Whether you’re new to business text messaging or have been involved for years, there’s always more to learn. In our last blog post, we entered the world of messaging terms by diving into all things keywords. Now, we’re back to explore multimedia messages, or MMS — from what they are, to how to use them, and more! Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
- What MMS messages are
- Why use multimedia messages
- How to use MMS messages
- How to send multimedia messages
- Tips for MMS messages
- Conclusion
What MMS messages are
If you’ve ever texted someone, you might have already encountered an MMS message. MMS stands for “multimedia messaging service.” With MMS, you can send a picture, video, or other file in addition to your standard words-only text. MMS is a more advanced form of SMS, which stands for “short message service.” SMS messages contain just text and don’t have any pictures or videos.
Because of this, SMS messages tend to be less engaging than MMS messages. They also have only a tenth of the character allowance than MMS messages have (160 characters vs. 1600 characters). However, this does also mean that SMS messages cost less to send (1 credit vs. 2 credits).
In general, MMS messages are great for drawing the attention of customers and making your texts more interesting. Let’s look at some more key benefits of MMS!
Why use multimedia messages
There are many reasons why businesses should use MMS messages! Here are just a few:
- It helps make you personable! When running a business — especially a small business — it’s important to connect with your customers. And MMS can help, since 73% of consumers say that MMS is a great way for brands to showcase their personality. This number is even higher at 85% for people ages 18-24, according to a 2023 survey by Attentive.
- It drives engagement! According to the same Attentive survey, 56% of consumers say they’re more likely to engage with text messages from a brand if they include GIFs, images, or emojis. And, according to an Infobip article, MMS messages deliver 300% more engagement than SMS messages. Even more impressive — according to a Ringy article, MMS messages are 800% more likely to be acted upon (through sharing on social media)!
- It increases conversions! According to a 2023 Listrak article, MMS messages have a 15% average click-through rate. The CTR is the percentage of people who received your message and clicked on the link. For emails, the average is 1-5%, according to a 2024 ActiveCampaign article. But, for SMS, the average is 19-32%, according to a SimpleTexting survey. So, it’s important to find a good balance of both SMS and MMS! (We’ll talk more about this balance later.)
Now that we’ve seen some benefits of MMS, let’s look at some use cases!
How to use MMS messages
As we mentioned earlier, MMS messages allow you to add pictures, videos, or other files to your texts. So, we’ve divided up our examples into those three categories — pictures, videos, and other files (namely audio). Scroll through the graphic below and be sure to click the button under to save it for later!
Now, you might be wondering how exactly to implement these examples. Next, we’ll take a look at how to create and send MMS messages using TextP2P!
How to send multimedia messages
Sending MMS messages is just as easy as sending SMS messages with TextP2P! Here’s how to send a direct MMS message:
- Start by navigating to the Direct Message page (Main to Text Messaging to Direct Message).
- Fill in the fields labeled Recipients and Text Message Body.
- Click on the paper clip icon under the bottom right of the Text Message Body box.
- Upload your multimedia file by clicking on the Browse Files… button and selecting your file.
- Make sure that the preview shows the correct file.
- If you’d like, click on the calendar icon under the Text Message Body and schedule your message for later. For more info on scheduling messages, check out this blog post!
- Click Send!
With TextP2P, you can also send MMS messages using list campaigns and through your two-way messaging inbox. The process is similar, and the main thing you have to do is click on the paper clip icon underneath the text message fields! For more info on how to create MMS messages, be sure to check out this explainer video!
Before we conclude, we want to leave you with some of our own tips and tricks to really make the most of MMS messaging!
Tips for MMS messages
There are many ways you can maximize your multimedia messages, but here are just a few:
- Combine keywords and MMS messages! Keywords allow customers to easily access your MMS messages, and many of the examples we gave earlier work well with keywords. For instance, a client could text CONTACT to your number and in return receive a friendly message along with your digital business card! To learn all about keywords, be sure to check out our previous blog post.
- Don’t feel like you have to always use MMS. As we mentioned earlier, it’s important to find a good balance between SMS and MMS messages. SMS messages are cheaper and easier to make — although shorter and sometimes less engaging. In general, SMS is good for short-and-sweet messages, while MMS is good for more in-depth, interesting texts.
- Make sure your multimedia is the right size! TextP2P requires that all uploaded files (i.e. pictures, videos, etc.) be under the industry carrier standard size of 600 KB. Ensuring that your media is the right size is important for both sending the message and not overcomplicating your messages. To resize your media, check out any online resources like picresize.com or videosmaller.com.
With the tips through, it’s time we wrap up our blog post!
Conclusion
That concludes our guide to MMS messaging! We hope you found this useful, and if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us via our contact page or by clicking the teal chat button in the bottom right of your screen. Thank you for reading!
