If you’ve stumbled upon this post, the chances are you’re probably wondering what does MMS mean? And how can your business use it? You’ll find these questions answered, plus everything else you need to know about MMS in this blog.
In 2001, MMS was the Japanese picture messaging system Sha-Mail introduced via J-Phone. However, the early stages of MMS weren’t very successful. It wasn’t until China developed it, that it went on to become a major commercial success.
Yet, even though the MMS industry is worth billions in today’s market, there is still some confusion around it, and how businesses can use it to their advantage.
So, what is MMS? And what do you need to know?
Allow me to answer a few of your most frequently asked questions…
What does MMS stand for?
Firstly, let’s start with the basics. MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service and is a direct evolution of Short Message Service, otherwise known as SMS.
SMS vs. MMS – what’s the difference?
Without delving into the technical mechanics behind it all, SMS is ultimately a plain text-based service that allows consumers and businesses to exchange instant communications between mobile phone devices.
On the other hand, MMS allows you to send messages that include multimedia content directly to a phone. And while older/basic mobile handsets might not be able to accept MMS, it’s worth remembering that out of the 79.14 million phones in the UK, 63 million of them are smartphones and will have the capability (The State of SMS).
What does MMS mean for businesses?
Both SMS and MMS are extremely powerful forms of communication for any business, bringing their own unique benefits to the table.
According to The State of SMS, 98% of SMS communications are opened, with 90% of those being read within the first three minutes.
But with 65% of people stating that they’ll retain more information three days later if you send an image, a plain text doesn’t always suffice. For instance, if an estate agent wanted to notify a potential buyer of a new property, including an image will give them an added sense of what it looks like and potentially urge them to make an offer.
In other words, MMS is the sexier younger brother of SMS. While both complement each other, sending an MMS online will allow you to include images, video clips, audio files and various other media files of up to 300kb in size in the UK. You can even include text to go with it as well.
It’s also an extremely useful tool for insurance companies and technical support teams within a business, as you can receive MMS messages from customers as well. This could prevent you from having to send an engineer out, or just simply give irate customers an instant response for a greater peace of mind.
You can learn more about how to use and send MMS online in my recent post.
Send MMS online today
If you want to create a message that stands out, try sending an MMS with our award-winning platform today. It’s free to sign up and can be connected to your CRM system, software or app using our SMS API for a more integrated approach.
Or to find out more about MMS marketing solution, take a look at our dedicated page.
