Before you start
Things you need to know:
MMS messages can only be sent to recipients with US or Canadian mobile numbers attached to a US or Canadian network.
For example, a US number being used in the UK, and therefore connected to a UK network, won’t receive MMS.MMS messages can only be sent from a verified US or Canadian toll-free number, 10DLC or short code.
⚠️Sending from unverified or unmigrated numbers⚠️
During the set-up process, you may see the MMS editor become available to you. However, you must wait until your Customer Success representative has confirmed that your account is ready to send MMS.
If you begin sending before your number is verified (for newly purchased numbers) or migrated (for existing numbers) these sends won’t be delivered but will be charged for.
Create an MMS campaign
1. Set up your campaign
Go to Campaigns and select the quick-create icon for SMS/MMS.
Enter a campaign name in the field at the top of the editor, then select the check mark icon.
For Message type, select MMS.
Select CAMPAIGN OPTIONS to:
Choose your Send type from BROADCAST or TRIGGERED.
Broadcast campaigns are sent either immediately or at a scheduled time to one or more lists, segments or marketing preferences, and allow split testing.
Triggered campaigns are used for MMS sends through automated programs and don't allow split testing.
If you choose to send a Broadcast MMS, then for Split test, you can toggle the switch to On or Off to choose whether you want to split test the campaign or not.
If you choose to send a triggered MMS, this option is greyed out. Learn more about split testing in the section Split test an MMS campaign.For Links, select Shorten or Do not shorten.
Link shortening allows us to track MMS interaction.
When you’ve finished selecting your campaign options, select SAVE in the side panel.
2. Create your message
For Media, select ADD MEDIA, choose the image you want to include in your message, then select OK.
To add a new image, select UPLOAD IMAGE and choose the file from your device.
Supported file types for MMS are .jpg, .jpeg, .png, and .gif. Maximum file size for an image is 750KB.For Message, add your message body. This can include text, as well as emojis and other Unicode characters, up to a maximum of 1600 characters.
To add personalisation to an MMS campaign, select the personalisation icon in the bottom left of the Message field. In the Insert personalization side panel, select Data fields or Liquid markup.
Data fields: Expand the Data field drop-down menu and select the data field you want to insert. The value held against a contact for the data field you’ve chosen is inserted when your message is sent.
Liquid markup: Enter your markup into the text field and select APPLY.
Learn more in the Campaign personalisation with Liquid section of our Help Centre.
To insert a link to a survey, page, or form into your MMS campaign, select the link icon in the bottom left of the Message field. In the side panel, select the survey, page, or form you want to link to.
When you’re happy with your campaign, select SAVE & CONTINUE or SAVE.
How MMS displays on different devices
MMS messages can display slightly differently to recipients based on the mobile operating system or inbox app they’re using.
iOS
Media is displayed above the body text of the message.
Android
Media may be displayed above or below the body text of the message.
Send an MMS campaign
Identify contacts who can receive MMS
Identify contacts who can receive MMS
Because MMS can only be sent to recipients with a US or Canadian mobile number, you might want to identify these contacts in a segment.
Learn more about segments in the Segmentation overview.
To do this:
In the segment builder, drag a Data fields block into the Include dropzone.
Select [click to select a datafield].
Select the Mobile number country radio button.
For the first drop-down, select Is equal to, and for the second drop-down select United States +1, then select OKAY.
Drag another Data fields block directly below the first. Configure the same rule, but this time, set Mobile number country equal to Canada +1, then select OKAY.
With both rules added, switch the grouping rule to Or.
Save and generate your segment.
1. Test your campaign
You can access the test send function for MMS in two places:
The MMS campaign editing screen
On the SMS/MMS campaigns screen, in the Test send column.
To perform a test send:
Select Test send.
In the Test send side panel, select SELECT TEST NUMBER to choose contacts from your Test list (hold Ctrl to select multiple addresses), or select NEW TEST NUMBER to add a new contact to the Test list. The number you select must be a US or Canadian number.
You cannot add suppressed mobile numbers to your Test list. If you see an Errors found message when trying to add a new number, this is likely to be the reason why.Select TEST SEND to confirm the send.
When you're finished with testing and ready to send, select SAVE & CONTINUE.
If you’re not ready to send, you can select SAVE then exit the MMS editor, and return to your campaign later.
2. Send your campaign
You’ve created and tested your MMS campaign, now it's time to send it out.
To send a broadcast MMS campaign:
From your campaign in the MMS editor select SAVE & CONTINUE, or go to the SMS/MMS campaigns screen and select the Send icon for the campaign you want.
Under the heading Select the contacts to send this campaign to, use the tabs to select the lists, segments and marketing preferences you want to send the MMS to.
You see a reminder message that MMS messages can only be sent to US and Canadian mobile numbers.
Under the heading Select send time and speed:
For Select send time, select Immediately or Scheduled.
