Zipwhip and Tagboard Partner to Bring Television Viewers into the Conversation Through Text Messaging

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zipwhip, the leading provider of texting for business, announced Monday that it is partnering with Tagboard, the leader in audience engagement and the world’s premier platform used to connect real-time social content to media properties. The partnership gives broadcasters the ability to engage with their viewers by featuring text messages and photos on-air using Tagboard’s interactive and dynamic social displays.

Texting is becoming the most effective way for businesses to communicate with their customers and audiences, and according to Zipwhip’s 2019 State of Texting report, 76 percent of consumers are already receiving texts from businesses. Using Zipwhip and Tagboard, viewers can connect with news programs on the medium of their choice and see their messages and pictures displayed live on Tagboard’s rich visual interface. Enterprise-level texting functionality like Keywords helps stations more efficiently field, direct and monetize those texts and consumer interactions.

“Texting is a vital part of a successful viewer-engagement strategy in today’s convenience-driven world,” said John Lauer, CEO of Zipwhip. “You carry your smartphone with you all day. Now you can use that phone to engage with news programs in real time through the power of texting. We are fortunate to have a partner like Tagboard, who can bring those texts to life on screen using their dynamic displays and best-in-class platform.”

Zipwhip’s texting for business provides a fast and easy way for organizations to text using their computer or mobile device and serves more than 30,000 companies across North America. Tagboard is the real-time social content partner powering thousands of media companies, sports properties and global brands across the US and boasts over two billion impressions each month. Zipwhip chose to partner with Tagboard because of their unrivaled success in connecting media properties with real-time social content, as well as the company’s existing relationships with hundreds of broadcast clients across the US.

“It’s becoming an expectation by television viewers that the programs they watch are interactive. We have more than 200 broadcast and media clients who use Tagboard to do just this simply by engaging on social media,” said Josh Decker, founder and CEO of Tagboard. “We also recognize the incredible value in adding text messaging to the broadcast producer’s tool belt so we’re excited to officially partner with Zipwhip. Our integration with them gives our mutual customers even more ways to engage with their audience and community.”

By joining forces, Zipwhip and Tagboard are allowing television audiences to participate in their favorite programs through text. KING 5, a TEGNA station in Seattle, has been a power user of both Zipwhip and Tagboard and is the first station to bring the integrated experience into their production workflow. KING 5 first debuted texting on its Take 5 program, and now deploys it in all of its news programs.

“Our partnerships with Zipwhip and Tagboard give us the ability to have two-way conversations with our audience, making all of our newscasts and programs truly unique,” said Jim Rose, president and general manager, KING 5. “Our viewers can interact with us through text in real-time and see their messages displayed on screen, engaging them in the conversation.”

That real-time interaction with viewers was on display during a recent snowstorm in Seattle, prompting more than 1,300 inbound texts in one day from KING 5 viewers.

A variety of other industries and businesses use Tagboard and Zipwhip every day such as professional sports franchises, internal communications teams, retail stores and more. Businesses interested in learning more about Zipwhip and Tagboard should visit this page for more information.

About Zipwhip

Zipwhip empowers companies to communicate with their customers in the most effective and preferred way possible – text messaging. With Zipwhip’s texting for business, organizations can text with customers right from their computer or mobile device, using any existing landline, VoIP or toll-free phone number. Zipwhip’s direct network connectivity, intuitive cloud-based software and an enterprise-grade API mean businesses can securely and reliably reach their customers every time. Your customers are only a text away: www.zipwhip.com.

About Tagboard

Tagboard works with thousands of media companies, global brands, and sports teams to power interactive storytelling by bringing real-time social content from across every key channel, allowing intuitive curation & production across TV, live streams, websites, mobile applications, stadium screens and more, giving producers, marketers, and showrunners the ability to bring diverse perspectives into their story. Tagboard partners with every major social network in the US and is trusted by over 10,000 brands worldwide. The company is based in the Seattle area and has teams in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. Learn more at www.tagboard.com.