At ActiveProspect, we’ve always believed in transparency, accountability, and putting consumers in control of their data. That’s why we’re excited to share a major legal victory that reinforces those values – and clarifies an important question that’s been looming over modern marketing practices.

The legal backdrop: Wiretapping laws and modern marketing tools

Over the past few years, California courts have seen a wave of lawsuits targeting website owners and vendors for allegedly violating Section 631 of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA). This decades-old “wiretapping” statute has been applied in new and aggressive ways, with plaintiffs suing companies simply for using common online tools like:

• Website analytics platforms (e.g., Google Analytics)
• Session replay tools (e.g., Hotjar, Fullstory)
• Chat services
• Tracking pixels (e.g., Meta Pixel)
  

Unfortunately, even our own TrustedForm – built to support privacy and compliance – was pulled into this legal gray area. A small number of lawsuits wrongly claimed that TrustedForm’s session replay feature amounted to illegal “eavesdropping.”

Torres v. Prudential & ActiveProspect: TrustedForm is cleared

We’re pleased to share that the final major case, Torres v. Prudential Financial, Inc. and ActiveProspect, Inc. (formerly Hazel v. Prudential), has now been resolved in our favor. On April 17, 2025, the Northern District of California granted summary judgment for both ActiveProspect and Prudential.

The court unequivocally concluded:

“Nothing in the record plausibly indicates that ActiveProspect reads or attempts to read the contents of the communication while they are in transit.”

That’s the key legal standard under CIPA’s Section 631. The law is intended to prohibit third parties from intercepting communications in real time. The court agreed that TrustedForm does not intercept anything. It acts more like a passive recorder – not a wiretap – capturing a session replay of a consumer’s interaction with a web form, after the interaction has occurred.

This win came after months of rigorous legal discovery, expert depositions, and in-depth technical analysis. And it brings long-awaited clarity to our customers and to the broader consent-based marketing ecosystem.

Why this matters

This ruling is more than just a win in court. It’s a win for:

• Marketers who want to build smarter, more respectful customer journeys.
• Consumers who want transparency and control over how they’re contacted.
• Technology providers who are building tools with compliance at their core.
  

It’s also a validation of our long-standing position: TrustedForm enables consent-based marketing. It does not violate privacy.

What you still need to know

Even though the court ruled that TrustedForm doesn’t qualify as a wiretap, the legal landscape remains complex. Here’s what we recommend to stay on the right side of compliance:

1. Provide prior notice

It’s required by the TrustedForm EULA and ActiveProspect Terms of Service to provide visitors with clear disclosure that session replay technology is in use on your website. We’ve made this easy with a customizable TrustedForm Privacy Notice you can copy and use.

2. Work with your legal team

Privacy regulations evolve quickly. Collaborate with your legal, privacy, and UX teams to ensure that your site meets requirements for:

• Website disclosures
• Consent language visibility
• Consent timing and documentation

3. Stay committed to consent

This ruling affirms the foundation of our approach: contact only those who want to hear from you. Consent-based marketing isn’t just about legal compliance – it’s about building trust, improving lead quality, and protecting your brand.

Looking ahead

We’re proud of the legal clarity this ruling provides, and we remain committed to leading the industry in consent-based innovation. We also extend our sincere thanks to the court for thoroughly reviewing the facts and reaching the right decision – and to our customers for standing with us.

To learn more about the case and its implications, we recommend reading this in-depth analysis.

Thank you for being part of the ActiveProspect community and helping us build a better, more compliant digital ecosystem.

Update as of May 18, 2025:  The Plaintiffs in the Torres case have now filed an appeal of the case with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Don’t be discouraged, however! ActiveProspect will continue to defend itself against these baseless accusations and we remain confident that we will prevail on the appeal. Stay tuned.

The post Big win for consent-based marketing appeared first on ActiveProspect.

Written by Steve Rafferty, originally published December 3, 2020; updated January 30, 2025.

Consent-based marketing is the practice of only contacting consumers that have given their prior express written consent to be contacted. The objective is to ensure that only “active prospects,” or those who have actively expressed interest in hearing from you, make it into your funnel.

With this form of marketing, you have the added benefit of verifying that the prospect meets your criteria before you contact them. With many marketing partners, you only pay for the prospects that meet your criteria – a huge advantage over other marketing channels.

Consent-based marketing vs. permission-based marketing

Although they might seem similar, there are a few substantial differences between these two marketing practices.

What is permission-based marketing?

