Messaging services SMS and MMS both have subtle distinctions, particularly when utilised as channels for mobile commerce. However, before incorporating either into your marketing approach, it’s important to understand the differences between SMS and MMS.
Many e-commerce companies are unaware of the distinction between text messages and MMS as promotional tactics.
Your business depends on how you interact with your online consumers and how they respond. Use your customer’s preferred method of contact, you want to be sure. Or even better, the most effective strategy.
Which one is it, though? Does MMS or SMS apply? Your marketing objectives are one of the many aspects that will determine this.
Here’s more information on how to advertise your e-commerce business with SMS and MMS communications.
SMS and MMS
Businesses may interact with their consumers or subscribers via SMS gateway and MMS, two texting services. But how do MMS and SMS vary from one another?
SMS and MMS vary primarily in that MMS accepts various multimedia files whereas SMS only supports alphanumeric characters.
As a result, MMS messages can contain audio, photos, videos, GIFs, and other types of content while SMS messages can only deliver text.
The character limit for SMS gateway is 160, however the character limit for MMS can occasionally reach 1600. This is another significant distinction between SMS and MMS.
About SMS
Short Message Service is an acronym. The messages you may send via SMS are brief, as the name implies. It’s a service that enables you to email consumers up to 160 characters of plain text.
One of the simplest yet most intimate forms of communication with your audience is SMS gateway.
An SMS gateway may be sent without WiFi or mobile data. You don’t need to be concerned about your reach either because an SMS can be sent and received by any mobile device. It’s one of the first communications innovations. In 1992, the first SMS was sent.
SMS texting has remained common despite the evolving nature of communication technology and the development of the internet.
By using SMS gateway as a marketing technique, you may speak with customers directly. SMS marketing is therefore both ageless and intimate.
About MMS
Multimedia Message Service, or MMS, is a messaging protocol that enables sending of both text messages and multimedia files like GIFs, movies, and photos. Unlike SMS texting, MMS messaging allows you to send lengthier texts. The restriction is substantially longer than usual.
For MMS marketing, the majority of your devices will need a cellular data connection, while a few others will need an internet connection. As opposed to an SMS, this
This is as a result of the additional functions it provides. The MMS message’s accompanying media files must be downloaded by the receiver.
The key distinctions between SMS and MMS
Knowing these distinctions may seem impolite, especially considering how simple it is to switch between MMS and SMS gateway on mobile devices.
For businesses, these distinctions are essential if you want your marketing strategies to be effective.
Here are the key distinctions between the two messaging platforms in more detail.
Being able to send media
As was already noted, this is the SMS vs. MMS distinction that stands out the most. You may transmit media via MMS, including GIFs, movies, music, and images. Compared to SMS, they are a more interesting kind of messaging.
You have the ability to use your imagination when developing your text message marketing campaigns thanks to this functionality.
SMS gateway allows you to transmit simple text and, depending on your device, occasionally emoticons. However, using emojis in an SMS limits the number of characters you may use in your message since they take up too much space.
Due to its features, MMS could seem like a superior messaging medium, but it’s not always the ideal choice, especially if your target audience utilises feature phones. In some situations, sending an SMS message is preferable.
Simply said, each approach has advantages and disadvantages.
Limit of characters
The character restriction of MMS and SMS is another point of comparison. You may transmit up to 160 characters—letters, symbols, words, and spaces—via SMS.
The typical character limit for MMS messages is 1600 for text and 3.75 MB for media. This could be less on various providers and devices.
Because sending MMS messages consumes a lot of energy, some devices also impose a cap on the number of MMS messages you may send in a day. If you’re simultaneously sending thousands of MMS messages, this may be really annoying.
Pricing
SMS is less expensive than MMS since it utilises less resources. Although prices vary depending on the service provider, most of them charge between $0.01 and $0.05 for each SMS message.
Users occasionally don’t have to spend much because the majority of SMS providers provide subscription options for free SMS.
Four or more SMS messages are required to send an MMS message with supplementary material. For example, a person on a monthly subscription plan for 5,000 SMS would receive around 1 250 MMS messages from the same plan.
If you’re performing small-scale communications, the price difference isn’t really noticeable. However, the cost difference becomes considerable if you send lots of MMS messages with visual information.
If you use short codes, it might also have an impact on how much SMS and MMS messaging costs you. In contrast to standard ten-digit phone numbers, an SMS gateway short code is a shorter number that may be used to deliver messages to several recipients at once.
