Marketing to folks through text messaging seems like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you know with almost certainty it'll be read by its recipient, but on the other, you will almost certainly be annoying them. But, given that Microsoft Tag has projected mobile Internet usage to overtake desktop Internet usage by 2014, and that people check their phones 150 times per day, it's at least worth giving a shot if you can do it diplomatically.
So, if you're considering it, check out small-business blog Grow Smart Biz post on text-messaging marketing. First off, the most important tip given is to make the messaging opt-in only: "Of course, you don't want to spam users. Usually you will ask users to text a code to a predetermined number in order to receive text marketing messages from your business."
You also want to make sure you don't overdo it and overwhelm people with constant messages, and if you are messaging them, make sure it's short and to the point – offer them something valuable, get in, get out, almost like a surgical strike.
Let me also throw one more tip onto the fire here, which is to not text people in the middle of the night. Nothing will make someone opt-out quicker than being jolted awake, thinking there's some sort of emergency, only to find out you just knocked $5 off the price of your Brazilian waxes.
David Wolinsky is a freelance writer and a lifelong Chicagoan. In addition to currently serving as an interviewer-writer for Adult Swim, he's also a comedy-writing instructor for Second City. He was the Chicago city editor for The Onion A.V. Club where he provided in-depth daily coverage of this city's bustling arts/entertainment scene for half a decade. When not playing video games for work he's thinking of dashing out to Chicago Diner, Pizano's, or Yummy Yummy. His first career aspirations were to be a game-show host.
