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We always say that SMS marketing is necessary for small businesses and communities to reach their target audience. Maybe you’ve been using SMS marketing for years. If yes, then you know the power of bulk SMS messages. However, have you ever tried or heard about MMS messaging? MMS messaging is a part of SMS marketing, and if you utilize it with an effective strategy, it can quickly lead you to success. For this, let’s learn the difference between SMS and MMS! 💡
What is the difference between SMS and MMS?
The primary difference between SMS and MMS is their content type. SMS messages are mainly formed as plain texts. However, MMS messages have more visual content opportunities like images, GIFs, videos, and texts.
If you are not familiar with SMS marketing, we explained it comprehensively in these links:
This was a brief explanation, and there is more to SMS vs. MMS. Let’s dive into details together in the next part!
7 Differences between SMS and MMS
SMS and MMS message campaigns are necessary marketing tools to reach your audience. However, you need to know the difference between SMS and MMS to choose when and how you should use them. For this, we prepared a detailed table that shows the 7 differences between SMS and MMS.
SMS | MMS |
|---|---|
Character limit of SMS | Character limit of MMS |
160 | 1600 |
Content variety of SMS | Content variety of MMS |
Text Link Emoji | Text Link Emoji Image Video GIF Audio |
Conversion rate of SMS | Conversion rate of MMS |
36% | 70% |
Memorability of SMS | Memorability of MMS |
SMS messages are limited to plain text, so they are not as catchy as MMS messages. | MMS messages are more memorable because the human brain analyzes images 60,000 times quicker than words. |
SMS: Fields of Usage | MMS: Fields of Usage |
You can use SMS messages for your brief, direct, and routine message campaigns like a weekly discount. | You can use MMS for more unique campaigns like Black Friday, Halloween, and Easter. Thus, you can boost your sales by sending promotional MMS messages and increasing your customer engagement by celebrating their holidays. |
SMS: Effort and Time | MMS: Effort and Time |
SMS messages are almost effortless; you only need to prepare the plain text and send it. | MMS messages require more effort than SMS because you need to prepare visuals. Fortunately, thanks to Pony Express HQ’s MMS templates, you don't have to make an effort. |
SMS Prices/Credits | MMS Prices/Credits |
1 credit/message | 2 credit/message |
FAQ about SMS vs. MMS
1. What is the whole meaning of SMS and MMS?
SMS: Short message service
MMS: Multimedia message service
2. Should I use SMS or MMS?
Both of them! SMS and MMS have different usage areas, but their aim is the same: to deliver your message to the audience. You don’t have to choose between SMS and MMS; you can use both based on your specific needs. More clearly, depending on your business, audience, budget, and campaign theme, you should benefit from the power of both SMS and MMS. For example, if you have a grocery store, your audience would want to receive discount messages every week. In this case, you should use SMS for cost-effectiveness. However, when it comes to yearly sales days like Halloween, you should use MMS messages to celebrate your customers’ Halloween. Just think about your customers opening their Halloween MMS. They will be surprised, smile, and feel special. And your brand awareness will increase with this simple but sweet MMS message. Besides that, you should also use SMS to deliver your discounts frequently during the spooky season. In brief, SMS and MMS messages will support each other if you use them correctly.
3. SMS vs. MMS, which one is better for me?
As we mentioned above, the main purpose of SMS and MMS is the same; delivering your message to the audience. On the other hand, the important thing is what you aim for with SMS marketing. Do you want to enhance your brand awareness, boost your sales, increase customer engagement, or deliver emergency notifications? You need to decide your aim, then think about SMS vs. MMS. For example, if you have an organization and need to send last-minute changes to an event for your community members, then you should use SMS. But, if you want to invite people to one of your events, you should use both SMS and MMS. Firstly, ask your members via bulk SMS messages. If the number of attendees is enough, then that is great! However, if you want more participants, you need to attract them with the power of visuals. So, you should send an MMS message in addition to the SMS message.
Over time, you will notice which one, SMS or MMS works better for your business. To compare the effectiveness of SMS vs. MMS, you should analyze your SMS marketing campaigns. Then, you can optimize them according to your analyses.
4. Are emojis SMS or MMS?
You can send emojis via both SMS and MMS. You just need to be careful about the character limit. Because emojis do not count as 1 character, they can measure between 2 and 14 characters on text according to the type of emojis. So, you can use emojis on both SMS and MMS, but if you want to use too many emojis, then using the MMS message would work better for you due to the higher character limit of MMS.
We explained the difference between SMS and MMS in detail. If you decide to use SMS vs. MMS or both of them, let’s start texting with Pony Express HQ! 📲
Here are our affordable mass text messaging prices: SMS marketing prices
If you would like to give it a try before purchase, you get 100 bonus text credits opportunity of Pony Express. You only need to sign up free from here: Sending bulk text messages free.
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Good luck with your business/community! 🥳
Pony Express HQ Team