When deciding between SMS vs MMS, it’s important to figure out which type of text messaging will work best for you. Texting has become second nature for most of us, but what is the difference between an SMS text message and an MMS text message? Some prefer SMS as their only form of communication, others prefer MMS and many prefer both SMS and MMS to enhance their text communication to the highest level.
Large corporations, small businesses, and many other organizations thrive by using text messaging as one of their main forms of communication, with a 98% open rate, text messaging has become a critical part in any organization’s communication strategy. Keep reading to find out more about SMS vs MMS and which form of communication is best for you and your business!
What Is SMS?
SMS stands for “short message service”, it is a fancy way of describing a text message. SMS messages are strictly texts, if an image is sent via SMS, it will appear as a link that the recipient will have to click on to view. The default length of a SMS is 160 characters, however if your message has any special characters or emoji (aka non-GSM characters), this forces the carriers to use a different encoding which will reduce the segment size to 70 characters.
SMS messages are an excellent way to communicate when only wanting to send text written words. According to a post from 2017, 81% of Americans use SMS to communicate every single day, giving your business the ability to reach millions of people through SMS messaging. Cellphones are in reach at all times, making an SMS message one of the fastest ways to get your message read.
What Is MMS?
Sometimes words aren’t enough. MMS stands for “multimedia messaging service”, when you send a text including an image, gif, video, etc it is considered an MMS because it includes some form of media. An MMS can be sent in conjunction with an SMS, meaning you can send an image with text at the bottom.
While words can be strong, images can captivate audiences and allows them to actually see a visual of your message rather than just reading it. MMS is great source for advertising and lets your team unleash it’s creativity. If you are on a business texting plan that does not include MMS, you can still send media messages but they will appear as links – recipients will need to click the link in order to view the media.
SMS vs MMS: Why SMS Can Be Right For You
When deciding between SMS vs MMS its important to weigh the pros and cons of the two. SMS is one of the main forms of digital communication today. It is something that anyone and everyone understands. SMS text messages are simple and easy to create, they require minimum effort and can be sent in seconds after being typed. Since sending SMS messages is so effortless, the scalability widens.
With SendHub’s business texting app your organization can schedule out text messages for the week, month, or even year. With our templates feature, SMS messages you send often can be created, edited, and saved in your templates folder within the inbox. At SendHub, we see business using SMS in a variety of different ways, some for important reminders and blurb and others use SMS as a full fledged way to advertise.
Here are some of our favorite ways SendHub users use SMS to communicate:
- Important reminders
- Appointment confirmations and cancellations
- Shipment notifications
- Restaurant deliveries & wait times
- Scheduling
- Internal staff communication
- Promotions & deals
- School & student communication
- Healthcare text messaging
- Scheduling staff
- Communicating with members
- And More
SMS vs MMS: Why MMS Can Be Right For You
When considering between SMS vs MMS it’s important to remember engagement rates which MMS proves to be higher in. Sending MMS is a perfect way to captivate an audience. Traditional ways of marketing can be put to the side after you incorporate MMS into your marketing strategy.
The possibilities are endless when using MMS with SendHub, with SendHub’s bulk MMS feature your organization can send all forms of MMS into the ether. With bulk MMS, your images, videos and more can be sent at a mass level – with a click of a button your entire contact list can receive your MMS message. Our MMS API helps you integrate MMS capability into the softwares you and your team use every single day.
While SMS is great for scalability, MMS is too. How? Well, MMS incorporates things like images and videos into your message, these are fun and exciting things to look at, meaning your recipient is much more likely to save these messages and even share them with others.
Other than creative ads and promotions, MMS is an excellent tool for business to send important information. A restaurant can now send their menu for the day through MMS, or important back to school dates can be written out on a flier sent to students via MMS. One of our favorite aspects of MMS is that
When choosing between SMS vs MMS many of our users use MMS is a way to send extremely long messages without that pesky 160 character limit. Business can send images with all of their text without having to use up any of their messages – with MMS a text with 1600 characters can be sent without using up 10 text messages by simply putting all of the text into one image.
SMS vs MMS? Let’s Discuss The Best Plan For Your Business
Our experts can aid you in deciding between SMS vs MMS and help figure out the best plan for you and your team. Schedule a demo today with our team today to learn more about the world of business SMS vs MMS and how to revamp your communication strategy.