Text messaging is more than just a quick way to communicate with friends. It can be a very effective way for businesses to get messages out to their customers. And that’s the service that TextMagic provides.
Read more about TextMagic and the company’s offerings in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
What the Business Does
Supplying text messaging services to businesses.
The business has six core products: sending texts online, an email to SMS gateway, SMS gateway API, SMS software for PC and Mac, two-way SMS chat, and SMS distribution lists.
Brit Tammeorg, marketing manager for TextMagic told Small Business Trends, “Our clients know that text messages have a whopping 98% open rate, which means their messages get delivered and in most times also get an instant reply if you request it. That´s pretty amazing if we compare it with emails.”
Business Niche
Having a user-friendly online platform.
How the Business Got Started
As a side project in college.
Founder Dan Houghton was studying mathematics at the University of Cambridge when he decided to start TextMagic. He has since departed the company but was an important part of its early growth.
Biggest Win
Finding success with SEO and content marketing.
In December 2014, the team decided that the company wasn’t growing quickly enough to support its expanded offerings and expenses. So they made some changes.
Tammeorg explains, “We decided to create a new website that offers more information to our web visitors and is search engine friendly. It took us 5 months of work and in May 2015 we launched our new website. Within weeks we saw the growth of organic web visitors. More and more people all over the world found their way to us thanks to our new website.”
Biggest Risk
Changing ownership.
In 2007, Houghton sold his shares to the company’s current owner Priit Vaikmaa.
Tammeorg says, “Every change this big is risky and can go wrong, because every leader has different managing and strategical skills. If you ask from TextMagic team members then they say that the transition was smooth and Priit Vaikmaa´s managing skills took the company to the next level.”
Lesson Learned
Focus on digital marketing.
Tammeorg says, “I think if we could start again we would focus on digital marketing (SEO, content creation) much earlier. Also we started working on our social media channels just recently although that could have been in the focus already years ago. So our recommendation to small companies is to invest in marketing and try to learn to do things yourself.”
How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
Taking the team to Spain.
Tammeorg says, “We would organise a working-holiday for the entire team in sunny Spain, so that we could work together in a different atmosphere for one week. That would be a nice bonus for the team and great opportunity for generating new ideas!”
Team Tradition
Celebrating achievements with lunch.
Tammeorg explains, “We have this tradition that when we have achieved our goals, the company takes the team out for a long lunch (all costs covered). We like to visit new trendy places that someone has recommended. It is fun and we love it!”
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Images: TextMagic, Top Image: Product Manager Edward Tark (left) and his team of coders
