When mobile phones were first invented, they had limited capabilities and could only be used to make phone calls. But with technological advancements, it became possible to send messages from one phone to another through mobile carrier networks. Today, many businesses leverage this messaging capability in marketing – mobile marketing.
SMS is likely the most popular mobile marketing channel businesses use to generate leads and reach their potential customers. However, there are cases where it may be better to invest in MMS marketing instead of SMS marketing, and this article will explain them. It will also discuss how to get the most from your MMS marketing campaigns. So if you are thrilled to learn all that and more, keep reading.
Differences Between SMS and MMS
Before we discuss the benefits of MMS over simple SMS for business, let’s explain what both mobile marketing channels mean. SMS is short for Short Message Services and is strictly a text messaging service component. You are limited to only 160 characters per message using this channel. However, technological advancements have made it possible for mobile carriers to chain these messages together, so they appear as a single message.
On the other hand, MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service that is built on the foundations of SMS. This technology enables users to send multimedia content over mobile carrier networks just the same way they can send regular text messages. The multimedia content can be contacts, animated gifs, pictures and audio and video files. In most cases, an MMS message can be as much as 500 kilobytes in size, which is enough to take a 30-second video or audio file.
Why Use MMS
Considering that text messages have an average open rate of 94%, you may wonder why MMS should be considered over SMS. You will be surprised that there are several applications and benefits of MMS marketing that even SMS marketing cannot offer. Besides, since text messaging has a generally high open rate, it only makes sense that it also applies to MMS.
Marketing Campaigns Over 160-Character Count
One of the reasons you may want to consider using MMS marketing over SMS marketing is when you know that your text messaging campaign will exceed the standard 160-character count. You can create 30-second audio or video with MMS marketing to convey your lengthy message. You can even add explanatory texts or pictures so long you are within the 500 KB maximum data size.
Providing a Guide
Another reason you may want to consider MMS marketing for your business is when you want to guide your audience or recipient on how to perform an action. For instance, assuming you have a new promotional offer for your subscribers, you can create animated gifs or a short video of how they can take advantage of this offer. This is better than explaining in texts that may get confusing and boring. Besides, with MMS used this way, you can rest assured that your customers will get the message you are trying to pass and probably act on them.
Visual Products
As the old saying goes, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. If you sell a visually compelling product or service, you may want to use MMS to promote and advertise them. With SMS marketing, you can write catchy descriptions that cannot only explain the attractiveness of the product. However, by simply adding a beautiful image to your text messages, your recipients can see how visually compelling those products or services are and will likely make a purchase.
Combine Both MMS and SMS Marketing
With all the usage cases of MMS discussed above, does that mean you should ignore SMS marketing? Not at all. Instead, fine-tune your strategy to help you combine your MMS and SMS marketing to achieve even greater results. Remember that both are interdependent since they work on the same technology. Besides, your recipients do not need internet connectivity to receive MMS and simple text messages, meaning that you can reach more people and also take advantage of the higher open rates.
However, as it is with SMS marketing, there are some best practices to consider when using MMS marketing. First, use MMS selectively and time it right. You don’t want to continuously bombard people’s inboxes with a series of pictures, audio or video clips. Likewise, ensure you find the right size of images, considering that they are typically larger in size than texts. Rightsizing your images can help you avoid the long loading time when recipients receive your messages. Lastly, use the right SMS keywords to compliment your multimedia message and don’t forget to always include a call-to-action.
In a Nutshell
We’ve discussed the different situations where investing in MMS marketing can be better than SMS marketing. Remember that MMS allows you to send multimedia messages through a regular mobile carrier without the need for internet connectivity. You can send contacts, pictures, animated gifs and video and audio files and use them to drive sales to your brand or accomplish some other objective. However, be aware that when using MMS for any reason, you should always adhere to the best practices discussed in this article. Also, consider combining SMS and MMS marketing to get better results, as one does not cancel the other.