The concept of “permission marketing,” also referred to as “permission-based marketing,” was introduced by marketing expert Seth Godin in 1999. It centers on the principle of obtaining consumer consent before sending promotional messages. However, the issue often lies in the clarity and explicitness of this permission.

How is consent-based marketing different from permission-based marketing?

While they are similar, consent-based marketing is a higher standard. True consent-based marketing hinges on a legal definition of consent that must be clearly expressed and comprehensible to the consumer. The challenge with permission marketing is that everyone has a different definition of “permission.”

Often “permission” is buried in a privacy policy that the prospect did not read when signing up or requesting more information about a product or service. This could be sufficient for meeting the legal definition of “prior express invitation or permission,” but this is a lower standard of consent and may not be sufficient for your planned telephone or text message outreach campaigns. In contrast, consent-based marketing is based on a more strict legal definition of consent, per regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).

Consent must be clear and conspicuous to the consumer. Brands that truly respect the relationship with their consumers show that respect by only reaching out with consent. A simple test is to ask: “Is the consumer expecting this outreach?”

Consent-based marketing key components

Prior express written consent

As defined by the TCPA, “prior express written consent” is “A signed, written agreement between the consumer and seller, which states that the consumer agrees to be contacted by this seller and includes the telephone number to which the calls may be placed.”

This form of consent requires a clear, written, and signed agreement from the consumer, along with a prominent language indicating that the consumer can withdraw their consent at any time. Businesses can gather consumer consent through different methods, including online forms, paper documents, and in some instances using text message responses.

Learn more about prior express written consent here.

Consent documentation

Both lead buyers and sellers must obtain and store records of consent documentation. Additionally, the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) mandates that businesses engaged in communication outreach preserve these records for five years following the date of consent and outreach.

Such documentation is crucial for defending against regulatory investigations or legal challenges, serving as evidence of the consent transaction.

Consent revocation

It is essential to make it unmistakably clear that the consumer retains the right to revoke their consent at any time and through any reasonable means.

Learn more about revocation of consent here.

Consent-based marketing best practices

Capture consent of interested consumers

Consent-based marketing begins with an interested consumer. When that consumer provides their contact information, typically responding to some sort of offer from the marketer, they are asking to start the conversation. That is the start of the relationship. 

Document consent for record-keeping

There are a variety of regulations that govern contacting consumers with marketing messages, in particular the TCPA. If you have documented prior express written consent, you can contact consumers on their cell phones, via SMS, or using automated dialing technologies. Documented consent allows you to demonstrate compliance and protect yourself from liability. 

Identify the best prospects and pay accordingly

Once you have received the opt-in lead with documented consent, you could use the information submitted by the consumer to help you identify the prospects most likely to become your customers. Typically, this involves first checking if you have an existing relationship with this consumer (is this a duplicate of an existing record?). Using real-time data services to enhance your lead data, you can identify more qualifying information about the consumer.

Filter & reject unwanted leads 

Inevitably you will receive leads that, for a variety of reasons, will never become customers. They might be fraudulent, uncontactable, duplicates, or simply not qualify for your product or service. You should also use data services to help determine if the individual is on the national Do Not Call (DNC) list, individual state DNC registries, or the Reassigned Number Database (RND) service for recent phone number changes. 

It’s important to have a system in place that will filter out, in real time, any leads that don’t meet any of your qualifying criteria. Many cost-per-lead marketing partners won’t charge marketers for leads that are rejected in real time. 

Contact the consumer promptly

After requesting contact, consumers expect to hear from you promptly. It is important that the lead data is delivered into your CRM, database, or call center in real time. For example, every form submission should be followed up by a real-time confirmation email. This is standard practice. In fact, there have been a number of studies on lead follow-up that show the quicker the follow-up, the higher the conversion rates.

Our mission: Making consent-based marketing the best channel for customer acquisition

Despite laws like the TCPA, the Telephone Sales Rule (TSR), and the CAN-SPAM Act, aimed at curbing unsolicited consumer outreach, non-compliant or illegal high volume outreach continues to be a strategy used by some risk-taking marketers, as it apparently yields some successful sales. But is it worth the growing legal risk?

At ActiveProspect, we are committed to offering a more respectful alternative by promoting consent-based marketing as the premier channel for customer acquisition. We believe that by enhancing the success of this channel, we can significantly decrease the volume of unsolicited outreach consumers face.

Consent-based marketing solutions

Consent-based marketing solutions are tools and strategies that enable businesses to obtain and manage consumer consent for marketing communications. These solutions help ensure that businesses comply with legal regulations, build trust with customers, and improve the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. 

