How to Send Video MMS in ThruText
Videos are a powerful way to engage contacts with dynamic, visual content, making MMS messages more impactful and memorable. A video MMS is sent to contacts with a video portion and text portion and costs the same as an MMS with an image or gif. Acceptable video file formats include .mp4, .mov, .mpg, and .webm.
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Add videos to your account
Before you can add media to your campaign, it must first be uploaded to the Media Library. Videos aren't restricted to the recommended 500kb limit like other media types, because our system automatically transcodes videos to an acceptable format for MMS messages. To ensure videos are optimized for mobile viewing, they are resized to a smaller format with minimal loss of image quality. Carriers have specific requirements for video formatting for MMS, so a file may still be too large after transcoding, in which case you will see an error upon uploading. Keeping videos under 30 seconds not only increases the chance of successful upload but also boosts the likelihood that contacts will watch them.
Videos uploads take longer to process than other file types in the modal, so please be patient during the media library upload process. Once the modal is closed, reload the page, and you will see the icon for your video file!
What next?
If you have a U.S. account and your organization hasn't already, register a sample image to your use case before continuing. This is a one time process and the approval is instant.
Then, build your campaign and add the video to the initial message.
FAQs
What do videos look like to contacts?
To most contacts, and depending on their device, the first frame of the video will be displayed with a clickable play button above the text portion of your MMS.
It's always a good idea to run a test campaign to send a video MMS to yourself before sending it widely. You can also preview a video before sending by opening the file from the Media Library, as shown below.
Videos may appear as downloadable files on some devices, typically only if the recipient is using an older device or has specific settings enabled. However, this should not affect most contacts.
What to do if your video is rotated?
Some videos uploaded to the Media Library can become rotated after being converted to an acceptable format for MMS. This rotation is will occur based on the video resolution, which can sometimes cause vertical videos to display horizontally. For instance, if you download a vertical video from Google, the file may save as 1920px width x 1080px height rather than the intended 1080px width x 1920px height. If this occurs, the file can be converted to the preferred dimensions using a free online tool, such as Online Converter, which can then be re-uploaded to the Media Library. You can check the preview of the file to ensure the correct orientation.
What is the recommended aspect ratio for videos?
For best practices, video MMS should have one of the following aspect ratios:
- Vertical - 9:16 (640 x 1138 px): this aspect ratio will work for most devices across different carriers. This prevents the user from needing to rotate their phone to see the video, and is the standard ratio for mobile friendly video content like YouTube Shorts and TikTok.
- Square - 1:1 (can vary, for example 400 x 400 px or 600 x 600 px): this ratio ensures compatibility across the most devices and carriers. Since this ratio typically contains less total pixels than 9:16 or 16:9, it's easier to keep these videos smaller in file size, making them mobile and carrier-friendly.
- Landscape - 16:9 (1,280 x 720 px): this aspect ratio is great for landscape oriented videos.
If your video has a non-standard aspect ratio, transcoding the video can result in increased pixelation. Don't forget to check the video preview in the media library before sending MMS messages. We recommend keeping important content centered, as the edges of a video can be cut off on different devices or carriers.
What frames per second should the video have?
The recommended FPS (frames per second) is 30 for best playback quality. Otherwise, FPS must be a multiple of 15 to appear correctly on mobile devices (e.g., 15, 30, 45).