crowdEngage includes all the tools you need for a customer-friendly, compliant approach to data protection. We're also always happy to offer guidance should you need it.
Do I need permission to send text messages to customers?
crowdEngage differs from most text message providers in that our focus is on improving customer experience. This means that the automated system can only be used to send messages to customers who have already booked tickets, and only in the days immediately before or after a visit.
Example use-cases include improving the visitor experience by fulfilling mobile tickets, directions for navigation, and useful information such as performance running time or venue restrictions.
These kinds of transactional messages don't require prior consent from your customers because they can be classed as part of the service provision. Under GDPR, you may wish to base this processing on the fulfilment of your contractual obligations - the same basis you would use for order confirmation emails. PECR applies to marketing communication, and so doesn't apply to these transactional messages.
Can I decide which customers receive each message?
Yes! As well as personalising messages, you can define who will receive each one with our smart templating engine. For segmentation, you can use contact preferences, tags, attributes, membership subscriptions, or anything else that your ticketing system exposes via its API.
Using tags and autotags in your ticketing system, you can create advanced groupings of customers and use those tags in crowdEngage to determine whether messages are sent to customers, or to customise content so that you're able to address each segment of your audience in the most relevant way.
For example, you could decide not to send messages to customers with a particular tag. You could then use different message content or language depending on whether the customer is a first-time visitor or a regular attendee.