Benefits of consent-based marketing solutions

Here’s why businesses should rely on consent-based marketing solutions for their marketing campaigns:

• Regulatory compliance: With the increasing emphasis on TCPA regulations, businesses need to ensure they are compliant to avoid hefty fines and legal issues. Consent-based marketing solutions help achieve this compliance seamlessly.
• Enhanced customer relationships: By focusing on consent and preferences, businesses can tailor their marketing efforts to meet the specific needs and interests of their audience, leading to stronger customer relationships and better overall customer experience.
• Ethical marketing: Adopting consent-based marketing solutions aligns with ethical standards and promotes responsible use of consumer data, which is becoming increasingly important to consumers.
• Competitive advantage: Businesses that prioritize consent-based marketing can differentiate themselves from competitors who may still use intrusive or non-compliant marketing methods, thereby attracting more customers who value privacy and respect for their choices.
• Operational efficiency: Automating consent management and integrating it with existing marketing platforms can streamline operations, reduce manual workload, and improve the efficiency of marketing efforts.

ActiveProspect offers consent-based marketing solutions to help you keep compliance at the forefront of your marketing efforts.

LeadConduit

LeadConduit streamlines your cost-per-lead (CPL) acquisition process to efficiently acquire customers at scale. Custom lead flows automatically enhance and filter leads in real time to deliver the highest-quality prospects to your CRM or lead buyer.

LeadConduit helps thousands of brands increase their ROI, reduce fraud, and increase their efficiency by streamlining lead acquisition and distribution processes. Eliminate error-prone manual work to normalize, maintain, and sync data between different lead vendors and tech stacks.

TrustedForm

TrustedForm is the ultimate compliance solution for the lead generation industry. TrustedForm documents TCPA consent on digital lead capture forms, offering a number of different products:

• TrustedForm Certify issues certificates of lead authenticity that can be retained for your own use and/or shared with others.
• TrustedForm Retain guarantees certificate availability for up to five years.
• TrustedForm Verify optimizes the consent capture process by enabling users to identify and categorize TCPA consent language for different lead vendors. 
• TrustedForm Insights allows you to make informed decisions to optimize lead-buying strategies and maximize your ROI.

LeadsBridge

LeadsBridge automates your customer acquisition process by seamlessly integrating major ad platforms with your existing marketing technology. With over 380 integrations, you can drive new revenue and increase efficiency by syncing leads in real time, tracking online and offline conversions, and targeting custom audiences.

LeadsBridge partners with the top global advertising platforms, including Meta, Google, LinkedIn, and TikTok to provide unique benefits to users. 

Unlike many integration platforms out there, we offer highly specific integrations to make your advertising and marketing experience seamless and headache-free. Our platform is designed specifically for marketing and advertising integrations, ready at the click of a button.

Book a free demo now to see how LeadsBridge works!

Final thoughts

With the right processes and technologies in place, consent-based marketing can be the best channel to efficiently and safely acquire customers who truly want to be contacted by your brand.

Consent-based marketing solutions are essential for modern businesses to ensure compliance with regulations, build trust with customers, and enhance the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns. By relying on these solutions, businesses can foster positive customer relationships, improve engagement, and maintain a competitive edge in the market.

To learn more about how consent-based marketing could benefit your business, contact us today.

The post What is consent-based marketing? appeared first on ActiveProspect.

Many of you use TrustedForm on your website to document consent for current or potential customers to be contacted by telephone, text message or email. TrustedForm provides significant benefits for all concerned with a website visit and the process of lead verification. In particular, TrustedForm helps document a consumer’s consent to be contacted which greatly helps companies comply with privacy laws such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). TrustedForm also helps to protect you from baseless claims of TCPA violations by aggressive litigators. Recently, some of the same serial litigators who have threatened TCPA claims have been pursuing a new avenue of litigation. They have pursued cases against website owners and their service providers (like us) based on a decades-old California wiretapping statute. These “wiretap” cases involve sites that use any type of session replay technology like TrustedForm. This is yet another challenge for website owners, who are doing their best to conduct business responsibly and comply with the law. Again, ActiveProspect is at the frontlines of the battle. The purpose of this article is to provide some context and updates on recent legal developments. 

