Tech company MessageMedia started as a simple prototype and an SMS gateway. Today, 65,000+ businesses trust them to connect with their customers – and that’s just the beginning. WFB helped the brand develop engaging content and tap into a new SMS market.
In 2000, Australian tech company MessageMedia was a simple prototype and an SMS gateway. Today, they're trusted by more than 65,000 businesses worldwide to connect more meaningfully with their customers.
When Paul Tancell joined MessageMedia in April 2022, they'd just been through a significant growth spurt and had been bought by cloud communications giant, Sinch. Big changes all around.
So, the brand’s next step? Get in the pockets of people who weren’t actively looking for an SMS partner. To do that, the team needed more engaging and thought-provoking content.
That’s when they called the copywriting team at WFB.
Before WFB, MessageMedia’s growth was snowballing. The small (but mighty!) marketing team that produced most of the blogs and customer stories, with a PR company chipping in when needed. But it was hard to get that all-important tone of voice right.
“We were at that point in our growth and development where we needed to establish a strong brand voice, and every piece of content needed to meet those tone guidelines. But, unfortunately, we wasted too much time going back and forth to get it right.”
What’s more, MessageMedia had some big campaigns in the pipeline, like its recently launched Beautiful Connections Hub. The focus was on higher-level thought leadership content to help turn colder leads into red-hot conversions.
The only problem? MessageMedia didn’t have the resources.
“It quickly became evident that we would struggle to produce the required volume of content on our own,” says Paul. “I’d worked with Words for Breakfast in a previous role, so I had plenty of examples to prove that you were the support team we needed.”
As they say, the rest is history.
WFB’s first job was creating an overarching creative concept for MessageMedia’s 2022 Black Friday/Cyber Monday campaign. We were also given a retail playbook and asked to copywrite landing pages, blogs, social posts and nurture eDMs that encouraged readers to hit download. And, of course, all the pieces of the campaign puzzle had to fit MessageMedia’s tone.
“The entire team was amazed at how quickly WFB nailed our tone of voice,” says Paul. “You came in and ‘got it’ almost straight away, whereas previously, it had been such a stumbling block.”
First, we presented the marketing team with four creative concepts, including examples, that could be rolled out across all Black Friday/Cyber Monday touch points.
“We’ve also been impressed with the quality of options from WFB. I’ve worked with so many agencies where you ask for two or three concepts, and you can tell they really only put effort into one.”
Paul says the whole team trusts WFB implicitly with the MessageMedia brand.
“There’s a lot of trust and respect. It means we have the confidence to go bigger and broader with our campaigns and build more assets because we know that the copy side of things is well under control.”
With insight into what it’s like to work with WFB, Paul was keen to leverage our copywriting agency’s flexible structure as quickly as possible.
We started with case studies, using a process that allowed MessageMedia to take a more hands-off approach. Once we have a customer’s contact details, we get in touch, set up an interview, and ask all the right questions to get the juiciest quotes. Then we wrap all the goodness up into an inspiring story that can be used across the business.
“I inherited a couple of case studies that had been months in the making. With WFB, the average turnaround time is much faster – and everyone is still blown away by how fast we can get stuff done,” says Paul.
“That also means our sales and customer success teams feel more confident to suggest case studies because they know they won’t disappear into a black hole.”
That easy-breezy process also applies to other content, even big campaigns with many moving pieces. Paul explains, “You fit in with us, rather than saying, ‘This is how we do things.'"
“We feel like WFB is just another person on our team. It’s not like we have a separate process that keeps you on the outside. You’ve got your own Asana board where we brief you on new projects, just like we would internally. You’re always ready to get together for those larger campaigns and discuss what’s needed.”
From a management perspective, Paul says content now gets out the door quicker – and that shorter lead time has a massive impact on the success of MessageMedia’s campaigns.
"Everyone is still blown away by how fast we can get stuff done." - Paul Tancell
"The more we’ve worked together, the more surprised I’ve been at the scope of work that WFB can handle."- Paul Tancell
As the months have ticked by, we’ve taken on even more of MessageMedia’s content work.
In 2023, we started Beautiful Connections, a year-long campaign to position MessageMedia as a thought leader in engaging and building connections with customers and teams. All the content pieces – from short and snappy blogs to in-depth leadership articles – will be staggered throughout the year. Paul says WFB has become integral to ensuring MessageMedia is known for fresh, regular and valuable content.
“There are a bunch of steps and people involved in launching any campaign, and a lot of work can’t happen until you’ve nailed the creative concepts and got the copy underway. But, for all the projects we’ve engaged WFB, you’ve always delivered on time and the quality of work is high.”
Creative Director with a degree in communications and experience in various marketing roles, Jess brings deep, strategic thinking to her copy.
