AHS Mass Texting Strategy — Event Promotion & Compliance

Overview

During the November 2025 marketing review, AHS and Asymmetric discussed adding mass texting as a channel to promote training events and trade shows (e.g., the NARI Home Show, January 24–25). The conversation surfaced two significant constraints: MarketSharp's texting capacity is nearly exhausted by day-to-day operational use, and any marketing texts must include a compliant opt-in/opt-out mechanism. No platform decision was made; this remains a "want, not a need" pending further research.

See also: ^[1] | ^[2]

Use Cases

Platform Options Discussed

MarketSharp (Current CRM)

• AHS already uses MarketSharp's automated texting heavily for operational messages (appointment confirmations, pre-job instructions).
• As of late October 2025, the account hit its monthly texting capacity with ~3 days left in the billing cycle.
• Mass marketing blasts would require purchasing additional capacity or upgrading the plan.
• Native integration is appealing (contacts already in CRM), but the current implementation does not support true bulk sends — texts must be added as individual account activities.
• Verdict: Possible but constrained; cost of expansion needs evaluation.

RingCentral (Current VOIP/Phone System)

• AHS uses RingCentral as its phone/VOIP platform, which includes a texting feature.
• Gina noted it is limited to 10 texts at a time, making it impractical for mass campaigns.
• RingCentral does support an opt-out toggle on outbound texts.
• Previously had texting privileges revoked and had to go through a reinstatement process (handled by Chris).
• Verdict: Not viable for mass sends at current plan limits.

External SMS Platform

• An external dedicated SMS tool (e.g., SimpleTexting, EZTexting, or similar) could handle bulk sends more cost-effectively.
• Would need to integrate with or export from MarketSharp contact lists.
• Verdict: Likely the most scalable option; research assigned to Sebastian.

Compliance Requirements

"If you're doing kind of promotion for marketing messages, you have to give an opt-in, opt-out option." — Sebastian Gant

• All marketing texts (as distinct from operational/transactional texts) require a clear opt-in/opt-out mechanism.
• AHS already collects opt-in consent on intake forms for operational texts; marketing consent may need a separate checkbox or list segment.
• RingCentral's opt-out toggle was confirmed as available but not yet used for marketing sends.
• Any new platform must support TCPA-compliant opt-out handling.

Key Constraints

1. MarketSharp capacity ceiling — operational texting already consumes the monthly allotment; marketing volume would require a plan upgrade or a separate tool.
2. RingCentral 10-text limit — not suitable for broadcast sends.
3. Opt-in/opt-out compliance — non-negotiable for any marketing SMS campaign.
4. Contact list quality — the existing email list has a ~30% bounce rate (~300 of 1,067 contacts); the phone number list likely has similar staleness issues.

Priority & Status

This initiative was explicitly classified as a "want, not a need" by both Gina and Sebastian. The immediate priority is filling the Nov 19 Madison and Dec 11–12 Kalahari training sessions via email. Mass texting is a future-state channel to revisit once training email campaigns are stable.

Status: Research phase — no platform selected, no sends executed.

Action Items

• [ ] Research MarketSharp mass texting add-on cost and implementation path (@Sebastian Gant)
• [ ] Research external SMS platforms as an alternative to MarketSharp for marketing sends (@Sebastian Gant)
• [ ] Evaluate RingCentral bulk texting upgrade options (@Sebastian Gant)
• [ ] Propose platform recommendation with pricing to Gina and Bob (@Sebastian Gant)
• [ ] Confirm opt-in consent coverage for marketing texts vs. operational texts (@Sebastian Gant / @Gina Richardson)

Related

• ^[2]
• ^[3]
• ^[4]