As a company, our mission is to make consent-based marketing the best channel for customer acquisition. Consent-based marketing is the practice of only contacting consumers who have given their prior express written consent to be contacted. Ultimately, we want to put the control in the hands of the consumer and do away with unsolicited outreach by giving marketers a better alternative. Given that we are strong advocates of consumer privacy, we were very frustrated to be named in a few of these CA wiretapping complaints, even though most have been quickly dismissed. 

However, some recent wiretap cases have made it past the dismissal stage of litigation.  

• Javier vs. Assurance IQ, LLC and ActiveProspect, Inc.:  Originally, the District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the Javier case, but the plaintiff appealed that ruling to the Ninth Circuit. Unfortunately, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court’s dismissal and remanded the case back to the District Court for additional discovery and fact finding. The Ninth Circuit held that the basis for the District Court’s decision—that the plaintiff had provided express consent retroactively to Assurance IQ’s use of TrustedForm—was in error. In particular, relying on cases dealing with a different statute than the one under which the plaintiff sued (and that arose in the context of telephone calls and not internet communications), the Ninth Circuit held that the plaintiff had to provide his consent prior to any involvement by TrustedForm for his express consent to be effective. This decision was met with criticism. However, upon remand, the District Court again dismissed the plaintiff’s claim – this time on a statute of limitations issue.

The primary takeaway from the rather uneven Javier litigation is that the Ninth Circuit held that prior express written notice is required when a website employs session replay technology such as TrustedForm.

• Williams v. What If Holdings, LLC and ActiveProspect, Inc.: Another case from the Northern District of California, Williams was also dismissed by the District Court and appealed to the Ninth Circuit.  However, in Williams, the plaintiff voluntarily withdrew her appeal just several days prior to the oral argument scheduled before the Ninth Circuit.  

The takeaway?  One can only assume that the plaintiff felt extremely unsure of her chances at prevailing upon appeal; and thus withdrew her claim before precedent could be set against serial litigators everywhere.

• Hazel v. Prudential Financial, Inc. and ActiveProspect, Inc.:  Yet another case out of the Northern District of California, this wiretap case is still ongoing (currently in the discovery phase of litigation).  This case turns primarily on two issues:  (1) whether TrustedForm (and therefore ActiveProspect) intercepts communications “in transit”; and (2) whether ActiveProspect is a third-party “eavesdropper.”  ActiveProspect remains confident that during the fact-finding discovery phase of this case, it will meet its burden to prove that TrustedForm does not intercept communications in transit and is acting solely on behalf of the website owner (and therefore is not a third-party “eavesdropper”).  

While this case is being litigated, the best protection customers have against these wiretap suits is the same as outlined by the Ninth Circuit in Javier:  Website owners should provide prior express written notice of the use of session replay technology such as TrustedForm. 

It is important when discussing these cases to note that the internet is a fundamentally different technology than telephone communication under which this 1993 California Wiretapping law is being interpreted. When you go to a website, by default your interaction with and activity on that website is logged. This logging and recording has become more sophisticated over the years with “session replays.” This technology works by taking the logged events on a site and replaying them with a copy of the site to visualize a replay of that user’s website session. While it looks like a video, it is not an actual video recording, but rather a reconstruction of the exact webpage and webform interaction, as it occurred, on that day and time. We are a service provider to the website owner who relies on our technology to comply with the TCPA by documenting the consumer’s consent to be contacted. A website owner could build and implement its own technology to provide similar functionality. We simply provide the tool for capturing and archiving the webform interaction and consent language presented for compliance and verification purposes. Only the site owner can share a TrustedForm certificate (which includes the session replay) from their site for access by others. 

We remain confident that we will prevail in the Hazel case. It is important for everyone in the consent-based marketing ecosystem that we do.

In the interim, developments such as Javier and Williams serve as an important reminder about the need for website owners to provide prior express written notice to site visitors about your privacy practices, including the use of session replay technology like TrustedForm. We have specifically developed a TrustedForm Privacy Notice for your use on your website (Click here). We recommend using this link in your own Privacy Policy which is shown on your website.  Please also note that use of the TrustedForm Certify Web SDK is specifically governed by our TrustedForm EULA, which requires that site operators provide notice to their visitors. As always, we recommend that you work with your privacy, legal and design teams to determine the most reasonable, balanced way to meet any webpage notice and consent language compliance requirements set forth in our EULA or under various data laws and regulations.

The post TrustedForm and the CA Wiretapping Threat appeared first on ActiveProspect.

As industry experts, we’re dedicated to providing unparalleled information to help you enhance your business. Our team brings you the latest news, research, and trends to help you stay compliant and maximize ROI. Join us on this exciting journey to uncover the potential of consent-based marketing for your business.

