Text Messaging for Vape & Tobacco Stores

The compliance landscape for text message marketing and communications for vape and tobacco businesses continues to evolve. As carriers adopt new policies and guidelines aimed at rooting out spam and enforcing a more trustworthy mobile ecosystem, businesses have been caught in the middle, as they attempt to navigate the complex and changing regulatory landscape of what is, or is not, allowed.

Mobile marketing in the United States is subject to strict carrier guidelines and Federal FCC laws, including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The United States cellular carriers abide by Federal law and as a result, have strict restrictions on any content that is not federally legal. Even content that is legal across all 50 states and falls under SHAFT (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) is subject to strict age-gating requirements.

Unfortunately for vape and tobacco store owners, this creates a difficult grey area to navigate. This is because many vape and tobacco stores, in addition to tobacco products, also promote and sell products such as CBD, Kratom, and Delta8. These products: CBD, Kratom, Delta8, and Cannabis/THC, are ALL prohibited from messaging because they are NOT federally legal, or have different state by state restrictions on use.

As a result, the cellular carriers have adopted an extremely restrictive view and any vape or tobacco businesses that also promote or sell the prohibited products noted above, are barred from engaging in any type of mobile marketing or communications on the carriers’ networks. 

However, vape or tobacco store owners that do NOT sell or promote any of the prohibited products listed above, have a clear path forward on a 10-DLC (10 digit local code). The team at iVision Mobile has been extremely busy onboarding vape and tobacco businesses that meet this criteria and want to resume their text message initiatives. Our experienced team will help guide you through the process and navigate the approvals on your behalf. 

Please give us a ring or schedule a demo to learn more about our text messaging solutions for your business.