What’s Better Text SMS or Picture MMS Messaging?
A Brief History of SMS
The idea of short message service (SMS) began in 1984 when Friedhelm Hillebrand thought of the 160 character limit. While 160 may seem like a random number, it was actually carefully calculated and tested by Hillebrand. He thought of thousands of combinations of words and realized that the average sentence could be stated within 160 characters. With this in mind, he realized how simple and cost effective it would be to put these short messages into wireless networks, thus began the idea of modern day text messaging.
However, it wasn’t until 1992 that the first text message was actually sent. Niel Papworth, a 22 year old communications engineer, sent the first text message from the Votafone GSF network, which famously read “Merry Christmas.” At first, text messages could only be sent between people who had the same cellular network, but by 1999 messages could be sent between different providers. By 2003, short codes had become a useful outlet for mobile marketing, and the rest is history.
Think of MMS as an extension of SMS
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a way to send pictures, videos, and sound from one mobile phone to another. The first phones capable of sending and receiving MMS messages appeared in 2002. Users need at least a 3G network in order to connect the more complicated data to another phone. MMS is more effective than SMS because the customer gets a visual of the deal and the brand that is giving them an offer rather than simply reading about it. A picture message with a logo of the company or an image of the deal, for example a free piece of cheesecake, is much more appealing and recognizable for the consumer.
How One Loyalty Network Can Help You
One Loyalty Network provides text message marketing services allowing you as the owner to send 8 full color MMS (picture) messages to users in your database. These can be announcements, promotions, or any other message that you would like to send to your customers. Our mobile marketing platform allows for a simple opt in for your customers as well as a redeem button, so you can easily track how many customers are using the coupons. 97% of text messages are opened, has your business gotten on board with mobile yet?
For more information visit getoneloyaltynetwork.com and connect with us to begin your mobile marketing plan.