Welcome aboard InsideCBM!

Blog buzz

The ultimate TCPA consent guide

Complying with the TCPA is vital to keep your business running smoothly. However, compliance can be difficult to keep up with. Discover TCPA disclosure requirements and how to get TCPA express written consent. Keep reading.

Marketing automation examples to boost your strategy

Marketing automation helps save time and resources, while also improving campaigns’ effectiveness. Discover five marketing automation examples to help you implement this approach into your own strategy. Continue on LeadsBridge.

Heads up

TCPA cases are on the rise!

“The total number of TCPA cases filed increased 98.2% from April 2023, an increase of 79.2% compared to May of last year, and represents a year to date gain of 17.6%.” Learn more.

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“Mini-TCPAs” carry a big bite and present potential oversized risks

The list of states with new or amended telemarketing statutes, known as “mini-TCPAs,” is growing. Given that more states will likely embrace this trend, businesses that contact consumers via phone or text should stay abreast of changes in state telemarketing laws. Continue on Eversheds Sutherland.

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For businesses that are hungry for robust growth, harnessing the potential of technology is not just an option; it’s a survival strategy. The winning formula? Revitalizing ancient systems and phasing out obsolete tools and workflows. See how to stay competitive. Continue on Forbes.

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The FTC updated the social media influencer marketing guidelines

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Word of the week

Consent-based marketing

“The practice of only contacting consumers who have given their prior express written consent to be contacted. The objective is to ensure that only ‘active prospects’, or those who have actively expressed interest in hearing from you, make it into your funnel.” Learn more.

What we’re listening to

Ben Farrar, Director of Data, Privacy, and Compliance, joins the Privacy Please podcast to discuss an array of privacy and security topics, and how ActiveProspect can empower companies through a consent-based marketing approach. Listen now.

ActiveProspect partner spotlight

Trestle’s Real Contact API

Powerful lead validation tool that confirms lead identity and contactability. See how integrating it with LeadConduit can help you optimize and enhance your lead flows. Learn more.

Meet an ActiveProspect expert

Introducing the people behind the logo

At ActiveProspect, we’re backed by an amazing group of people, just like yourself. Sit down with Ruben Ugarte, our Sales Director for Home Services, and get to know him better! Watch now.

Meme of the week

If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all the industry’s latest news and trends, subscribe to InsideCBM now and receive all the information you need, straight in your inbox. Sign up!

The post InsideCBM: Your go-to resource for consent-based marketing appeared first on ActiveProspect.

ActiveProspect had a great time connecting with everyone at Contact.io in Denver! If you have never been to this event, you’re missing out! 

Contact.io allows you to network with 700+ marketers, call center operators, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders. The event spans some of the largest sectors of the economy, including telephony, financial services, healthcare, home services, professional services, and travel.

Thank you to all who stopped by our booth to learn more about consent-based marketing and our products. Our team showed TrustedForm demos on our iPads and handed out fun swag (our socks are always a hit!).

It’s always rewarding to see our partners and to be able to attend wonderful sessions. We loved hearing from industry experts and answering questions about how our products can help you start a conversation with a prospect who actually wants to speak with you. 

The Czar of the TCPAWorld and Founder of the Troutman Firm, Eric Troutman, was a panelist during one event and the sole host of another. ActiveProspect caught up with him recently.

Q&A with the Czar of TCPAWorld, Eric J. Troutman

1. At events like Contact.io, if you could impart one succinct message to attendees, what would that be?

Buying third-party leads comes with a lot of risk, but it can be managed with good tools and practices.

2. With the Panzarella ruling in the third circuit court, is this just the beginning of endless chaos in the TCPA world, or was endless chaos already inevitable?

TCPA World has always been a chaotic place, and nothing will change in the near future. Pay close attention to TCPAWorld.com to try to stay ahead of fast-moving developments.

3. You touched on Florida state law–specifically FTSA–in your presentation. Are there any other states that come to mind with specific laws similar to FTSA, or is that just Florida being Florida?

Oklahoma and Michigan are two states to keep an eye on due to new marketing bills. But Washington State also has a very powerful anti-robotext statute. So watch out!

4. Armed with ActiveProspect’s TrustedForm and TCPAWorld’s wealth of information, is there any other resource you would recommend to round-out a triumvirate of compliance? 

There are a lot of other vendors and solutions to consider. DNC.com’s litigator scrub product, the reassigned number database, and Safe Select’s TCPA-proof outreach platform are just a handful of innovative solutions assisting folks to navigate the TCPA.

