---
slug: /guides/marketing-you-can-text
label: Guides
type: Guide
seo_title: "Is There a Marketing Service You Can Just Text?"
meta_description: "Yes. Three services a small business owner can run by text, what each sends back and costs, and the real posts Standard Grow made from one message."
updated: "4 November 2026"
author: "Andy Wang, Cofounder at Standard Trade"
json_ld: "Article + FAQPage + BreadcrumbList"
---
*Guides*
# Is there a marketing service a small business owner can just text?
Andy Wang, Cofounder at Standard Trade · 4 November 2026
Yes, at least three services now run over text messages with no app or dashboard: Standard Grow, which we make, Uni from UniLocal, and Maddy. Standard Grow is the one built around making the posts. You text it your website or Instagram on WhatsApp, and each day it texts back one finished piece of work for the business, usually a post designed from your own product photos, which you take or change with a reply. Uni handles Google reviews, missed calls and bookings for local service businesses for $99 a month,[^1] and Maddy posts restaurant photos to Instagram and Facebook for $29 a month after a free trial.[^2]
The rest of this guide is mostly pictures, because what comes back is easier to judge by looking at it.
## What comes back when you text Grow?
One message is enough to start. In Exhibit 1 we asked Grow for a Thanksgiving post for a bakery's chocolate babka and gave it the bakery's website. Grow read the site, picked the babka photo, set the post in the bakery's own red lettering and wrote the caption. When we asked to see another version, it sent a second layout built on a different photo.
The whole ask was one text
*Source: our own text thread with Standard Grow, November 2026. Breads Bakery isn't a Grow customer. We used its public website to show what Grow makes, and the photos in the posts are the bakery's own.*
Here is how it goes from your side:
1. **Text your website or Instagram.** Photos work too, and so does a reel or post you liked. If you only have an idea and no business yet, text the idea.
2. **Grow reads it and asks one question.** It reads your products, prices and photos the way a buyer would, then asks what you want this month to bring in.
3. **A finished post comes back.** You get the image and the caption, with a line on which photo it used and why.
4. **Reply in plain words.** Ask for changes or another version, or take the post and put it up.
## What do Grow's posts look like?
Exhibit 2 shows four posts Grow made for three kinds of product. Each one started from a photo on the brand's own website, and Grow chose the layout, the type and the words.
Four posts Grow designed from real product photos
*Source: posts made by Standard Grow in test runs from each brand's public website, Oct 31 to Nov 3, 2026. Breads Bakery, Brooklyn Candle Studio and Graza aren't Grow customers, and the product photos are theirs.*
For a physical product, Grow keeps your real photo and designs around it. The crop, the light, the type and the layout change, and the product in the picture stays the one a buyer will receive. It won't generate a stand-in version of your product, because a buyer who orders from a made-up photo gets something that doesn't match it. A service business has no product to misrepresent, so there Grow can make the whole scene, and it tells you when it has.
A name and a price can sit on the image as plain text. Grow leaves off buttons and "shop now" boxes, because on Instagram they can't be tapped and they make a post read as an ad.
## How often does a small business need to post?
Three to five feed posts a week is where Instagram's numbers start to pay off, going by the largest study we found. Buffer looked at 2.1 million posts from about 102,000 Instagram accounts in 2025 and compared each account's weeks against its own baseline.[^3] Exhibit 3 shows what posting more did.
**Table 1. Instagram growth by feed posts per week, against 1 to 2 posts**
| Feed posts a week | Follower growth rate | Reach per post |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Baseline | Baseline |
| 3 to 5 | About 2.2× | About 12% more |
| 6 to 9 | About 3.7× | About 18% more |
| 10 or more | About 5.5× | About 24% more |
*Source: Buffer, "How Often Should You Post on Instagram in 2026?", Aug 13, 2025, 2.1 million feed posts from about 102,000 accounts. Stories aren't included.[^3]*
The bigger effect in Buffer's data is keeping it up week after week. In a separate study of more than 100,000 accounts over 26 weeks, accounts that posted in at least 20 of the 26 weeks got about 450% more engagement per post than accounts that posted in 4 weeks or fewer.[^4] Weeks with no posts at all left accounts below their usual growth.[^3]
We think that for a small shop, a good-enough post every day beats a great one every few weeks. Buffer's data leans the same way, though it shows a pattern across accounts and can't prove the posting caused the growth. Most owners already know they should post more. The streak is the part that breaks, because each post costs an evening of photos, Canva and second-guessing a caption. Grow is built to make that streak cost one reply: it sends one thing a day, already made.
## Can Grow do more than posts?
Yes. The daily step is whatever moves the business forward next, and for a shop that buys stock, that can be finding the factory. Text Grow what you want to buy and roughly what you'll pay, and it searches the 36,524 exhibitors of the 140th Canton Fair, held in Guangzhou in October 2026, through [Trade Evidence](/guides/trade-evidence), our exhibitor database.[^5] It comes back with three suppliers and one pick, each with its booth, what it lists and the paperwork it claims.
Grow's reply to "500 USB-C chargers for about $6 each", made into an ad
*Source: Standard Grow's reply in a test run on Nov 4, 2026, set as two ads. What each exhibitor makes and certifies is what its own Canton Fair profile says, not something we tested.*
The pick in Exhibit 4 is Guang Dong LDNIO Electronics at booth 17.2E42, because its profile lists 20W and 30W US-plug chargers and claims UL certification. Grow passed over Chongqing Yunyang Lianyu because its profile lists no safety certificates, which matters for a charger sold in the US. The next step it offers is a quote request that includes shipping and duties, since the price on a profile leaves both out.
