Master MMS
How to Use MMS to Deliver Empathetic
Customer Experiences and Drive ROI
Time for MMS
It’s been nearly 20 years since the first MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) pinged its way to our
phones. Let’s be honest, it’s a channel that took an eternity to take off. In fact, in most countries, MMS is
rarely used by businesses or consumers.
Not so in the US. Using MMS to send messages with pictures has exploded in recent years. We’ve seen
traffic volumes passing through our network increase by more than 700% in the past two years.
The 700% figure takes in the MMS traffic we’ve handled at Infobip – not the full market picture, but
a significant chunk. Seven of the world’s 10 biggest brands and many of the other top messaging
solutions providers send their messages through our network. So our numbers are a good
representation of the bigger picture.
Engagement and ROI
So what’s driving this continued growth? The short answer is: engagement and ROI. 90% of CX leaders
say fun or engaging messages help them deliver empathetic interactions, and 73% of consumers agree.
That’s according to our Empathy in the Age of AI research.
A client of ours in the fashion industry enjoys MMS click-through rates of 30% or more and over 20x
return on investment. And our messaging partners report that MMS delivers 300% more engagement
than SMS-only campaigns.
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5678
(+44) 8799 9908
Welcome new users! Long codes
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Short codes
Text enabled
toll-free numbers
US MMS messaging – on 10DLC
The growth of MMS is going to carry on accelerating in the US. The great ROI of MMS is one reason why.
The other is the fact that MMS is now available on 10-digit long codes – the new business long code that
is about to transform business messaging in the US.
To find out more about which numbers you should use to send and receive MMS and SMS messages,
check out the Complete guide to short codes and 10DLC.
More than just pictures
Picture messages are what usually come to mind when anyone mentions MMS. In fact, there are several
other features that make MMS a powerful messaging format, but all too often brands fail to take full
advantage of them. So here’s a quick recap of the extra messaging features MMS unlocks:
• Images
• Videos
• GIFs
• Audio clips
• Contact cards
• Subject lines
• Bigger character counts
• Web links and previews
• Expiry dates for time-sensitive messages
You can use MMS to deliver multimedia messages to business landlines and toll-free numbers. It works
both ways too: your customers can send MMS messages back. In Section three of this guide, we’ll look
at some of our favorite MMS use cases.
MMS in action
We’ve spoken about how MMS can help brands enhance customer experience, now it’s time for
specifics. At Infobip, we break down customer experience into several critical points in the customer
journey when you can interact with individuals in timely, useful, engaging ways. Those five
categories are:
1. Delivery and confirmation moments
When you alert your customers to changes in delivery status and adapt to their schedules.
2. Engaging and reminding moments
When you message your customers in moments that matter, whether they’ve forgotten
something, need information, or would just benefit from some care and attention.
3. Authenticating and protecting moments
When you improve your customers’ security with two-factor authentication, reminders, and alerts.
4. Listening and enabling moments
When you give customers the chance to offer feedback in the simplest way,
and the freedom to self-serve.
5. Sales and marketing moments
When you accelerate the purchase process by removing barriers and offering well-timed incentives.
Up next, we’ll take you through 10 use cases that show how you can make the most of MMS.
10 MMS use cases
1. Coupons and promotions
The classic MMS use case is the coupon, but with a few modern twists. Mobile messaging opens up new
opportunities for personalization, so you can segment your audience (based on their past purchases or
behavior) and send relevant, tailored offers with engaging images, GIFs, or short video clips.
2. Audience engagement
TV shows have used MMS to get fans engaged with sneak previews and exclusive multimedia content
from the leading characters. Results include a 20% boost in engagement and a list of 100,000 phone
numbers captured in the process.
Scan the QE code
and place your order!
3. Personalized content
By incorporating a recipient’s name or even their picture into an MMS, you can send them a feel-good
birthday message or a personal shout-out from a brand or character they love.
4. Proof of delivery
Retail brands are working to make every detail of the customer experience perfect, right down to the
moment a customer’s delivery is in their hands. MMS enables them to send picture messages showing a
package delivered safely, so the customer knows exactly where to find their order.
5. Subscription sign-up
Subscription models are big business these days, and plenty of retailers are getting in on the action
by making the sign-up process point-and-snap easy. For example, contact lens users can simply text a
picture of their prescription to activate a subscription for monthly lens deliveries.
6. Insurance claims
MMS has entered the insurance world in a big way. Many insurers speed up the claims process by letting
customers send picture messages of damages after incidents like a car crash or a burst pipe.
7. Personal shopping
VIP shopping experiences are another growth area for MMS. Say you’ve got a loyal customer who can’t
make it into the store. MMS makes it easy for the customer and their personal shopping assistant to
exchange text and picture messages to find that perfect outfit in no time.