5. Lastly, we were privy to your karaoke chops in Denver. What is your No. 1 go-to song?

“Don’t Stop Believing.”

In an increasingly virtual world, events like Contact.io are great networking opportunities to connect with current and future clients. ActiveProspect is proud to be able to spread the word of consent-based marketing to ensure safety, efficiency, and scalability so you can acquire customers who meet your requirements and see a return on your marketing efforts.

We’d love to help you make consent-based marketing your best tool for customer acquisition. Contact us today to learn more.

The post Recap of Contact.io 2022 and Q&A with Eric Troutman, Czar of TCPAWorld appeared first on ActiveProspect.

 With consumer demand for residential solar on the rise, this partnership provides solar installers critical documentation of consent to contact online consumers.

BOSTON, Oct. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Colossus, a technology company that delivers quality solar leads to businesses across the nation, and ActiveProspect, a SaaS platform for consent-based marketing, announced their partnership to provide compliance solutions to companies in the residential solar industry.

With the biggest climate package in U.S. history set to boost consumer demand for rooftop solar, more homeowners will be interested in claiming tax credits and rebates to achieve energy efficiency and lower their energy bills. When marketing to consumers, solar installers will need to be aware of applicable state and federal telemarketing policies and regulations, even if they purchase solar leads from a trusted source.

“At the end of the day, if you’re the one reaching out to prospects by dialing data and it’s not compliant, you may be held responsible even if your vendor was at fault,” said Heather Griffin, Colossus Co-CEO & President. “Working with a marketing partner that follows permission-based lead acquisition models reduces fine risks and increases contact and conversion rates. Providing TrustedForm certified leads is one way we help mitigate legal risks while adding a layer of quality control for our partners who can rest assured that the leads we provide are legitimate and consensual.”

ActiveProspect’s TrustedForm provides independent documentation of consent to contact leads acquired through online marketing. Colossus provides TrustedForm certification for every lead, meaning that solar installers will receive all the information necessary to document a prospect’s interaction with a web page or contact form.

“Our partnership with Colossus continues to build on our strong foundation within the growing residential U.S. solar market,” said Steve Rafferty, founder/CEO of ActiveProspect. “As we continually onboard and expand our support for solar installers nationwide, it only makes sense that we team up with best in class platforms that are engaged in consent-based marketing and provide optimized, compliant marketing solutions.”

Complying with federal regulations such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which requires documented proof of consent prior to contacting consumers, can be complicated, with non-compliance resulting in costly litigation. TrustedForm protects companies from costly TCPA compliance violations by providing the highest standard of independent proof of consent available.

To learn more about growing your residential solar sales, visit Colossus.com.

About Colossus

Colossus is a technology company dedicated to helping businesses sell more solar. By matching residential solar providers with the right customers, Colossus helps solar companies grow their sales by delivering real-time solar inquiries. Top solar companies across the nation utilize the Colossus Marketplace to effectively fill their sales pipeline. Colossus drives results by partnering with solar sales teams to offer qualified solar leads and expert consultation to improve performance and help businesses close more solar sales.

About ActiveProspect

ActiveProspect is an Austin-based SaaS company on a mission to make consent-based marketing the best method for customer acquisition. Their comprehensive product suite empowers companies across industries to take real-time action on their leads, protect themselves from litigation by documenting proof of consent, and save money by providing new levels of data insights and control. For more information, go to www.activeprospect.com.

The post Colossus Partners with ActiveProspect to Certify Solar Leads appeared first on ActiveProspect.

For years, marketers have been using third-party cookies as a way to better understand and track their target audience. But all of that is about to change, thanks to the cookie blocking rules being implemented by major internet browsers including Google, Firefox, and Safari.

Consumers have grown tired of unknown entities tracking their behavior across the web without their knowledge or consent and, therefore, demands from consumers for more privacy surrounding the use of their personal data have grown stronger.  This has resulted in increased privacy regulation (GDPR, CCPA, etc.) which have forced the ad tech ecosystem to update their approach. While Firefox and Safari have already permanently blocked third-party cookies, the biggest blow to marketers came when Google announced it would also be phasing out third-party cookies and alternate identifiers on Google Chrome due to these privacy concerns. 

As a quick refresher, third-party cookies work by collecting data from website visitors which allows companies to track their behavior around the internet, even after they leave a website. These cookies have been critical to helping marketers understand their target audience behaviors and how to bring back their potential customers with targeted display advertising.

