Overview
Petboost includes a built-in consent management system that ensures your business complies with Australian messaging regulations. Every pet owner has individual communication preferences that control which types of messages they receive.
How Consent Works
Per-Pet-Owner Preferences
Each pet owner in your system has their own marketing consent setting:
Opted in: the pet owner has agreed to receive marketing and promotional messages
Opted out: the pet owner has declined marketing messages and will only receive transactional communications
Consent is tracked at the pet owner level, not per pet. If a customer has multiple pets with your business, a single opt-out applies across all of them.
How Consent Affects Messaging
Marketing Messages (Consent Required)
Marketing messages are only sent to pet owners who have opted in. These include:
Promotional offers and discounts
New service announcements
Seasonal campaigns
Re-engagement messages
Loyalty and referral promotions
When you send a Marketing SMS via Bulk SMS, Petboost automatically skips any recipient who has not opted in. The send summary shows how many recipients were skipped and why.
Transactional Messages (No Opt-Out)
Transactional messages are essential operational communications that customers cannot opt out of. These include:
Appointment reminders and confirmations
Booking confirmations and changes
Payment receipts and invoices
Payment failure alerts
Cancellation confirmations
These messages are required for the normal operation of the services your customer has booked and are exempt from marketing consent requirements.
Viewing Consent Status
In the Pet Owner Profile
Each pet owner's profile displays their current consent status. Look for the communication preferences section to see:
Current marketing consent status (opted in or opted out)
Date of last consent change
Method of consent change (customer-initiated, staff-updated, or automatic via STOP reply)
In Bulk SMS Sends
When composing a Marketing SMS, the recipient selection screen shows:
Total recipients matching your filters
Number of recipients with marketing consent (will receive the message)
Number of recipients without consent (will be skipped)
How Customers Manage Their Preferences
Pet owners can update their communication preferences in several ways:
SMS reply: replying STOP to any marketing SMS automatically opts them out; replying START opts them back in
Pet owner portal: customers can manage their preferences from their account settings
Requesting your team: customers may ask you to update their preferences, which you can do from their profile
Updating Consent Manually
Your team can update a pet owner's consent status from their profile:
Navigate to the pet owner's profile
Find the Communication Preferences section
Toggle the marketing consent setting
Save changes
Manual updates are logged with a timestamp and the team member who made the change.
Australian Spam Act 2003 Compliance
Petboost's consent management system is designed around the requirements of the Australian Spam Act 2003:
Consent: marketing messages are only sent to recipients who have given consent
Identify: your business is identified in all commercial messages
Unsubscribe: every marketing SMS includes an opt-out mechanism (STOP to unsubscribe)
Honour opt-outs: opt-out requests are processed automatically and immediately
Record keeping: consent status and changes are logged for compliance records
Best Practices
Always respect opt-outs: never attempt to re-add opted-out customers to marketing lists without their explicit consent
Make opting in easy: explain the value of your messages when collecting consent (e.g., "Receive appointment reminders and exclusive offers")
Be transparent: tell customers what types of messages they will receive and how often
Review consent regularly: periodically check your consent rates and address any concerns from customers
Use Business Announcements for operational messages: if your message is genuinely operational (holiday closures, policy changes), use the Business Announcement mode rather than Marketing SMS, so it reaches all customers
Do not abuse Business Announcements: sending promotional content as a Business Announcement to bypass consent is a violation of the Spam Act