not including an age gate block, your form will be published but won’t collect SMS consent.
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