How Businesses Can Tap Into MMS Messaging

Kevin V. Nguyen

March 18, 2019

Are you more likely to text your friend a question, or dial their number? Thanks to the mass use of smartphones, most people find text messaging to be the preferred communication method. Texting is simple, easy to do, and in general more efficient. Phone calls still have their place in business communication, but for certain situations, texting provides more accurate information without the need for voice mail messaging and callbacks.

Businesses are increasingly using MMS messaging as a means of communicating information to customers. From sales and marketing to support, text messaging is an effective way of communication to customers. Although it might not be appropriate in all situations, text messaging can help brands interact with customers and provide additional levels of support and connectivity. Let's take a closer look at MMS messaging technology, and how businesses can leverage it to their advantage.

All About MMS Messaging

From a non-technical standpoint, many people lump MMS and SMS together as simply "text messaging." In common usage, people text each other; they do not MMS each other. The difference between text messaging and MMS, however, is important from a business perspective. SMS stands for short message service and involves short alphanumeric messages of 160 character or less. SMS is perfect for sending simple text information, such as a sales reminder or to communicate an upcoming event, such as an appointment.

MMS stands for multimedia messaging service and dramatically increases the richness of content that can be sent to a smartphone user. With MMS messaging, images and video can be transmitted. In addition, more than 160 characters of text can be sent, and audio recordings can also be incorporated with your messaging. Because of these abilities, many brands use MMS messaging to communicate with customers.

Examples of MMS Messaging for Business

Imagine if you are a restaurant chain that wants to lure more customers with an offer. If you have obtained customer phone numbers and authorization to communicate via MMS, you can send them a coupon image for a discounted appetizer. You can also simply send a picture of a new menu item or a video snippet from a commercial.

One real-life example of how a company leverages MMS messaging in its marketing is T-Mobile, the mobile phone carrier. Using MMS messages, T-Mobile created a personalized video that added the user's first name into the video, creating a customized commercial. Not only did T-Mobile engage its customers with this message, but it also maximized an opportunity. Unlike voice mail messages, people read their texts. A call from T-Mobile at best would be ignored, but at worst would be viewed as spam. Presently, MMS messages are not being used en-masse, and since they require consent from users, customers are less likely to be put off by their use.

Managing MMS Messaging as Part of Unified Communications

As with any form of communications, MMS messaging is a tool that could be integrated into unified communications systems. With unified communications, the wired and wireless worlds can be combined, adding a seamless experience to both collaboration and customer-facing communications. Mobile unified communications is even more important for businesses who are aware of the bring your own device (BYOD) trend. From marketing to direct sales and support, mobile connectivity is the way of the future. Those businesses that integrate the different means of communication are best poised to succeed.

8x8's Virtual Office is a unified communications solution that combines a company's messaging, video conference, and voice call efforts and capabilities into one simple interface. 8x8's tools help companies reach out to customers and enable collaboration across multiple channels, but more importantly, Virtual Office provides a single point of managing the process. Employees can have transparency into previous communications efforts with customers and can track the entire customer lifecycle from one dashboard. This ability is crucial as communications options increase over the future. With voice calls, video chat, and messaging, it's possible for the process to become chaotic and disconnected. 8x8's Virtual Office brings all of these efforts together as one unified approach toward customer experience and collaboration.

Collaboration is key to the success of any business. Whether you are using the Virtual Office Mobile app or the 8x8 Virtual Office desktop app, 8x8 makes collaboration quick and simple. Call 1-833-261-4429 or fill out the form below to request a no-obligation quote from an 8x8 product specialist.