Mohit Goel, senior product specialist at SAP Digital Interconnect, explains why Multimedia Messaging Service is so important to your multichannel engagement strategy

It has long been acknowledged that SMS (Short Message Service) messages can drive high open and response rates among connected customers. Faith in SMS has often seen Multimedia Messaging Service or MMS, overlooked, but this has begun to change.

The addition of multimedia messaging to an enterprise’s multichannel engagement strategy can help app developers and marketing, customer service and support, and other lines of business leaders ‘cut through the noise’ to reach more customers and achieve a new level of success.

Here’s why it’s so important to engage customers through MMS and to make it a key component of your digital marketing strategy.

MMS in an interconnected world

MMS was first introduced back in 2002, extending the capabilities of conventional SMS by adding the ability to send multimedia content. This has continued to evolve to where we are today, being able to now send videos, audio, GIFs, QR codes, slideshows and more.

MMS enables businesses of all types and sizes to create a unique, personalized experience for customers by making use of its versatility and support for a wide range of media formats. The audio and visual components can enhance simple text, leading to higher engagement and increased responsiveness from customers. Businesses can send ‘how to’ slideshows that help guide customers step-by-step through a product repair; deliver animated greetings or coupons during holidays or special events; or launch new products using customer review videos, to name just a few of the ways MMS can be provide more powerful customer experience.

These MMS messages have been found to deliver a 15 per cent higher clickthrough rate, while also being four times more likely to be shared on social media platforms. Furthermore, 78 per cent of customers say that they prefer images of products, 67 per cent feel images are important for buying decisions, and 63 per cent value images over product details.

MMS complements other digital channels

You can use MMS alongside other channels, including SMS, e-mail, and social, such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram, and Viber. Combining multimedia messaging with these channels provides another avenue to enrich customer experiences through audio and video.

MMS adds another critical channel to the existing mix. It complements these services with another layer in your multichannel engagement strategy and provides a rich, audio-visual experience that some of the other channels can’t offer.

As intelligent enterprises realize that they now must interact with customers on their preferred channels and on their terms, MMS is gaining more traction with business professionals seeking additional channels to increase their presence in front of connected customers. There has been a gradual increase in MMS traffic year-on-year, as people actively enjoy receiving and responding to personalized messages from their favorite brands.

Value of MMS

Reaching customers via multimedia messaging means increased success across the board. It’s all about creating awareness, and that audio-visual component is very attractive to the customer. The more captivated people are by the message, the more likely they are to engage with the message and respond to it. In turn, the stronger call-to-action improves clickthroughs, drives more interaction and engagement, and boosts revenues.

Quite simply, customers are more likely to open and consume a message when there’s an image or video compared to just plain text.

It’s said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.” To learn more about MMS and how it can benefit your intelligent enterprise and multichannel engagement strategy, read Multimedia Messaging Service: Enriching Simple SMS, visit SAP.com and join the SAP Digital Interconnect community.