How to Send Video MMS in ThruText


Videos can be added to an initial message to change an SMS (text-only) campaign to an MMS campaign. A video MMS is sent to contacts with a video portion and text portion and costs the same as an image or gif MMS initial message. Admins can upload .mp4, .mov, .mpg, and .webm.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Add videos to your account

Before media can be added to your campaign, you must add it to your Media Library. Videos aren't restricted to the recommended 500kb limit like other media types, but for longer files, the videos are automatically re-encoded to be sent through the messaging system. As the videos will be seen on a phone, our system converts the file to a smaller format with minimal perceptible loss of quality.

NOTE - If the file is still too large after re-encoding, you will see an error.

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?

Video rotation is impacted by the resolution, and depending on that resolution, it may become rotated under certain circumstances. For example, if an admin downloads a vertical Google video, the downloaded file will process as 1920px width x 1080px height instead of 1080px width x 1920px height. When they upload that file 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 external tool, such as Online Converter, to correct it and then 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 rotation from that page before proceeding with campaign creation.