MMS campaigns

This article explains what you can do within the MMS Project Settings, and guides you through the integration process of MMS. Moreover, it elaborates on the SMS fallback and illustrates how the messages are tracked.

MMS campaigns allow you to create even more personalized campaigns through multimedia messages. Adding images or videos to your campaigns can increase user engagement and brand awareness.

Build MMS campaigns

You can access and create MMS campaigns in two ways:

• Scenario with an SMS node
• SMS campaigns module

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Important

MMS are handled by third-party providers Sinch SMS/MMS and Infobip. Both provide support only in the US and Canada. Note that due to regulatory requirements, service to Canada is fairly limited.

MMS project settings

Access MMS Project settings under Project Settings > Channels > SMS/MMS. Here you can set up the following:

• The default MMS Provider
  • The selected MMS integration will send messages to all new and existing campaigns. That means when the default integration is changed (and settings are saved), all SMS nodes that contain MMS from all existing scenarios will automatically change the integration for sending the messages.
• Two-way SMS/MMS messaging
  • You can configure how the system handles incoming MMS messages. You can read more about it in this article.

MMS integration

You have to configure the integration with the provider so the MMS campaigns will work. At the moment, we offer two MMS providers - Sinch and Infobip. This is commonly set up by the CSM.

Sinch

To set up the integration, follow these steps:

1. Go to Data & Assets > Integrations > Sinch MMS.
2. Select Sinch as your MMS provider. Here, add your Service plan to your project. Remember that each service plan comes with a rate limit and gets its own message queue. The integration includes tracking of enqueued messages.
3. Set up a Service Plan ID that is provided by Sinch.
4. Set up the API Authentication Token provided with each service plan.
5. Choose your endpoint region based on your data protection requirements. Currently, it is available only in the US.

Infobip

To set up the integration, follow these steps:

1. Go to Data & Assets > Integrations > Infobip MMS.
2. Select Infobip as your MMS provider. Here, add your API key to your project.
3. Set up an API key that is provided by Infobip.

SMS fallback

Sinch and Infobip convert the MMS into a fallback SMS for the scenarios listed below:

• If the MMS submitted is a greater size than the destination mobile network operator.
• If the content type submitted is not supported by the end carrier MMSC.
• If the Sinch/Infobip determines that the end-user device is not MMS compatible for the content to be delivered. For example, Android Devices do not support PDF and ICS file formats.

If any of these scenarios are met, Sinch/Infobip sends the fallback SMS instead of the MMS message. Fallback SMS is charged and priced as an MMS.

Important notes

• SMS fallback is only triggered in the case where any of the above-listed criteria are met.
• For carriers not supported by Sinch/Infobip or where Sinch/Infobip does not have MMS reach, SMS fallback does not happen.
• Sinch/Infobip can obtain handset-type information from delivery receipts and store the record in a handset cache for later use.
• Sinch/Infobip has a database of attributes that we manually match to every new handset in the cache so we can adapt the content during MMS delivery.
• SMS fallback is currently supported in the United States on Short Codes.

MMS size

The maximum upload sizes vary based on the content type, network operator and other variables.

Sinch enables the maximum text size up to 5000 characters, image size up to 3000 KB and video up to 50000 KB. Infobip enables up to 1600 characters and up to 300 KB of data (while most US and Canadian carriers can handle up to 1 MB).

Find details on MMS size limitations in the Infobip and Sinch documentation.

Transcoding for short codes is enabled by default.

MMS tracking

By default, MMS campaigns trackcampaign event with action_type = mms.

Send to provider tracking

When Bloomreach Engagement sends a message to the MMS provider, it immediately tracks the response to the attempt. Either the MMS provider accepts the message for delivery or rejects it, Bloomreach Engagement follows the campaign event with these properties and standard campaign event properties:

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Events tracked for MMS

The status tracked for MMS is the same status as for SMS (enqueued (sent), delivered, clicked if Link shortener enabled, etc.). Check out this article for a comprehensive overview of the tracked statuses.

Delivery reports tracking

The provider calls Bloomreach Engagement callback with delivery reports as statuses delivered or failed when the recipient's operator responds about the delivery. The delivery and content may change based on the provider. At the moment, we only support Sinch and Infobip as MMS providers.

Successful delivery

Delivered message tracks status=delivered with attribute type=mms/sms that defines whether the message was delivered as MMS or fallback SMS.

Failed delivery

Undelivered messages track status failed with the attribute type=mms/sms that defines whether the message failed as MMS or fallback SMS.

Predefined senders

If you use multiple senders in a single Engagement project, you can now store them as Predefined senders. To access its settings, go to Project Settings > Campaigns > Channels > SMS / MMS.

After you set it up, senders are immediately available in the SMS action node of the scenario. The benefit of using predefined senders is that it helps to create more effective and error-prone MMS campaigns.

Two-way messaging and keyword auto-responses

MMS campaigns include support for two-way messaging and keywords auto responses. In case a user replies to your MMS in the form of an MMS, the messages are processed and scanned for keywords. However, it will be more common that a user will reply to an MMS in the form of an SMS.

An MMS mobile-originated message from a user to your short code/number can also contain images or multiple text parts. Any text part of the MMS will be checked for keywords at the beginning of the message. Learn more about Two-way Messaging and Keyword Auto Response in our article.

Contact cards

Contact Cards provide a convenient way to share your business name, number, or logo with your SMS/MMS subscribers so they save you in their contact list. You can create a bigger emotional connection with your subscribers through SMS/MMS and reduce the potential of filtering your messages** by third parties. Learn more about Contact Cards here.

Usage dashboard

You can view the overview of all outgoing MMS messages on the account or project level within the usage dashboard. In the Communications section, you can see the number of sent MMS communications under MMS or fallback SMS under Fallback SMS.