Modern advertising has evolved and transformed more in the past two decades than it has in all the years of the two previous centuries combined.
Thus, it’s amazing to note that one aspect of this sector has changed even more rapidly- the consumers themselves.
The Solution
Fortunately, one form of digital advertising thrives in this explosive environment. It’s SMS and MMS. That stands for Short Message Service and Multimedia Messaging Service, respectively.
What is MMS messaging? It’s text messaging on steroids. Rather than just a line of words, MMS delivers pictures, graphics and videos in many formats.
Both SMS and MMS use automated systems to send frequent and timed short communications to the smartphones of consumers who “opt-in.” That is, they agree to receive these advertising messages from the seller. That agreement in itself makes MMS an incredibly powerful selling tool.
The Role of MMS in Modern Advertising
MMS is tailor-made to meet business owners’ most difficult challenges vis-à-vis their market bases. By its nature, MMS can pivot rapidly and respond to changes in consumer trends as they happen.
Here are some reasons why MMS is powerfully adaptive:
1. Easily Shared
If an MMS is well-crafted, the recipients can easily forward it to others. That, in turn, gives it an explosive ability to go viral. Suddenly, a single message sent to a few thousand people can get in front of millions. Nothing does that like MMS.
2. MMS is Highly Interactive
In the past, all advertising was a one-way street. A company places an ad in a newspaper or on TV or sends a brochure through Snail Mail – but once the consumer receives the ad, it hits a dead end. But MMS messages can quickly be responded to at the customer’s fingertips. He or she can ask a question, connect with a rep and get instructions on taking action immediately
3. MMS is Fast
Most MMS messages are opened within minutes of being received by a potential customer. In fact, research shows that 90% of MMS texts are opened within three minutes of receipt. Furthermore, because MMS is characterized by graphic images, video and photos –not just text.
4. MMS Vacuums Up Valuable Consumer Data
After a recipient opens an MMS message, the sender can automatically extract device and network information. That’s key because device information can be leveraged to segment an audience by phone type. More kinds of data are gleaned from network information. This data can sharpen, hone and define specific messaging campaigns that will better appeal to a target audience.
5. MMS Makes it Easy to Confirm Delivery
Every time an MMS message is sent, it returns a delivery receipt to note the status of the message. This, in turn, creates the standard for getting a final delivery status notification, and it doesn’t matter which network is being used. That’s significant because email, social networks and even SMS can’t produce the same feat.
6. MMS is Cost Effective
MMS communicates to customers (and potential buyers) for just a few pennies more than a text message. Many firms already deploying text-only SMS have excellent incentives to add MMS to their campaign. You get a lot more bang for your buck – or in this case, a few extra cents!
Why MMS Matters in Modern Advertising
Take, for example, that last item about cost-effectiveness. Traditionally, one of the biggest hurdles for any business was to find enough working capital to pay for advertising. The same is true for modern, digital forms of advertising. MMS kills two birds with one stone by being the most inexpensive and results-producing.
MMS solves one of the key challenges in the modern advertising sector –- finding a way to quickly adapt, evolve and stay ahead of a consumer market characterized by rapid change in their needs, wants, the benefits they hope to receive and the specific features they desire.
Across the board, MMS may be the ultimate “solutions tool” for implementing an effective marketing campaign that has a stellar ROI (return on investment) and addresses the multitude of challenges facing advertisers today
