Firstly, for those that may not fully understand what MMS is or how it differs from SMS then here’s a quick update.
MMS, or multimedia messaging service, is a version of SMS that is visually based as opposed to text-based. It can be far more widely engaging than SMS when you do it right and market it to the right audience. The two key differences to SMS are:
- With MMS, you can add all kinds of rich media right inside your messages, including images, gifs, and audio files.
- Plus, you can write up to 1,600 characters in a single message. With SMS you’re restricted to 160.
Why You Should Use MMS For Your Marketing Campaign
Although more businesses use SMS for marketing purposes than MMS, MMS is considered more effective. It’s reported that, on average, MMS has a 15% higher click-through-rate and people are 20% less likely to opt-out from receiving MMS marketing than SMS. And if you get creative, MMS content is 8 times more likely to be shared on social media or forwarded to friends and family. So MMS also provides better organic brand amplification opportunities.
Bulk MMS provides business owners and brands with the option to build on the perks offered by using SMS marketing. MMS marketing has gained traction over the last few years, and many brands have found creative and innovative ways to use their online MMS gateway to engage with their customer base.
They say that a picture is worth a thousand words; use imagery to boost reach and engagement for your text message marketing campaigns. With MMS you can get your message across, build your brand identity, and generate more leads.
Send multimedia messages in your next mobile marketing campaign and unlock these benefits:
- More visually captivating get your audience’s attention more quickly with imagery.
- Tell a richer story access up-to 1600 characters in your MMS message (in case the 1000 words your picture gave was not quite enough!)
- Better branding opportunities ensure all your communications include your brand identity; instead of sending a text-based message, use the MMS medium to showcase what your brand is all about!
Bulk MMS marketing content is delivered directly to the recipient’s text messaging inbox. This enables it to elicit the same outstanding open rates as SMS, which are 98%. Market research demonstrates that MMS read rates are as high as 97%, with 87% of messages opened within an hour of receipt.
Here are some simple tips for designing an engaging MMS marketing message.
5 Tips for Designing Marketing MMS
1. A Strong Subject Line
This will be bold and limited to 20 characters. It needs to be compelling and a strong call to action. Draw viewers in with anything that piques their curiosity or instills a sense of scarcity (resulting in FOMO fear of missing out).
For example:
- Don’t Miss Out!
- You’re Invited!
- Buy 1, Get 1 Free — or just FREE!
- Win Now!
- Exclusive Offer!
2. Compelling Content
Brevity is key. MMS marketing is immediate, and flashier than SMS, so no need to overdo it with excessive text.
- Make your offer time-sensitive to create a sense of urgency
- Offer a larger incentive than you would usually do for SMS
- Include a unique website link (helpful for measuring results)
- Include clear opt-out facility
3. Animated or Static Imagery?
It all depends on your creativity, message and resources; sourcing static images can be easier than creating animated images/GIFs but the latter can add an element of interactivity that static images do not offer.
When choosing your creative assets, ensure you check the size and dimensions. For static images, we support file sizes up to 250kB, while GIFs should be under 100kB. Find out more about supported imagery for MMS.
While we will resize your images automatically to fit, we recommend square images or as close to 1:1 ratio as possible.
4. Optimise!
Optimise your design so that it is not too large. You can reduce its overall size by:
- Saving the image as .jpg
- Reduce .jpg image quality from 100 to 60
- Reduce colour gradients in the image
- Reduce the number of animation frames per second (GIFs)
- Cut rather than fading
- Use vector illustrations
- Run the image through an online compression tool — we like TinyJPG.
5. Test
You should test your MMS before sending it out in bulk to your target audience. Send it to an Android device as well as an iOS device and check that the text content displays correctly and without spelling or grammatical errors; that the URL links correctly to the intended landing page or website; and that the multimedia creative displays correctly.
Overall, great MMS design incorporates Subject line, Multimedia, and Text body. Each element should work cohesively to captivate the viewer; you’ll need to create your MMS to comply with your brand identity — think fonts, colours, and message tone.
6 Ways to Use Bulk MMS
At ClickSend we’ve seen a lot of great mobile campaigns. Check out some of the ways people are using MMS to augment their marketing mix.
1. Animated Cards
Send out animated cards via MMS to observe, New Year, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas. These multimedia messages are enticing, memorable, and stand out from the crowd.
2. Promotions
Add colour to your mobile marketing promotions with imagery using MMS. For example, send weekly specials via bulk MMS, as image or video-based messages engage far larger audiences than text-based messages alone.
3. Competitions
Create MMS-based competitions in tandem with a virtual number. Have your subscribers text images to your business to win a prize; for example, photos of your customers using your product.
4. Instructional Videos
How-to and tips are always welcome, and a great thing to send out to customers when they are personalised in terms of being specific to purchases made. They are also valuable as they provide engaging content that is not pushy or focused on the hard sell.
5. News Broadcasts
Got exciting news to share with your customer base? Why not try MMS? For example, send an alert for a special campaign or deal, or deliver special announcements about your brand via bulk MMS for maximum open rates and simple calls to action. Include vibrant images or other media depicting the product on sale.
6. Reminders
Boost reordering and attendance rates by sending out reminders. These are more compelling and memorable when they are image or video-based, as opposed to purely text-based.
Choose ClickSend as your Marketing Communications Partner
Did you know that it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing customer?
Savvy marketing is the key to customer retention as well as for lead generation, and MMS marketing plays a huge role in this endeavour.
We have just what you need to get the ball rolling on your own successful bulk MMS campaign! Contact us today to explore how our premium MMS API is perfect for your brand and business.
With ClickSend’s superior online MMS gateway, you can send messages to your customers and clients anywhere, anytime. Personalised marketing MMS will delight your subscribers and your marketing campaigns will be enriched like never before, with images, audio files, animations, and videos to engage your customers for lead generation and higher conversion rates. With ClickSend, your messages are delivered quickly and reliably.
Is MMS part of your digital marketing strategy? Partnering with us at ClickSend is your first step towards a new level of success in terms of email, post online, SMS, and MMS marketing.
Contact us today online or open a live chat with our real human beings — just click on the face in the lower right corner of your screen.