Grow also drafts emails to people who could buy from you, and sends them only after you say yes. If you text it a reel or post from another account, it treats it as inspiration and makes your version.
[[grow-cta]]
## How do the text-based marketing services compare?
They overlap less than the "just text it" pitch suggests. Each one is built for a different kind of business, and Exhibit 5 sorts them by what you send and what comes back.
**Table 2. Marketing services a small business owner can run by text, checked Nov 4, 2026**
| | Standard Grow | Uni (UniLocal) | Maddy |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built for | Online stores, local shops and people starting a business | Local service businesses | Restaurants |
| What you text it | Your website or Instagram, photos, a reel you liked, what you want to buy | Job photos, YES to approve, a booking time | Photos of dishes and specials |
| What comes back | A designed post and caption each day, supplier picks, emails to likely buyers | Google posts, review replies, texts to missed callers, bookings, a weekly report | Captions and hashtags, comment and review replies, a daily recap |
| Who posts it | You do | Uni posts to Google after you approve | Maddy posts to Instagram and Facebook after you approve |
| Runs on | WhatsApp or iMessage | Text message | Text message |
| Price | First campaign free, then $49 a month | $99 a month plus $149 setup | $29 a month after the trial |
*Sources: each service's own website, checked Nov 4, 2026.[^1][^2] Standard Grow is ours.*
Pick by the job you keep skipping. If it's reviews and missed calls at a plumbing or cleaning business, Uni covers more of it. If you run a restaurant and want the posting itself handled, Maddy puts the post up for you. Grow fits when making the post is the bottleneck, such as a shop with products and photos and no designer, or when you're still turning an idea into a business and want each day's next step made for you.
## What doesn't Grow do yet?
Grow doesn't post to Instagram or TikTok for you. You get the finished image and caption and put them up yourself, which takes a minute, and which Maddy and Uni do for you on their channels. It doesn't answer reviews, comments or missed calls. And it's new: there are no outside reviews yet, so we publish our own numbers on the [growth ledger](https://grow.standardtrade.ai/ledger). The thing we're watching is whether owners keep posting for 20 weeks when each post arrives already made, which Buffer's data says is where the gains show up.
## Common questions
### Is there a marketing service I can just text?
Yes. Standard Grow, Uni and Maddy all run over text with no app. Standard Grow makes a designed post from your own photos each day and can find Canton Fair suppliers. Uni handles Google reviews, missed calls and bookings for local service businesses, and Maddy posts restaurant photos to Instagram and Facebook.
### How do I start with Standard Grow?
Text Grow on WhatsApp at +1 628-688-9212, or on iMessage at +1 628-726-1402, with your website or Instagram. If you don't have a business yet, text the idea. Grow asks one question and then sends the first post.
### How much does Standard Grow cost?
Your first campaign is free. After that, Grow is $49 a month. Any ad budget is shown to you first and spent only after you approve it.
### Does Grow make fake product photos?
No. For a physical product, Grow designs around your real photos and keeps the product as it is. It makes a fully generated scene only where no real product could be misrepresented, such as for a service business, and says when it has.
### How often should a small business post on Instagram?
Three to five feed posts a week, if you can keep it up. In Buffer's 2025 study of 2.1 million posts, 3 to 5 posts a week roughly doubled follower growth compared with 1 to 2, and accounts that posted in at least 20 of 26 weeks got about 450% more engagement per post than those that posted in 4 weeks or fewer.
Standard Trade is an AI commerce lab. Our agents do the homework behind a business decision, and Standard Grow turns that into one finished step a day for a small business.
---
**More guides**
- [How do I turn a viral reel into an ad for my business?](/guides/viral-reel-to-ad)
- [Trade Evidence: One search across every Canton Fair exhibitor](/guides/trade-evidence)
*We aren't affiliated with UniLocal or Maddy. Their features and prices are from their own websites and can change.*
## Sources
[^1]: UniLocal Marketing, "Uni: Your AI Marketing Agent. Right In Your Texts.", features and price ($99 a month, $149 one-time setup), checked Nov 4, 2026. https://unilocalmarketing.com/uni/
[^2]: Maddy, "AI social media manager for restaurants", features and price ($29 a month after the trial), checked Nov 4, 2026. https://getmaddy.com/
[^3]: Buffer, Kirsti Lang, "How Often Should You Post on Instagram in 2026? What Data From 2 Million Posts Tells Us," Aug 13, 2025. Follower growth rates are 0.12%, 0.26%, 0.44% and 0.66% above weeks with no posts for 1 to 2, 3 to 5, 6 to 9 and 10 or more posts. https://buffer.com/resources/how-often-to-post-on-instagram/
[^4]: Buffer, Kirsti Lang, "Consistent Posting Means 5x More Likes, Comments, and Shares: Study," Jan 29, 2025, more than 100,000 accounts over 26 weeks, median engagements per post. https://buffer.com/resources/consistent-posting-study
[^5]: Standard Trade, Trade Evidence: all 36,524 exhibitors at the 140th Canton Fair, from the fair's public exhibitor profiles collected Oct 8 to 15, 2026. https://standardtrade.ai/trade-evidence/
