Can You Market With Text and Twitter as a Tool?

Social media marketing is an established practice. But what about using Twitter and even (gasp!) cell phones to reach out to your audience? 

We’re doing well. But we’re not done yet.  You may not love marketing.

I’d venture to say that most small-business owners view it as being closer to a “thing I must do” rather than a “thing I love to do” on the run-your-own-business continuum.

But still, we keep up our profiles on Facebook and LinkedIn, update our websites, and post interesting and informative things on our company blogs.

Twitter as Marketing Tool? Yup.

Back when social networks started, Twitter was the only one I was interested in, and then only because I could (in theory) use it to track down my favorite food trucks.

This is an excellent example of Twitter-based marketing: have a food truck (or pop-up store, or mobile boutique, or whatever) tweet out locations and special deals to followers.  

But Twitter marketing isn’t limited to nomadically minded businesses, nor is it merely a way to announce time-sensitive special events to your audience. Don’t believe us?

Check out Twitter’s own extensive marketing section. You’ll learn everything from how to identify and connect with your target audience to navigating the intricacies of promotional tweets and ads.

Twitter marketing is definitely happening, and anyone who follows a business on Twitter basically expects it. But what about SMS marketing, aka text marketing? Is sending texts to someone’s cell phone just too much?

Can You Text Market? Yes, If You Do It Right

First things first: you can text market—but you must get permission first. Text marketing is more personal (some might say intrusive) than web-based marketing, and it’s more regulated.

If this is something you’re interested in, Mogreet.com’s 2013 Guide to Text Messaging Regulations & Best Practices is a must-read.

Here’s the question around which text marketing hangs—does it work? The answer is, largely, yes.

You probably already receive marketing texts from your grocery store, hobby store, auto parts store, etc. Do you open them? Most likely, because

1) you had to sign up for the texts, so you’re expecting them

2) you know they contain some kind of money-saving deal.

Most people, it turns out, are okay with text marketing when it’s something they opt into. MyCustomer.com did a survey that shows 68% of respondents do open special-offer texts and 48% are likely to do further business with companies that engage in SMS marketing.

So text marketing? It’s a maybe because it does require more know-how and regulatory compliance than Twitter marketing. But it definitely can be done.

Stay tuned to the Techsperts Talk blog, where we talk about topics every small-business owner needs to know!

Featured image credit: Creative Commons