First-party data, on the other hand, is the data collected directly from visitors to your own website. It includes data volunteered by your prospects such as contact information like email, phone number and address (also referred to as zero party data). Consumer data given directly to the brand with consent is true marketing gold. While this first-party information is very valuable, it offers a narrower view of consumer behavior, tracking only visitor activity on the advertiser’s website, rather than across the web.

So, how can marketers plan for the loss of this behavioral data when Google fully blocks third-party cookies and alternate identifiers in 2022?

Since marketers will no longer be able to compile data via cookies from third-party sites – and considering that their retargeting efforts will also be considerably diminished by cookie blocking, marketers will have to uncover new strategies to learn about and re-engage their audience.

Marketers must embrace strategies that put the consumer in control of their data
The consumer privacy trends are pretty clear: Each new law grants consumers more control over their data. Ultimately, we’re all consumers, so we should respect that this is a good thing. As marketers, why fight it? We must get ahead of the trends and adopt strategies to succeed in this new environment.

Capturing first party data with explicit consumer consent will be the best way to engage prospects in the future.   

As Marnie Levan, Maybelline’s VP of Integrated Consumer Communications, recently said, “Personal data that somebody is opting to give us is better quality information than making assumptions based on who visits the website or goes to a makeup foundation page, and then we retarget them.”  Ideally, marketers only reach out to consumers who have given their prior express written consent to be contacted. There is no better quality of data than that which is voluntarily given with consent. We refer to this practice as “consent-based marketing”. 

Consent-based marketing respects the rights of consumers and fosters a closer one-to-one relationship between the advertiser and consumer — one that’s founded on trust and transparency. Creating direct relationships with consumers can also help advertisers learn and solicit information about customer preferences with accurate first party data – not inferred behavioral data. If done correctly, consent-based marketing can be a very cost-effective and scalable channel for pulling in new customers from across the web.

First-party data is great, but let’s face it: acquiring it at scale is really hard.

After all, your own website offers only a limited opportunity for collecting first-party data. For example, a consumer packaged good company might want to engage in a direct-to-consumer relationship with their customers utilizing first-party data. Companies often try to leverage loyalty programs for this purpose. However, their target customers typically have no reason to visit their website. Marketers must go to where these consumers are online to establish the initial relationship. 

Working with partners is essential for scaling consent-based marketing campaigns to capture first-party data.

As great as your site might be, it will never have the traffic of a media site. Face it: If you want to engage with consumers online, you have to meet them where they are, such as major ad platforms like Facebook and Google. Both Facebook and Google offer Lead Ad products that allow you to capture first-party data with consent from the consumer directly within these platforms. Other platforms like LinkedIn and TikTok also offer these types of ad units. These ad units are more cost-effective at capturing first-party data than trying to drive the consumer directly to your own website.

In addition to the major ad platforms, there are hundreds of specialized media companies that generate first-party data / opt-in leads for specific categories. Think LendingTree for mortgages, Everquote for insurance, and HomeAdvisor for home services as examples. The ActiveProspect platform allows marketers to directly access and integrate with these companies for real-time data capture. This makes it easy for advertisers to capture new opt-ins from any lead source across the web and deliver them directly into their marketing automation platform to take action on that data right away — no third-party cookies needed! 

How do we target potential audiences without cookies?

Lookalike Audiences are another key to the cookie-less future. Many great media partners that target consumers based on email address use lookalike audiences on Facebook to find prospects similar to their current customers and continue acquisition optimization. But without third-party cookies, targeting lookalike profiles will also be harder to create — unless you’re using a platform like ActiveProspect. 

With our Lookalike Audience solution, you can include the lifetime value of your clients or leads to create a value-based Lookalike Audience. That audience will then be made up of the people most similar to your highest value customers, while a regular Lookalike Audience can find people similar to all your clients/leads, enabling you to focus on an audience similar to the clients who spend more money in the long run.

Looking ahead to a future without third-party cookies can seem overwhelming to marketers, but this evolution is necessary for the increasing privacy demands from our consumers. By embracing first-party data, audience syncing, and new partnerships, marketers will be able to create more one-on-one relationships with their audience and, therefore, have the ability to remarket to them in a way that restores their privacy and gains new trust.

The post In A Cookie-Less Future, Marketers Need First-Party Data – Here’s How To Get It appeared first on ActiveProspect.

Imagine you send a brand new discount offer to your existing customer base via text message as part of a new campaign. You expect some high conversion rates through this exciting new marketing channel, and at worst, a few unsubscribes.

