Help Center

Understanding Media in SMS Campaigns

When you include images or videos in your SMS campaigns, the message becomes an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) instead of a standard text message. This allows you to send richer content, but how it appears to recipients depends on their device, carrier, and the media itself.

Key Differences Between SMS and MMS

Adding media converts your message from SMS to MMS. While SMS messages are limited to 160 characters, MMS allows longer messages and embedded visuals. However, MMS introduces considerations like file type, size, and carrier compatibility.

Device-Specific Display Behavior

Media appears differently across devices:

Android devices typically display media inline with the text as a single content block.
iPhones may show media as a separate message bubble above or below the text content.

These display differences are controlled by the recipient's device and messaging app, not by your CRM platform.

Character Limits and Message Splitting

Messages without media are sent as SMS and split into multiple segments if they exceed 160 characters. With media, messages become MMS and avoid character splitting but must comply with media size limits. If a message includes both media and excessive text, it may fail to send if the carrier or device doesn't support the format.

Common Delivery Considerations

Several factors can affect media delivery:

Large files may be stripped or cause message failure
Some carriers block MMS with flagged content or oversized media
Unsupported files are hosted and shared as clickable links rather than embedded
Carriers often bill MMS messages differently than SMS

Best Practices

To ensure your media messages appear as intended:

Use the preview feature to check message appearance
Send test messages to both Android and iPhone devices before launching campaigns
Keep file sizes within recommended limits
Verify carrier pricing for MMS messages