If you select Scheduled, use the date picker to set the time and date of your send, then expand the time zone drop-down menu and select the time zone you are sending the SMS to.
This doesn’t affect the time zone set on your account. You can only select one time zone for MMS sends.
For Select send speed, you can use the default sending speed, meaning as soon as possible, or choose to spread the campaign send out over 1, 2, 3, 6, 12 or 24 hours.
For Undelivered MMS, select Expire after three days if you want the standard expiry time of three days.
If you want your MMS to expire earlier, select Expire on, and then choose a date and time. You can set a minimum time of one hour and a maximum of three days (72 hours).
If a network can’t deliver an MMS at the first attempt, they make multiple further attempts to deliver up to the message expiry time. The custom expiry is useful if your MMS is time-sensitive, for example, a 24-hour sale or travel updates, so you don’t want the network to continue trying to re-send the MMS for the full three days.
Select CONTINUE.
On the Send page, you see the total amount of contacts you're sending to.
You also see:the From name that appears for those who receive the campaign
whether or not your message includes personalisation fields
whether or not your message includes Unicode characters
whether or not you have turned on link shortening
the contacts you have chosen to send to
the send time
the message expiry
the number of recipients*
the estimated credits used for this send
This is an estimate only and doesn't account for longer messages due to personalisation. This metric is not applicable for PAYG customers.
Select SEND CAMPAIGN IMMEDIATELY or CONFIRM SCHEDULED SEND.
The option you see here depends on whether you chose to send an immediate or scheduled campaign.
* We validate recipient mobile numbers at the point of send, so this is all contacts with a mobile number in the lists, segments or marketing preference groups you have selected to send to. If there are contacts included who do not have a US or Canadian mobile number, they are not sent to. The campaign summary displays the number of recipients who were actually sent to.
To view the campaign summary, once you have sent your message, go to Analytics > Reports > MORE REPORTS > SMS/MMS, and select the Summary icon for the campaign. The actual number of recipients is displayed under Send details. If the campaign is scheduled for the future, you can also view the summary from the outbox.
Split test an MMS campaign
When you create a broadcast MMS campaign, it’s possible to send the campaign as a split test.
Before you start
MMS split testing works by comparing MMS campaign clicks. This means that you must include a link in each version of your split test, and links must be shortened. We automatically switch on link shortening when you set up your split test MMS campaign.
During campaign creation
When creating an MMS campaign, to set up a split test:
In the MMS editor, select CAMPAIGN OPTIONS and:
For Send type, select BROADCAST.
Set Split test to On.
We automatically turn on Shorten links for you, as MMS split tests need this to work.
Select SAVE.
In the the MMS editor select the version tab you want to edit. You must edit all versions individually.
To add a new version, select the + symbol. To remove a version, select the X symbol next to the version name.
You must always have at least two versions (A and B) for a split test MMS campaign.
Enter your message content for the selected version.
You must add a link in your message; all MMS split test versions must contain a link.Repeat Step 5 for all versions of your MMS campaign.
Select SAVE & CONTINUE.
During send setup
When setting up your MMS send, to configure your split test:
Under Split testing, use the first slider, or enter a number in the box, to choose the percentage of contacts to send the split test to.
The maximum percentage is 60%. Once the results are in, we send the most successful campaign message to the remaining contacts.
Use the second slider, or enter a number in the box, to choose how many hours to wait to measure responses to the split test before analysing the results and sending the most successful campaign message to your remaining contacts.
Select CONTINUE.
Triggered MMS
You can send MMS messages through automated programs. MMS messages sent this way must be created as triggered campaigns.
To send an MMS message in a program:
In the program builder, drag an SMS/MMS campaign node onto the canvas in the desired position.
Select the node to configure it.
Select SELECT CAMPAIGN to choose the MMS campaign you want to use, or CREATE CAMPAIGN to create a new one.
Select an existing campaign
Choosing SELECT CAMPAIGN presents you with a list of your triggered campaigns by default. However, you can select BROADCAST to switch to a list of your non-triggered campaigns.
Selecting a broadcast campaign
If you select a campaign from your list of broadcast campaigns, an automated copy of the campaign is created for use in the program.
Therefore, if you want to make changes to the campaign being sent by the program, you need to locate the copy under Automation > Triggered SMS/MMS.
Select the radio button for a campaign to add it to the MMS campaign node.
Create a new campaign
Select CREATE CAMPAIGN and enter a campaign name.
You need to locate this new campaign under Automation > Triggered SMS/MMS in order to add campaign details and content.
You won’t be able to activate the program until you have completed the creation process for any campaigns you have created through an SMS/MMS campaign node.
For Expire after, enter a number of hours for the MMS to remain valid. If undelivered after this timeframe, the MMS expires and the send is not re-tried.
The custom expiry is useful if your MMS is time-sensitive, for example, a 24-hour sale or travel updates.Select APPLY.
Design the rest of your program as you want it, then select ACTIVATE.
Learn more in the Program builder section of the Help Centre.