The modern consumer relies on their mobile phone for both communication and information. As a result, cell phone usage continues to increase every year. In fact, the average American checks their phone 352 times a day. Businesses are taking advantage of this by using text marketing to keep in touch with customers. Before you jump on board though, it’s important to know what’s better: SMS vs MMS.

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SMS texting typically only involves words. With MMS, you can spruce up your messages with images and sounds, although this may sometimes raise compatibility issues. MMS is also more expensive than regular texting. Get all the details of SMS vs MMS before you decide which one best fits your business.

What Is SMS? The Text Messaging We Know

When people think of texting, they’re usually thinking of SMS or Short Messaging Service. Consumers who use SMS can send and receive short text messages of 160 characters. If the message exceeds 160 characters, it will be broken up into multiple SMS texts. SMS texting only supports plain text characters.

The world’s first SMS was sent on December 3, 1992, and it was a simple Merry Christmas message. Since then, humanity has fallen in love with SMS texting for obvious reasons. SMS allows you to easily share brief information with close contacts or keep in touch with loved ones. With a few taps on your phone’s keyboard, you can remind your crush about your lunch date, ask a classmate for notes, or tell your mom you miss her.

What Is MMS Messaging?

MMS stands for Multimedia Messaging Service. At its core, it’s not too different from SMS texting. You use it to contact other mobile phones. Unlike SMS, it’s not limited to plain text—you can also add pictures, animated images, and audio. Furthermore, you can send up to 1,600 characters. Texts that contain emojis and website links are also MMS messages.

Though MMS has enjoyed popularity, it has fallen out of favor with the rise of smartphones. Modern phones with Wi-Fi connectivity support chat applications and social media apps such as Twitter, Facebook, Discord, and WhatsApp. These apps allow contacts to conveniently share multimedia files without incurring the costs associated with MMS.

Enter Rich Communication Service (RCS): The New SMS?

Texting has been around for a long time and certainly seems here to stay. If you’re interested in future trends, you may want to pay attention to RCS or Rich Communication Service. This new messaging option could further complicate the SMS vs MMS debate. Its many useful features are leading some to predict it might replace traditional SMS texting.

Android offers RCS, which is superior to SMS texting and more comparable to chat apps like WhatsApp and iMessage. With RCS, users have access to features such as group messaging and the ability to send multimedia. Read receipts also let users know when the recipient has received and opened the message. Importantly, unlike SMS, RCS has no character limit.

SMS vs MMS: Which One Is Right For Your Business?

The SMS vs MMS debate leads to different answers depending on who’s asking the question. It all depends on what the unique needs of your business are.

SMS is the go-to option for quick, short messages. If your sales marketing department doesn’t want to be bogged down with making images and other marketing material, pick SMS texts. Though 160 characters is a very short limit, it’s sufficient to inform customers of the latest sale, new stock, policy changes, and other events at your business. Furthermore, SMS is cheaper than MMS, making it a budget-friendly choice.

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MMS has its own advantages, and it’s a must-have for certain businesses. The ability to add images and other media to messages dramatically improves the impact of marketing material. For instance, a restaurant will entice customers much more successfully by including images of one of its dishes in its texts. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, and seeing a steaming pizza stimulates the appetite more strongly than merely seeing the word “pizza.”

When thinking through SMS vs MMS for your business, consider your budget and whether your messages are information-based or promotional. If it’s information, SMS will likely suffice. If it’s promotional, consider MMS. Also, consider the length. If you plan to send long messages, MMS may be the better choice.

SMS vs MMS: Both Still Relevant

In 2021 alone, Americans sent 2 trillion text messages. Clearly, this is a communication method that isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. SMS texting remains a cost-effective way of reaching the masses. And although MMS is losing popularity, it still has plenty of uses for the many businesses that benefit from its multimedia capabilities. Though you should keep an eye on the evolution of RCS, don’t turn your back on SMS or MMS just yet.

Protect Your Texting Budget With Landline Remover

No matter which text marketing service you choose, you’ll want to ensure your text messages reach mobile phones. Sending texts to fake numbers, disconnected numbers, and landline numbers will only result in wasted money. Furthermore, you must also make sure you don’t send telemarketing material to numbers on the Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry. To remove all these budget-siphoning numbers, you need a contact list scrubber.

Landline Remover is the easiest way to scrub your contact list of all landline numbers. Simply upload a CSV file of your contacts, and within seconds you’ll know which numbers are mobile phones and which aren’t. The software also has a DNC Registry filter, which uses data that’s within 72 hours fresh from the federal and state levels. So, you’ll never have to worry about getting fined by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

In addition, the flat-rate pricing ensures you only pay for what you use. No need to fiddle with complicated subscription tiers. Simply pay $0.002 per number checked or $2 for 1,000 numbers. Sign up with Landline Remover today and get 1,000 credits free.