The usage of SMS marketing has grown in popularity over the past several years, enabling retailers to communicate with their customers more directly than ever.

The number of text messages sent by e-commerce companies has increased dramatically; in Q3 2020, Omnisend alone delivered more than five million messages, producing astounding results with a click rate of 9.77% and a conversion rate of 2.35%. These figures show a remarkable 19% YoY increase in clickthrough rate and a 98% YoY increase in conversion rate.

Look no further than SMS and MMS marketing if you’re looking for ways to improve your current marketing toolkit. According to studies, these messages can be a very powerful addition to your digital marketing plan because they are engaging, personalized, and personable.

What Sets MMS Apart From SMS?

The sort of content you can send is the primary distinction between SMS and MMS communications. Everything you include in an SMS message must be plain text and fit within 160 characters. (You can send up to 306 characters with extended SMS.) You can transmit GIFs, movies, audio, and photos with MMS. However, the cost of MMS messages is typically higher due to the longer character count.

Is MMS Messaging More Expensive?

Pricing for different services can vary, but MMS marketing will always be more expensive. 

This is because multimedia communications require much more data to be sent by phone carriers than a typical SMS message. You’ll have to pay extra to send more because the media assets you attach to your messages are far larger than the 160 characters of a conventional SMS.

A marketer will often pay two to three times more for an MMS Messaging than for an SMS message. However, if done properly, MMS marketing consistently increases customer engagement and conversion rates. Reaching the appropriate audience is all about employing the right campaign.

MMS Marketing Best Practices

MMS marketing is more effective and successful, but it is more expensive. Additionally, it takes a little more work to get your attached file into that sweet spot. You’ll be happy you made the effort and used these five best practices in your subsequent MMS marketing campaign.

1. Obtain the Opt-In

First things first: marketers must obtain consent before delivering MMS or SMS messages to customers and maintain a record of requests to opt in and out. The good news is that you can send MMS messages to your audience if you currently use SMS marketing.

2. Time it Properly 

Send the correct message at the right moment, as the saying goes. Because text messages are typically read within a short period, this is particularly true for them.

To properly time your SMS messages, automation is essential. You may send pertinent and helpful messages in response to particular user activities using clever automation and event triggers. For instance, by giving a loyalty card right away after sign-up or sending a welcome coupon following a customer’s first engagement with the business. Additionally, make sure you respect things like holidays and different time zones.

3. Create Masterpiece Images and Videos Using Recommendations for Images

As was already mentioned, handle and accept images, videos, and animations in different ways. According to what is most likely to be delivered to your recipient, carrier, and device, below are some recommendations for file sizes and kinds.

Every end carrier will interpret visuals, animations, and movies differently. No matter how many adjustments you make, keep in mind that 1-2% of the population may not be able to receive MMS at all. In light of this, there are some things you can do to increase the possibility that your photograph will be viewed.

4. Use MMS Selectively

It’s important to take your goals and the kind of content you intend to send into account because some messages are better suited for MMS marketing than others. 

Simple transactional messaging, timely updates, and other information that can be conveyed in less than 160 characters of text are all excellent uses for SMS messages. MMS, on the other hand, is ideal for advertisements and imaginative marketing messages that rely on visuals to engage your audience. Test, test, and more testing is the only way to know which is best for your message.

5. Look At The Bigger Picture

Your business can save money and maximise its MMS spend by knowing where MMS is most useful and where it isn’t. Your European customers might not react to your promotional messages the same way as your American customers would. Due to this, it’s crucial to optimise the content for each country when localising your MMS in addition to localization.

The Advantages Of MMS Advertising

Powerful tools are visual aids. You have a winning marketing strategy when you combine that with the quickness and accessibility of SMS.

1. The strength of images

For your clients or contacts, our MMS service creates a richer mobile experience. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and the audio and video options also say a lot.

2. Click-through rates have increased by 52%.

Marketing via MMS is preferred over SMS. Businesses that use MMS experience 52% higher click-through rates. Simply put, picture messaging is more interesting than SMS.

3. The setup is ridiculously easy.

You can easily upload files to your MMS messages if you can handle email attachments. Similar to SMS, creating a campaign and subscribing are both simple processes.

4. It functions well on portable devices.

More than 98% of mobile devices can easily handle MMS. We’ve included a useful little feature for sending automated fallback messages via SMS for the tiny portion of mobile devices that can’t.

5. More characters!

You can say goodbye to the annoying 160-character limit with MMS marketing. 1,600 characters per message—how does that sound? We are now moving forward. Make text blasts more effective!

How to Include Valuable MMS Marketing in Your Strategy

Now that you are aware of the distinctions between MMS and SMS messages as well as their advantages, you can use each format to your advantage and integrate it into your overall marketing strategy.

Additionally, our SMS marketing strategy guide has all the information you need to know about developing a plan that engages your audience, motivates action, and offers a richer customer experience. 

You’ll discover a thorough breakdown of the equipment you need, the best practices to follow, and the marketing expertise needed to implement revenue-generating campaigns for your company.