Now, fast forward to a few months later. Suddenly, you’re hit with a $10 million fine for sending that very text message.

Why?

In this blog, we’ll explain why every D2C marketer using SMS messaging for marketing communications should be aware of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and how to take every precaution to avoid costly litigation with protected SMS outreach efforts.

Over the past decade, Direct-To-Consumer (D2C) marketers have used email outreach to offer their customers and prospects promotions, discounts and alerts for new products. While email has become a successful marketing channel, its growing popularity has also created some issues. With nearly every D2C brand using email to communicate to their customers, inboxes are getting flooded daily – making it harder to get opens and stand out from the crowd. Additionally, marketing emails often don’t provide an opportunity for a two-way dialogue with consumers, which makes it more difficult to get feedback on their wants and needs from your brand. To increase the efficiency of your marketing emails, consider following DMARC policy to maintain a high level of security.

Luckily, there’s another marketing channel that solves all of these problems and creates opportunities previously untapped: SMS messaging.

Why SMS is the retail marketer’s next goldmine

As consumers grow more attached to their phone and bored of crammed inboxes, SMS has created a unique new opportunity for marketers. After all, the average person spends a whopping four hours per day on their mobile device and checks their phone over 150 times per day. Not only are consumers spending more time on their phones, but it’s also increasingly their preferred method of communication: More than 75% of consumers say they prefer to receive promotions via text messages than while browsing the internet or social channels. Consumer trends also show that they respond much more quickly to texts than email – 90 seconds compared to 90 minutes, respectively.

Source: Chatitive.

The variety of use cases for SMS are abundant. Texts can be used for a wide range of marketing purposes, from new user acquisition and remarketing and reengagement promotions, to creating a two-way dialogue between the brand and customers that builds stronger relationships. Ecommerce brands can even use texts to remind customers of abandoned shopping carts and increase conversions.

Teams route that reminder through an ecommerce purchase handoff so the link reopens the cart and keeps the payment step consistent.

The Catch to SMS: Potential TCPA Violations

Unfortunately, there is a danger to SMS outreach that D2C brands must be vigilant in preventing: Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) violations. TCPA legislation requires prior, express written consent for marketers to contact consumers via auto dialer or text message – an increasingly difficult challenge for D2C marketers looking to take advantage of the SMS channel.

Whether you’ve already entered into SMS outreach or are simply considering it, it’s important to be aware of the hefty fines you can incur if not appropriately documenting proof of consent. If a consumer files a complaint, the TCPA states that the burden of proof is on the advertiser. Even consumers who have previously opted in to your brand’s communications may forget and attempt a lawsuit. TCPA violations can cost anywhere from $500 to $1,500 per text. For example, if a business sent 10 text messages to one consumer, there is a potential statutory fine of $5,000 to a single consumer if they can prove a willful TCPA violation. These fines can increase even further if there are class action claims – which are increasingly being sought out by “professional TCPA plaintiffs” who offer consumers settlement shares if they bring violations to their attention through websites like these.

Big names from across the D2C industry have been hit for not taking the proper precautions in their SMS outreach. After sending unsolicited text messages with a discount offer to thousands of customers, Jiffy Lube was hit with a $47 million fine. American Eagle sent over 600,000 text messages to cell phones without consent, or after the recipient had opted out of future messages, resulting in a TCPA class action suit. In the end, American Eagle had to pay $14.5 million for its violation. Pizza Hut paid out $6 million in a settlement for sending out similar unsolicited texts, and Steve Madden paid out a class action settlement for $10 million after it sent text messages promoting a holiday sale on footwear and other products.

To help D2C marketers avoid these lawsuits and hefty settlements, ActiveProspect developed TrustedForm as the original lead certification product. It works by generating a unique certificate for each customer or prospect that is stored with each record, and includes a video replay of the prospect engaging with the web form. TrustedForm is considered the highest standard for documenting proof of TCPA consent for both outbound calls and text messages. With its video replay, marketers can easily pull the URL with video playback to dismiss a potential lawsuit before it ever becomes a problem.

SMS outreach – done with the proper TCPA precautions in place – shows incredible promise as a marketing channel in the D2C space. At ActiveProspect, our platform works to help D2C marketers take advantage of all outreach channels in a safe, cost-efficient, and scalable way.

To learn more, reach out to our D2C experts today!

The post How Retail Brands Can Take Advantage of Booming SMS Outreach – Safely appeared first on ActiveProspect.