Even though you undoubtedly exchange texts on a daily basis, you might not know what an SMS is. SMS stands for short messaging service, which is just another way of saying text messages.
When it comes to knowing the distinction between SMS and MMS, you can be doubly perplexed. Although these two names are sometimes used interchangeably, they actually refer to various messaging formats. The distinction between SMS and MMS can be understood most simply by noting that SMS refers to text messages and MMS to messages that include images or videos.
Knowing the breakdown of SMS vs MMS messages and their distinctions can help you better understand how to communicate with your clients and which mass text messaging solution is suitable for your business.
About SMS
Let’s begin by defining what SMS is. What distinguishes a text message from an SMS message? An SMS is a text message, after all. One of the earliest texting methods is SMS, which was developed in the 1980s. Despite the fact that there are more and more alternatives to communication, it is also the most popular.
In your daily life, you might refer to a variety of other communication kinds as simply “texts,” but an SMS message differs in that it can only contain text and has a character restriction of 160. For instance, despite the fact that most people refer to iMessages as text messages, they aren’t really text messages.
About MMS
Multimedia Messaging Service is what MMS stands for. It can be viewed as an improvement to an SMS message. By now, you’ve undoubtedly figured that sending multimedia with your messages is the primary distinction between SMS and MMS. This includes visual and audio content like GIFs, movies, and photos. Additionally, MMS allows you to send messages with up to 1600 characters of text, which is a significant increase over a typical SMS.
A Side-by-Side Comparison of MMS and SMS
Given that you likely send several SMS messages each day, you’ve certainly already begun to comprehend what an SMS is. However, it could be simpler to understand SMS through visual means, particularly given how different two pieces of material might appear when employing SMS versus MMS messaging as a method.
Although the graphic below is based on an iPhone screen, Android, iPhone, and other devices follow the similar trend when comparing SMS and MMS.
SMS vs. MMS: Pros and Cons
There are benefits and drawbacks to each communication technique, even though SMS and MMS are both great methods to interact with your clients. Depending on the use case or the goal, one may occasionally be superior or more efficient than another.
Benefits of SMS
- Short and to the point, SMS messages. They don’t take a lot of time or effort because of the 160 character restriction.
- Sending SMS texts is less expensive than MMS messaging.
- The majority of American carriers have plans with unlimited texting, so your users most likely won’t pay anything.
SMS disadvantages
- Videos, pictures, and occasionally even emojis cannot be sent using a standard SMS message. MMS messaging can be the best option if you want to provide your consumers something more attention-grabbing.
- The 160-character SMS character restriction might be restricted if your use case calls for sending large messages.
Advantages of MMS
- People are drawn to messages in their inbox that feature an image or a video, therefore MMS communications are often more eye-catching.
- Because MMS messaging has a 1600 character restriction, it is a good option if you need to send text blasts with a lot of material in each message.
MMS disadvantages
- MMS messages have higher sending fees. You might wish to restrict how frequently you send MMS messages if your company is like the majority of cost-conscious enterprises.
- MMS messages cannot be received by everyone. Nowadays, the majority of people have smartphones, but not everyone does, and certain cellular plans may not have MMS enabled.
- If you wish to send specially created images or films, you might need to spend extra money on hiring someone to assemble them for you.
Cost variations comparing SMS and MMS
No matter which SMS marketing provider you choose, MMS messages will always cost extra. This is due to the fact that it takes far more data to be sent by the carriers than a typical SMS message. Pricing for different services might vary, but SlickText’s MMS marketing will utilise two to three times as many text messages as a typical text message. Depending on the plan you have with us, this will change.
A message sent to everyone on your text messaging list would take 200 of your 1,000 monthly text message allotment, for instance, if your plan allows you to send 1,000 texts per month and you have 200 people on it.
Depending on your plan, 400 to 600 MMS messages would be used if you sent the same list an MMS message.
Is MMS truly worth the added expense, you might be asking yourself?
Do I need to use MMS or SMS?
It’s time to choose the sort of message that would work best for you after defining SMS and MMS. Understanding your use case and what your end customers are most likely to interact with can help you decide between SMS and MMS.
Do you need to share a brief message with folks and ask them to click on a link? SMS could be the best option in that case. MMS Messaging is the way to go if you want to truly catch their attention, can afford the extra expense, and need to show them something physically.
Measuring your performance and making improvements to your approach can help you obtain the highest return on investment possible. To balance their expenses and engagement, the majority of SlickText users will send a combination of SMS and MMS messages.
Use Cases for SMS Messaging
Use SMS for brief notifications or time-sensitive information because it has a character restriction. Among the SMS use cases are:
- Order confirmations and shipping/tracking information.
- Information on products or businesses.
- Reminders for appointments.
- Account details Loyalty schemes.
Use Cases for MMS Messaging
MMS messages are eye-catching, especially when you consider that they have better engagement and sharing rates than SMS. For communications with a significant traffic potential or messages containing very crucial information, you should use MMS.
MMS usage cases comprise:
- Mobile discount codes and discounts.
- Images of products or menus.
- Birthday greetings.
- Announcements of new sales and products.
- Abandoned cart notifications.
Send SMS Messages and MMS Messages with GUNI SMS
Guni Sms lets users send SMS and MMS messages.
Guni SMS is a reputable industry leader in SMS and MMS marketing. We offer a platform that is robust, simple to use, and reasonably priced, whether you’re wanting to utilize SMS or MMS for marketing or just basic bulk text message communications.
Don’t be afraid to get in touch if you’re considering various MMS messaging services and want to talk to a live person about your options. We’d love to help and our crew is well-versed on our platform.
