As the world has become increasingly connected through technology, there have been countless ways that people have learned to communicate. From the telegraph to the telephone to email, humanity has constantly been looking for new ways to communicate that are efficient, effective, and convenient. The world of communications technology is always shifting and evolving, and there are nearly constant innovations that help people become more connected. 

One technology that has made a huge impact on the world of modern communication is SMS messaging. This is an incredible way to communicate with people easily while retaining a friendly real-time standard of interaction. 

This is what SMS text messaging is and how it can impact how you communicate with the world. 

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What is SMS Text Messaging?

SMS stands for “Short Messaging Service.” It allows people to send text messages that are up to 160 characters long between a wide array of mobile devices and other communication technologies. 

SMS was developed in the mid-1980s but has since become used in countless places in the modern world. As many as 98% of mobile devices are compatible with SMS messaging, making it one of the most universal and usable ways to use text messaging. 

Even though the technology itself is old, there are still countless benefits and strengths that make SMS unique on text messaging standards today. 

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Incredible Speed

While SMS’s age might seem like a potential downside, it is extremely convenient in many areas. Modern data networks have improved their capabilities and speed since the inception of SMS, while the size and format of SMS messaging have remained virtually unchanged. Many SMS messages are as small as 140 Bytes. That means that they can be transmitted incredibly easily over modern data networks that are accustomed to working with messages with data sizes that are thousands or even millions of times the size of an SMS! 

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High Reliability

Since SMS messages are so small, they only require a small fraction of the resources to transmit texts reliably. As long as there is even a small amount of data connection, SMS messages should be easily transmitted. 

There are few places in the world where SMS messages wouldn’t be able to be transmitted simply due to the incredibly reliable interface of SMS messaging. 

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Inexpensive

Due to the advancements of data networks and other texting technologies, SMS messaging is offered at a low cost. Many phone service providers offer a flat rate for an infinite amount of SMS sending and receiving. 

While this is helpful personally, it allows for great cost savings for businesses using text messaging at an enterprise scale. You can now use platforms like Community to reach large audiences at scale with less investment than other methods of communication.

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How Does SMS Messaging Differ From Other Kinds of Texting?

While SMS messaging is a very ubiquitous and commonly used medium of communication, it is not the only one on the market. People use numerous other text messaging mediums. 

SMS messaging is very versatile, but it doesn’t cover every single kind of text messaging use. So it is important to understand how the different types of texting work. 

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MMS Messaging vs. SMS Messaging

MMS messaging is a technology that is often used alongside SMS messaging, but it is functionally a little different. MMS stands for “Multimedia Messaging Service” and is used for sending and receiving pictures, audio, video, and text messages that are longer than 160 characters. 

While these are definite plus sides in comparison to SMS, there are also downsides. MMS messaging requires cellular data networks to send text messages, which means that it is not quite as reliable to use compared to SMS. 

It is more expensive to use and therefore costs more to companies that use MMS at a larger scale. 

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iMessage vs. SMS Messaging

Another kind of text messaging confused with SMS messaging is Apple’s iMessage application. This is a text messaging service that is only available among Apple products. 

While it has many strengths in terms of convenience and features that are available, it has several downsides in comparison to SMS. You can only use it over Wi-Fi and cellular networks, so it is useless in less than ideal areas of the world. iMessage is also unable to send or receive text messages from Android or other types of phones. 

It is an effective way to communicate within the Apple ecosystem, but it still has many disadvantages in modern use. 

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How is SMS Messaging Best Used?

SMS messaging has a lot of places where you can use it effectively in the modern world. Even though it doesn’t have the most features, its sheer ability to communicate to a wide array of people in a massively versatile and stable way gives it a large edge in many circumstances. 

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Efficient Text Marketing

When companies are trying to find the most cost-effective and widely available services to reach out to their customers, SMS text marketing is often one of the best ways to do that. 

Text marketing is one of the most effective ways to market to customers, with an open rate of upwards of 98%, while other forms of digital marketing barely reach a fraction of success. 

It’s incredibly effective and efficient to send low-cost text messages to customers, and SMS messaging makes it possible for any company to have successful marketing campaigns, no matter how large or small. 

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Interaction with Members

SMS messaging is incredibly effective at cultivating genuine two-way interactions between Community Leader and their Members. SMS messaging provides a line of communication directly between two people, and it creates an avenue with which Leaders can directly engage with their Community in real-time. 

Relationships are built upon real interactions, and relationships lead to genuine care from both sides. Gone are the days of sending impersonal marketing messages to your Members; Community provides a way to communicate and interact with your audience at large genuinely. 

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What are the Drawbacks of SMS Text Messaging?

Even though SMS messaging is a beneficial and popular form of communication, it doesn't always fit every circumstance. The strengths of SMS often translate to its weaknesses, which results in people using another form of text messaging, such as MMS. 

If your goal is to send multimedia messages to your audience or customers, SMS cannot do that. For multimedia, you will need MMS messaging or another texting service. 

The lightweight nature of SMS texting means that while it is incredibly fast and versatile, it can’t send messages containing a lot of information. Even incredibly small photos and audio files will often be hundreds or even thousands of times the size of SMS’s maximum data size, which renders it unable to send any kind of media other than text. 

If you need to send large amounts of text inside of one message, it’s probably a good idea to look into other forms of messaging, such as MMS texting or email. These other communication mediums fit more into one message than SMS, making them great for long-form communication. 

However, it is still possible to send members a reminder message via SMS to check their emails for special messages when using an email! Being creative with your use of messaging allows higher open rates while still providing all of the length and content of a long-form message. 

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Conclusion

SMS messaging is one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication in the modern world, and for very good reason. It’s quick, efficient, and highly effective at communicating with people on personal and business levels while still being incredibly affordable and usable. 

If you’re looking for the next step in developing interaction with members of your community on a personal level, check out Community for your next step in the right direction. A huge range of high-profile Community Leaders and companies are already using Community to interact directly with their followers at a previously unimaginable scale. Take a look, and get your number today! 

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Sources: 

Text Messaging Statistics 2021 - Text Messaging Trends For Businesses | SMS Comparison

MB to Bytes Conversion Megabytes to Bytes Calculator | GBMB.org

What is SMS & MMS? | SMS vs. MMS Messaging | T-Mobile