What is MMS Marketing: Benefits, Tips, and Strategies

Nowadays, it seems like everyone knows how to use some form of PPC or PPV marketing. But, as these non-traditional forms of media become increasingly saturated, many marketers are looking for untapped niches to focus their efforts on. One promising method is the use of an MMS marketing platform.

Given the unique nature of MMS, brands and businesses have more technical and creative freedom. MMS marketing can exponentially grow brand awareness, improve ROI, and decrease CPC. 

What is MMS Marketing?

While SMS marketing promotions are nothing new, they present a unique insight into the world of direct and user-specific marketing that focuses on social media.

One might think, “Why stop there?” In comes a full-fledged digital take on text-based marketing with MMS.

MMS marketing is a type of mobile advertising where you can deliver multimedia messages with images, videos, and audio clips. MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service, which is fundamentally an improved version of the standard SMS. Much like other marketing channels, both SMS and MMS campaigns require getting consent before reaching out to your audience.

Picture messaging, which is another term for MMS, has a few advantages over traditional SMS texting. These include longer character limits and, as the name suggests, support for multimedia content like videos, images, and animated GIFs. 

The higher engagement rates of MMS make it more popular among marketers. While SMS certainly boasts high open rates, there’s still a chance that the recipient will ignore the text. With MMS, that chance is much lower. The reason is simple: visuals catch more attention. 

Difference Between MMS and SMS Marketing

The primary difference between SMS and MMS lies in the form of content you can send to your customers. To begin with, SMS messaging only allows for plain text under 160 characters—that’s more than enough for most kinds of transactional or informational messages. 

Marketing and promotional messages, on the other hand, often need something extra to capture the audience's attention. That’s where MMS enters the scene, allowing you to send rich media content while offering a text length of 1,600 characters.  

Benefits of the Multimedia Messaging Service

1. Higher Click-Through Rates

MMS advertising tends to be more appealing than a standard SMS message. It’s also more successful than text message marketing, with 52% higher click-through rates. And since picture messaging catches more attention, it generates more customer engagement. 

2. 1,600-Character Limit

With multimedia messaging, you don’t need to worry about the limited character count of the Short Message Service. You get 1,600 characters instead, meaning you can send longer messages. Although your messages should ideally be short, it’s nice to know there’s space to add a little more information if you need to, like a product description.

3. Straightforward Setup

Uploading media to an MMS message is as easy as adding email attachments. And much like SMS, you can quickly set up your account and create your first MMS marketing campaign. The process is as simple as it gets. 

4. Pictures Speak Louder

You can use picture message marketing to create a rich mobile experience for your audience. After all, pictures speak louder than words; the same goes for video and audio files. And did we mention they’re more eye-catching than plain text?

Best Practices for Sending MMS Messages

1. Personalize Your Messages

Both MMS and SMS messages are among the most practical ways to connect with your audience on a personal level. Take advantage of this by personalizing your marketing MMS messages, like addressing the recipient by their first name.

2, Minimalism Is Key

Complicated or overly colorful pictures can make it hard for recipients to understand the message. Complex visuals can even look cramped on certain models of mobile devices.  

3. Keep Visuals Under 500kb

MMS messaging doesn’t have many technical restrictions Be that as it may, it’s still a good idea to keep visuals below 500kb. This prevents potential issues and helps ensure that the delivery is smooth. 

3. 3–4 Frames Per Second Is Enough

When it comes to animated GIFs, there should be a balance between creativity and file size. This means limiting the animation speed to three or four frames per second. This way, you’ll prevent any issues in delivery while maintaining the visual appeal of the GIF. 

5. Pair Graphics With Text

Don’t forget to incorporate text elements into your MMS campaigns. A short caption can serve as an explanation and provide context; it can also complement visuals and tie the message together. 

Implementing an MMS Strategy

With 97% of mobile device owners using MMS, the potential of its marketing practices is virtually endless. The best part is that the software is still very much in its growth phase, meaning you get to tap into new practices in mobile marketing. MMS messaging allows you to:

• Offer mobile coupons and deals

• Focus on exclusive and unique content for subscribers

• Develop an inclusive and engaging customer experience

The mere fact that MMS regularly outperforms other digital marketing efforts speaks for itself. In fact, MMS messaging has a sizable lead in customer engagement over SMS text messaging by 250%.

Use Targeted Promotions

The competitive edge that digital has over traditional forms of media is highly selective audience targeting. For instance, Facebook and Google advertising group potential customers into metadata based on web performance and preferences. MMS takes that concept a step further.

Companies that accumulate a sizable subscriber base can sort their contacts into various groups based on their past purchases or actions. This allows brands to target highly particular individuals with custom content aimed at their needs. As a matter of fact, this practice goes beyond greeting your customers by their names.

BMW offers a great example of targeted promotions. The company had to convince car owners to purchase expensive name-brand winter tires, which cost an average of $750 per tire. To successfully accomplish this, BMW launched a highly personalized MMS campaign, which included images and videos of specific vehicles owned by the target audience. As a result, the vehicle manufacturer achieved a staggering 30% conversion rate.

Offer Smart-Coupons

Coupons are a tried and true promotional tool, whether they're sent via email, newspaper, or any other method. MMS marketing campaigns, on the other hand, take it to a whole new level. First, users are more likely to open text messages on their phones a few minutes after receiving them. Plus, showing a coupon is easier on your phone than via email.

Brands can significantly capitalize on the flexibility of multimedia and the immediacy of mobile messaging. Pizza Hut, for example, realized that people make lunch plans at specific times of the day. They began launching timely and highly targeted marketing messages to hungry customers with images and videos of decadent pizzas. The attached coupon would go on to significantly increase online and pickup orders.

Present Exclusive Content

Not everything that deals with marketing necessarily drives sales. Some promotional campaigns are to raise awareness, strengthen PR efforts, or give back to loyal customers. One creative outlet has been to create exclusive content or host platform-specific giveaway campaigns.

This has especially worked wonders for media-based companies that offer first-look insights. One MMS marketing example is when Gary Vaynerchuk increased his SMS and MMS messages' subscriber growth by sending exclusive content. As one of the foremost proponents of social and digital advertising, Vaynerchuk has been adamant about his belief in the future of text-based advertising.

Improve Customer Experience

Marketing efforts and brand outreach can feel robotic and bland at times. This is partially due to the nature of brand and audience communication. However, even multibillion-dollar corporations have found ways to make the connection and experience feel more authentic.

With MMS, you have more flexibility to establish a personalized customer experience. The tools at your disposal allow you to send targeted content, whether it’s long-format texts, videos, graphics, or images.

Use a customer’s name to greet them; say happy birthday with a GIF; send promo videos of your brand. MMS marketing gives you the freedom to create a friendly customer experience.

The use of MMS in marketing is still in its preliminary stages, but brands jumping on the bandwagon will profit tenfold in the near future. You are essentially extending your brand's reach into the pockets of your audience, and nothing is more valuable than that.