The Alphabet Soup of SMS vs MMS

If you’re like most of our customers, you’re wondering what’s up with the alphabet soup of SMS vs MMS. Can’t tech people find an easier way to explain things?

That’s just what we wanted to do in this article. Answer that simple question, without all the acronyms.

What is SMS?

SMS is an acronym that stands for Short Messaging Service. It’s become the defacto name for text messages that come to your phone. Technically, it refers to the text messaging service that sends text-only messages to mobile numbers. That’s a carrier thing.

If you’re interested in knowing more about using SMS in business, check out this post!

What is MMS?

The acronym MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. It refers to a text message that includes multimedia content such as pictures or video.

With MMS messages you can send:

• Audio files
• Documents
• Video
• Photos
• Vouchers

MMS messages get your audience’s attention. Since our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text content, we are automatically attracted to anything visual.

Want to know more about using MMS? Check out how you can leverage the power of MMS messaging for your business.

SMS vs MMS

So when do you use SMS vs MMS? SMS and MMS use the same text messaging service, they both send to mobile numbers. The obvious difference is that one can have text and multimedia and one contains strictly text.

For business messaging, there’s a difference in cost with SMS vs MMS.

• With text messaging, cost is associated with the amount of message credits used.
• 1 SMS message costs 1 credit. That’s a standard SMS message of 160 English characters.
• 1 MMS message costs 2 credits. Since you’re sending multimedia, it;s more dense and the carriers charge more for the extra data.

For interactive conversations and some automated campaigns, you can use SMS. This includes things like scheduling, appointment reminders and follow-ups, as well as rep conversations, compliance consent messages etc. SMS messages are also great to ask questions that capture deeper and deeper profiling information, so you can deliver an even more personal touch to every buyer, candidate, student, client and more.

If you’re using messaging to attract attention, think about an MMS strategy. Since 90% of the information processed by the brain is visual, sending videos or photos will grab the attention of readers.

Some examples of powerful MMS include:

• BMW sent personalized MMS messages to customers reminding them that winter tires are important during the cold months of the year. By targeting them based on specifications with their particular vehicle and emphasizing the importance of these specific tires, paired with an image, they saw a 30% conversion rate on 1,200 messages.
• PopSugar, the shopping platform ShopStyle, uses MMS to send messages to customers about abandoned shopping cart items. They include the image of the item and remind the customer it’s time to purchase! Often they include a discount code to incentivize the sale.

Companies can also use MMS for contests, coupons and holiday promotions.

Regardless of which messaging type you choose, you’ll enjoy the benefits of attracting more new prospects, converting more new clients and serving them better than you ever imagined possible. All with that personal touch that makes your business extra successful!

At SMS-Magic, we make sure there is no SMS vs MMS. For our customers, it’s SMS and MMS. Plus Facebook and WhatsApp. Our Omnichannel support seamlessly routes, blends and manages conversations across SMS, MMS, Facebook and WhatsApp.

We’ll be showing it off at Dreamforce. If you’re there, please come say hello and check it out! W’ll be at booth #210 showing off our Messaging Magic.