Insight
What Is MMS Messaging and How Does It Work?
MMS, or picture messaging, is a standard way to send text messages that include multimedia content, like pictures and PDFs.
If you’ve ever wondered about the difference between MMS vs SMS, the main difference is simple. SMS messages are text-only, while MMS messages include media. Both are used in business texting, but MMS allows for richer communication that grabs attention and drives higher response rates. In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how MMS works, how it differs from SMS, and how your business can use it effectively for communication, sales, and SMS marketing.
What is MMS messaging?
MMS stands for Multimedia Message Service. Common file formats for MMS include JPEG, PNG, PDF, and GIF files. MMS can also send MP4 and MP3, but we don’t recommend frequently sending these to customers, since they may become compressed and lose quality.
Your business can use MMS to make communication clearer and faster, especially when texting things like:
Photos of areas or objects that need to be serviced
Headshots of the rep your customer can expect to work with
Proofs or documentation of finalized projects
Contact forms
Quotes or estimates for approval
Service waivers
Referral forms
SMS marketing campaigns and graphics
MMS ultimately helps businesses save time and create better experiences for customers.
How does MMS messaging work?
When you send an MMS message, it gets encoded so your recipient’s device can read the incoming media file. The message is then forwarded to your mobile carrier’s Multimedia Messaging Service Center, or MMSC. If your recipient is not on the same carrier, the MMSC will deliver the message to the recipient MMSC over the Internet.
We recommend always checking the size of your file before you send an MMS message. Most carriers only play well with files under 1MB, and anything larger will be compressed.
Pro Tip: For best results, resize your image to around 640x1138 pixels and save it as a JPEG or PNG before uploading and sending.
What is the difference between SMS and MMS messaging?
SMS stands for Short Message Service, and it’s what you commonly use to send text messages. SMS only supports plain text, symbols, and emojis, plus has a 160-character limit.
SMS is best used by businesses for things like:
Time-sensitive notifications and alerts
Appointment scheduling and reminders
Quick customer service conversations and FAQs
Order confirmation and delivery updates
Discount codes
Staffing and hiring
Password resets and two-factor authentication (2FA)
MMS is ideal for:
Visual marketing promotions
Appointment confirmations with attached photos or PDFs
Sending headshots or service images
Event invites and branded graphics
In general, SMS is best suited for short and sweet messages while MMS helps you communicate visually and impactfully.
What are the pros and cons between SMS vs MMS?
The main difference between SMS and MMS comes down to data, delivery speed, and visual impact. MMS carry more data and take slightly longer for carriers to deliver. MMS attachments also count as an additional text to the message you’ve already composed. For example, a 90-character message will count as two texts if you include an image. On the other hand, SMS messages contain only text and are delivered within seconds.
That said, a picture is worth a thousand words, especially if it cuts down on time spent explaining something, or catches the customer’s eye in a memorable way. For these reasons, MMS boasts a 300% higher engagement rate than SMS. Just make sure you have the budget before you begin blasting MMS messages to customers. A business texting platform, like Text Request, will include a character counter on every message to help you track how much you’re sending and spending.
Ultimately you should use a mix of both MMS and SMS to engage customers. We’ll cover some examples of when to use SMS vs. MMS (and vice versa) in the sections below.
When should you use SMS vs. MMS in your general customer communications?
You don’t necessarily need a flashy image every time you share your office hours, confirm an appointment, or ask for feedback via text. In fact, not only would including an image in every single customer communication drive up the cost of your texting, it would also cause customers to grow numb to the images themselves.
Use SMS for simple, quick, text-based updates such as:
Appointment reminders and confirmations
Urgent notifications or alerts
Review requests and follow-ups
Customer service conversations
Use MMS when visuals add value or text, like:
Welcoming or onboarding a new customer
Celebrating customer anniversaries
Announcing significant company changes that directly impact customers
Sending promotional graphics
Sharing event invitations
Providing visual proofs, service photos, or branded updates
MMS is also invaluable when customers have FAQs that require an infographic, PDF, or photo to best understand what they need to do next. Not all questions necessarily require a flashy image to be answered though, and so we recommend documenting and saving your FAQs as templates to help determine when you need to use SMS vs. MMS.
Any text message template you create in Text Request gives you the option to include an image attachment if desired. We also have a library of free pre-made text templates to help you get started.
When should you use SMS vs. MMS in your sales conversations?
Choosing between SMS and MMS can impact your engagement rate, when you’re nurturing leads or closing deals. For example, going through your cold lead database and sending a short text once a month to see if a lead is ready to move forward can increase your re-engagement rate by 15%. SMS is naturally an efficient, affordable fit for general sales text message templates like this:
“Hi [Name], would you like to schedule a phone call to finalize the [service/product] you’ll go with? [link] - [Sales Rep] @ [Company Name]”
If you have a major new service, feature, or discount that fits a lead’s specific needs, that’s where MMS can come in handy to really capture attention.
“Hi [Name], we've created a new [service/product/feature] specifically to help with [problem]: [link] I remember that was an area you were trying to improve. Let me know if you have any questions. [image/PDF]”
Note that if the product, service, or feature you’re trying to share with a lead is too complex to fit into one image or PDF, you can always share it as a link instead. We highly recommend including links in all your sales messages, regardless of whether they’re SMS or MMS. Links can direct leads toward taking a next step (like booking an appointment or purchasing).
When should you use SMS vs. MMS in your SMS marketing campaigns?
Engaging visuals are a naturally important part of any marketing strategy. This makes MMS an invaluable asset for the majority of text marketing campaigns. Just make sure the images you create are well thought out, visually appealing, and specifically sized for text messages (we recommend 640x1138px or 600x600px). Customers will notice if you text an image that was made for a blog post on your website vs. a text message.
Use MMS in your SMS marketing texts when you want to:
Showcase new products or services with photos
Send event invitations or coupons with branded graphics
Share branded visuals or limited-time discounts
Deliver loyalty program updates or holiday promotions
If you’re in a pinch and don’t have time to create a custom graphic for an upcoming text promotion, SMS can be a great alternative to MMS, especially if you include a link with more details and images of what you’re promoting.
What is MMS group messaging?
An MMS group message is a mass text sent to multiple contacts that contains multimedia attachments. Like BCC email, no one in the group can see who got your mass text, and any replies are directly delivered to you. This naturally comes in handy when you’re targeting a specific group of customers, or all your customers at once, for any of the announcements, sales outreach, or promotions we discussed in the examples above.
This makes mass MMS messaging ideal for:
Announcements, promotions, or service updates
Sending images or PDFs to specific customer segments
Internal team messages that require visuals
Sales follow-ups or event reminders
Mass texts can be purely SMS or MMS depending on if you want to include an attachment in your group message or not. You just need an SMS platform to help you compose, deliver, and track the performance of your mass texts.
How can you enable MMS messaging on your business phone number?
Using your personal cell phone to send MMS messages to customers can get disorganized very quickly. Not to mention, mobile carriers now require your business to document your use cases as part of 10DLC registration, or they won’t deliver your messages to customers. You need an SMS platform that can text-enable your current business number, plus give your entire team one organized place to send and respond to messages in a way that is compliant with carriers.
Text Request will text-enable your business number, give you a secure and reliable way to schedule your MMS messages, help you register your 10DLC (so messages actually get delivered), and provide one, user-friendly place where your entire team can view and respond to messages. Contact us to get started, or learn even more ways to leverage SMS and MMS for your business.
