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.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


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, as our system automatically re-encodes 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 quality. Carriers have specific requirements for video formatting for MMS, so a file may still be too large after re-encoding, in which case you will see an error. 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 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?

First, 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 almost instant.


Then, build your campaign and add the video to the initial message.


NOTE - Uploading a video file to the Media Library that has a non standard aspect ratio can cause the upload to have added pixelation. If you would like to review your video file before sharing with your contacts, you can view the uploaded video file by clicking on the three vertical dots next to the media box and clicking “open” or you can send yourself a test MMS message to view the video on your device. We now offer dedicated numbers if you’d like to add one to your account to use when testing MMS.


FAQs

What do videos look like to contacts?

To most contacts, 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. 


Screenshot of an iphone conversation showing an example video mms. There is a white and black 'play' button in the center of an image of a record player with decorative plants.


For a limited number of contacts with certain settings or older devices, the video may appear as a downloadable file.


Screenshot of an example conversation showing a downloadable file in the place of the video MMS.


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.  When uploaded to the Media Library, it will rotate and process horizontally. If this occurs with an uploaded file, the file can be converted to the preferred dimensions using a free online tool, such as Online Converter, which then be re-uploaded to the Media Library. 


NOTE -The file rotation that processes when the video file is uploaded to the Media Library is the same view that will display within the initial message preview and contact's device. Please make sure the file is presented in the preferred orientation from that page before proceeding with campaign creation.