4 Ways Retailers Can Leverage MMS for a Better Customer Experience

Businesses do more than just supply products or services. During the pandemic we saw that they also supply connections. To strengthen those connections, businesses are starting to open new channels of communication. 

Retailers and ecommerce brands especially have begun finding creative ways of using mobile communication throughout the customer journey, so that their consumers’ interactions with their brand are more meaningful. They’re working on delivering personalized offers through mobile channels, providing timely communications during purchases, and measuring user satisfaction after customers begin using the product.

If MMS marketing wasn’t already top of mind for retailers before the pandemic cut into in-person shopping, it certainly is now. Retailers’ ability to leverage MMS to send personalized, targeted communication and provide rich mobile experiences results in higher response rates than phone calls or email. 

Every brand today, no matter what space it’s in, should take advantage of consumers’ mobile capabilities. MMS can reach mobile customers and generate a high level of engagement. 

Here are four ways retailers can leverage MMS for a better customer experience.

Coupons and promotions

Consumers redeem SMS-delivered coupons about 10 times more than other coupon types, and 50% of US consumers make a purchase after receiving an advertising text, a discount coupon, or a QR code. 

Messaging with pictures and video puts a new spin on a format that already works. Retailers can use MMS to share scannable QR codes and coupon picture messages that customers can redeem in stores, and rich messaging features like GIFs, videos, and sound clips add to the experience. When you package pictures with your promotion you have a recipe for huge engagement, and you raise the potential that the promotion itself is shared. 

Today’s consumers have an expectation of getting what they want when they want it, and time is of the essence. Sharing timely, targeted offers via MMS is the optimal way to meet that expectation and drive higher levels of purchases.

Personal shopping

Personal shopping is all about smoothing away shopping hassles by understanding customers’ personal styles and recognizing items they’ll like. People already use their smartphones for shopping; delivering assistance via MMS is a natural enhancement. 

You can kick-start an interaction with automated SMS messaging, and if a customer wants to see what an item looks like, you can bring in MMS for the assist. Imagine how much easier a digital personal shopping experience is when consumers can quickly exchange product pictures with retail salespeople. Instead of describing a style verbally, sales staff can send a photo. The two-way, conversational nature of texting, paired with the visual benefits of MMS, allows retailers to go back and forth with customers easily, ask clarifying questions, and add a personal touch to ultimately make a sale. Think of it as a premium service for loyal customers when they need help putting together an outfit remotely.

Product registration

Product registration reminders are a powerful but often overlooked messaging interaction opportunity. If you sell a product with a warranty or offer post-purchase offers and support, you’ll want to get customers engaged straightaway. The trouble is, product registration can be a boring, manual process, and sometimes requires a phone call.

Instead, invite buyers to register their products the easy way: by sending you a photo of a bar code associated with the product. No hassle, no typos, just a convenient way to show interest in some after-sale engagement.

Branded messaging

SMS used to be a text-only experience. Now, when you use MMS, you can send a message that arrives complete with your brand logo. Images help you get noticed, and MMS gives your users a safe, verified messaging experience, without any kind of technical intervention needed on either side. 

By messaging customers through their mobile devices, retailers can deliver highly targeted marketing communications to shoppers and open the door to new revenue opportunities and long-term engagement.

Picking an MMS provider

Since MMS is such a personal form of communication, we advise businesses to be thoughtful about when and how they use it. A messaging strategy loses its power if a business inundates consumers with irrelevant messages or sends messages too often or at inconvenient times, such as when they’re settling into bed for the night. You want an API solution that makes it easy for developers to programmatically send and receive messages, that also leverages the cloud for scalability, and that runs on a global carrier network to intelligently and cost-effectively route messages. 

Plivo’s MMS API platform makes it easy to send and receive pictures on all US and Canadian phone number, with no wait times or upfront costs. Features include:

Multiple sender types: You can use long code and toll-free numbers to send and receive MMS messages across the US and Canada.

Multimedia formats: Plivo supports sending and receiving image (JPEG, GIF), audio (MP3 and WAV), and video (MP4) files of many types for a rich multimedia experience.

Multimedia storage: Plivo provides multimedia storage for both inbound and outbound MMS messages to enable easy access and reuse.

Message queuing: Plivo’s MMS API queues and retries your concurrent messaging requests to comply with carrier regulations and offer increased deliverability.

Plivo enables businesses of all types and sizes to create a unique, personalized experience for their customers by making use of MMS and its versatility and support for a wide range of media formats. Adding audio and visual components can enhance simple text, leading to higher engagement and increased responsiveness from your customers.

Learn all about sending and receiving MMS from our product documentation. Haven’t tried Plivo yet? Getting started is easy. Sign up today!