Traditionally, phones have been used for voice communications. Phone calls have become a standard way to communicate with people from long distances and keep interactions effective, efficient, and easy to do. 

But there are a lot of situations where phone calls are unhelpful or unable to be used. The reality is that not everyone always has time to talk, which can mean that phone calls cannot truly work for people. The world is trying to be constantly connected, but due to varying time zones and life schedules, not everyone can use phone calls all the time. 

That’s why texting has become such a valuable tool for communication over the decade. Where calling requires a lot of attention and timing, texting is an informal and versatile way to communicate. 

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Why is Texting Important?

Texting allows you to send a message at any time, whether or not the recipient is available at the time. Phones collect text messages to be read and interacted with whenever the recipient can. 

But unlike the interface of emailing, texting also promotes direct contact through instant and direct communication. Texting can be used with high levels of immediacy so that people can communicate faster and more directly. 

Texting is one of the most convenient ways to communicate with people and at various times. It doesn’t take etiquette to compose a concise, informative, and effective text. 

Instead, you communicate what you want to say without having to spend a long time trying to think of the right words. Texting is direct, immediate, and easy to use. 

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What is MMS Messaging?

An incredible feature that has been added to text messaging over the past years is a technology called MMS messaging. In the past, people were only able to send text-based messages. You couldn’t send pictures, videos, or any other multimedia messages over your texting service and were limited to 160 characters for each message. While this worked, it was very far from ideal for people who wanted to communicate entire conversations and thoughts. 

So, MMS messaging was introduced to the texting world. MMS messaging allows people to send and receive photos, videos, and messages with longer lengths than just 160 characters. 

MMS messaging frees up texters to express themselves however they’d like, instead of in small text boxes. 

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What is the Difference Between Regular SMS Messaging and MMS Messaging?

Although they are very similar in how they communicate things and can often seem indistinguishable in execution, they cover different purposes under the hood of text messaging app uses. 

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SMS is Less Expensive

SMS is based on small and quick text messages that are solely text. Although these limitations can be frustrating, they are helpful when sending text messages that are concise, efficient, and cheap. Due to the smaller amount of data that 160 character-maximum messages take up, SMS messages are cheaper to send in almost all phone texting plans. 

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SMS is Widely Accepted

SMS messages are also the most widely accepted form of text message communication. These are very versatile messages and the standard used by almost every phone on the market today. 

If it’s a phone that can send text messages, the odds are very good that it can send SMS messages. They are used by every phone, from flip phones to flagship smartphones. 

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MMS Has a Wider Range

On the other hand, MMS messaging has a much wider range of applications in the texting world. MMS is an acronym for “Multimedia Messaging System,” which pretty effectively describes the enhanced capabilities of the MMS texting format. 

While MMS messages can send text-based messages, they can also send images, videos, and sound files. This makes messaging more interesting and expressive in comparison to just SMS messaging. 

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MMS Does More

Another strength is that MMS messaging doesn’t have a 160 character limit. MMS messages have a 1600 character limit, which is ten times the amount of text per message allowed by SMS. 

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Drawback of MMS Messaging

There are a few drawbacks to using MMS messaging, however. While SMS messaging can use less stable connections to send text messages, MMS messages need to be sent over cellular networks. 

That means that unless you are in a place with a stable data connection, you will be unable to send MMS messages from your smartphone. The amount of data resources it takes to send multimedia messages is more, just by the nature of MMS messages. 

Another place where MMS messages can have downsides is compatibility. This isn’t a huge problem or something that comes up often. However, if you send an MMS message to an older phone, the older phone may only be SMS enabled. 

Many flip phones and budget cell phones cannot process or receive MMS messages simply because they are very small and uncomplicated. But, there are roughly 2.87 billion smartphone users globally as of 2020, so the odds are good that you will be texting someone who can receive MMS messages. 

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Which is Better for You: MMS or SMS Messaging?

Often, these two kinds of messaging are used interchangeably. But, especially for companies or Community Leaders trying to integrate messaging into their regular marketing campaigns, choosing between MMS and SMS messaging is an important quality to focus on. 

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When to Choose SMS Messaging

If you are creating an inexpensive text marketing campaign, it is best to focus on SMS messaging as your primary messaging strategy. These are inexpensive ways to communicate information to large groups of people, and the limitation to 160 characters can even be helpful in some circumstances. 

Choosing SMS messaging helps ensure that your text marketing campaigns are concise, allowing people to read and interact with them easily. SMS messaging is a better choice for cost-effective messaging and efficient delivery of information.

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When to Choose MMS Messaging

If you want to truly make unique and personalized messaging that stands out from the rest, MMS messaging is likely the best decision to make. 

MMS allows you to incorporate photos, videos, and website links into your messaging so that people have a higher likelihood of interacting with the message. 

MMS will cost a little bit more, but when messaging uses multimedia messages, they tend to be more engaging and lead to better ROI. It’s a tradeoff, but it is more effective to use MMS messaging to market to wider and more varied audiences. 

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Conclusion

The best way to interact with a wide audience is to use a bulk messaging service. Being a Community Leader is a complicated task, especially when interacting with and marketing to a large audience. 

Community makes use of both SMS and MMS marketing strategies and uses them in an interface that is flexible, dynamic, and easy to use. Instead of just sending large amounts of repetitive and impersonal SMS or MMS messages one by one, Community makes it easy to customize how you respond to every single member of your audience at scale.

SMS messages and MMS messages have different ways of communicating with people. Still, the ability to use MMS at a large scale is incredibly helpful to Leaders looking for genuine communication.

If you’re looking for the next steps to creating a highly effective way to communicate with your community members, check out Community, and get your number today! 

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Sources: 

SMS vs MMS | Here's How They're Different | Telnyx

MMS vs SMS: When Should You Use SMS and MMS for Marketing? | Textedly.

39+ Smartphone Statistics You Should Know in 2020 | Review 42