8. Temporary credit card
When customers forget to bring their store
Thanks for reaching out to Beneath
Card Services! I’m happy to help with
card with them, retailers risk losing out on sales.
your request. Message and data rates MMS can help – simply invite customers to text a
may apply. First, I just need to verify
your account. What’s your zip code? number, validate their identity (using automated
messaging and an API with your CRM), then send
11217 them a QR code. This acts as a single-use or time-
limited card, ready to be scanned at the check-out.
What’s your date of birth? (MM/DD)?
02/21
9. Product registration
Thanks, Mia! This QR code will act
as your temporary card for the next
Customers can be hard to engage after a
24 hours. Scan this during checkout. purchase, with many failing to register their
product online or over the phone. MMS takes
the friction out of the process, allowing your
customers to register a product by sending you a
picture of the bar code.
10. Simple customer support
Customer support interactions can be complicated affairs, especially for technical products or services.
MMS can help – enabling you to send longer text instructions, picture messages, and even short how-to
videos so customers can see how to solve their issue.
What you need to know
You can only unlock the full potential of MMS – and mobile messaging in general – if your messages can
be delivered in the right moments, anywhere in the world.
If your travel insurance customer is stranded abroad, they need to be able to interact with you easily.
If you’re marketing to global audiences, you have to be confident you can reach them on their terms.
Right time, right message, right place
Few mobile solutions providers are set up to provide this reliability. Your provider is only as strong as
their network and carrier relationships. You need to know the capacity is there to deliver huge volumes
of messages on a global scale – in multiple languages.
Relationships and direct connections with mobile operators (the gatekeepers of the messaging
ecosystem) are critical too.
Only three or four mobile messaging providers in the world can claim the above.
Products and platform
Your partner needs to be a multi-channel mobile messaging operator. Can they support your SMS and
MMS needs today, and your rich messaging future? Are they approved for Apple Messages for Business?
You need to know that when you press ‘send’ on a campaign, the right messages are being delivered in
the right format, to the right devices.
Whether you want to access mobile messaging through an API, or use a messaging platform,
connecting with your customers through mobile messaging should be easy. Reporting should be made
easy too, with intuitive dashboards and visualizations.
Service
Without the right partner, mobile messaging can be complex. With the right partner, it shouldn’t be.
For example, you might need help with:
Design and deployment of bespoke messaging solutions
Building and running campaigns
Data and analytics consultancy
Integrating your messaging infrastructure applications
Migrating SMS short codes with no downtime, hassle, or missed messages.
Availability, integrity, and reliance
To protect your customers from data loss, check that the provider’s platform has high availability. You’ll
want to see geographically distributed data centers, so local outages or natural disasters won’t knock
out the whole network. The network architecture should be scalable, with no single points of failure or
bottlenecks. Look for uptime SLAs of at least 99.99%.
Security and compliance
Your provider should have an effective information security management system (ISMS) in place to
protect personal and sensitive information. Data should be encrypted at rest and in transit on external
public networks – including the internet – using common industry-accepted encryption ciphers and
strengths.
Look out for standards and certifications like these:
• PSD2, FINRA
• ISO 27001 (2013) standard
• Certified by BSI (British Standards Institution)
• GDPR addressed and multiple data center locations
Mobile messaging security is a whole topic in itself.
If you want to learn more, start with The Complete Guide to Secure Mobile Messaging
Find out more
Rich messaging
MMS can also serve as a stepping stone to rich messaging. RCS (Rich Communication Services) and
Apple Messages for Business are breaking new ground in mobile messaging experience, delivering
app-like experiences to mobile inboxes.
This is what rich messaging looks like:
Verified sender ID 1 2 Rich card carousels
and branding for dynamic content and
for security and swiping functionality
peace of mind
4 Suggested replies
Suggested actions 3 to help move the user
like initiating call, open through the interaction
browser/ map or adding
calendar entry
Engagement data 5
such as delivery /
read receipt and
engagement tracking
MMS vs rich messaging
MMS offers some of the features of rich messaging, but not the full app-like experience. Here are some
of the key differences to bear in mind:
MMS offers multimedia messaging, but rich messaging gives you more
app-like features, like buttons and prompts
MMS gives you delivery receipts, but rich messaging goes further
and gives you more enhanced interaction data
MMS is more widespread in the US, although we expect RCS to keep growing,
along with Apple Messages for Business when it goes mainstream
MMS in your mobile messaging mix
Thanks to the messaging platforms out there today, multi-channel messaging doesn’t need to be an
either- or situation. Smart messaging workflows can sense the device you’re sending to and adapt
message formats as appropriate.
So look for a provider that makes it easy for you to send any kind of message depending on what format
our customer’s phone accepts.
SMS MMS RCS Apple Messages for Business
Start mastering MMS today
We hope this guide has given you a better
understanding of MMS, how it extends the
features of SMS and paves the way for rich
messaging.
We’ve shown you how businesses are using MMS
today to engage customers and improve the ROI
on their mobile messaging campaigns. If you’ve
got an idea for an MMS campaign of your own,
or you’d like advice about how to get started,
we’d love to talk.
Get in touch
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