Twilio > Case Studies > Optimizing Small Business Communications: A Case Study on Keap and Twilio

Optimizing Small Business Communications: A Case Study on Keap and Twilio

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - 5G
Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Cement
Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Construction Management
Infrastructure Inspection

Services

System Integration

About The Customer

Keap's customers are primarily small, service-oriented businesses or sole-proprietorships, such as coaches and consultants. These businesses are often run by individuals who are passionate about their work but find running a business challenging. They require a platform that allows them to manage their leads, convert them into clients, and maintain communication with them. Many of these business owners prefer to communicate with their customers via text message and require a platform that can facilitate this. They also often use the same cellphone for their work and personal lives, necessitating a solution that can separate business and personal use on a single device.

The Challenge

Keap, a company that provides a user-friendly customer relationship management (CRM), sales, and marketing automation solution for entrepreneurs and small businesses, was facing a challenge in optimizing its communication services. Keap's core customer base, which includes small, service-oriented businesses or sole-proprietorships, like coaches and consultants, needed a personalized platform to manage their leads, convert them into clients, and then stay in touch with them. However, many small business owners preferred to communicate with customers via text message, a feature that was missing in Keap’s automation platform. This gap in communication was causing Keap to miss out on a large segment of the small-business communication journey, forcing their customers to use multiple tools to fill that gap.

The Solution

Keap turned to Twilio to fill the communication gap in their platform. Initially, Keap used Twilio internally as part of their contact center. However, seeing the value it brought to users, Keap started to integrate more Twilio APIs into customer-facing projects. Twilio's Programmable SMS gave businesses the one-to-one and one-to-many conversations and transactions they needed. To further enhance the communication capabilities, Keap added Twilio’s Conversations API to provide group-texting capability. Keap also introduced Keap Business Line, a service that adds a second phone line to a cellphone to keep business and personal use separate on a single device. This service is integrated with Keap’s CRM, keeping all customer contact history in one place. Keap also pursued text marketing in response to customer demand, providing toll-free 800 numbers for text messaging, with Twilio Programmable SMS handling the backend and keeping customers compliant with fast-changing FCC regulations.

Operational Impact

The integration of Twilio into Keap's platform has resulted in significant operational benefits. The ability to communicate via text message has made the platform more comprehensive and eliminated the need for customers to use multiple tools to manage their communication. The introduction of Keap Business Line has allowed business owners to separate their business and personal use on a single device, while also integrating with Keap’s CRM to keep all customer contact history in one place. The adoption of text marketing has also been rapid, with 12% of Keap’s user base adopting it within the first two months. Furthermore, the integration of Twilio has enabled Keap's engineers to experiment more freely, leading to increased innovation within the company.

Quantitative Benefit