By including help for RCS (wealthy communication providers) to iPhones with its iOS 18 replace within the fall of 2024, Apple gave U.S. entrepreneurs a bigger viewers to interact with new instruments over messaging.
SMS cellular campaigns are an efficient means of reaching clients in the event that they belief you adequate to provide you their cellular numbers. Texts are a preferred means for patrons to obtain receipts, delivery updates, appointment confirmations and, more and more, offers.
However textual content messages are a bare-bones expertise — even when it contains an hooked up file for an image, an emoji or hyperlink to an internet site (that makes it, technically, an MMS, or multimedia textual content). For a extra compelling expertise despatched by way of texting, entrepreneurs are adopting RCS.
Entrepreneurs within the U.S. have been reluctant to execute RCS campaigns, although the expertise contains shifting components much like an app, however with out the necessity for a obtain. The rationale? Till Apple acquired on board, the RCS format was supported solely by Android.
With Apple on board, count on RCS to develop into a extra common and efficient channel for U.S. entrepreneurs. With Android alone, entrepreneurs within the U.S. might count on to succeed in roughly 40% of U.S. customers. With Apple, the attain of RCS will increase to almost 100% of telephone customers. (An antitrust lawsuit filed by the Division of Justice towards Apple cited the corporate had 65% of the U.S. smartphone market.)
What’s RCS?
RCS is a regular that helps wealthy options in messaging. It was established by the GSM Affiliation, a cellular community trade group, a decade in the past. Google adopted the format in Google Messages, permitting entry to the format by Android customers. Up till 2024, Apple held off on supporting the format in iOS.
RCS permits customers to share high-quality GIFs, movies and different interactive parts straight in a textual content message. Entrepreneurs can add logos and design parts that give the messages a definite, branded look. Refined RCS designs can embed carousels with a number of movies or merchandise to promote. Customers can faucet on hyperlinks to web sites or buttons within the message, making a person expertise much like an app however with out the effort of downloading the app.
Entrepreneurs may also have the ability to measure habits in RCS messages, so they’ll have the ability to optimize campaigns with cellular analytics.
Dig deeper: Why we care about cellular advertising
How will RCS change SMS?
“[RCS] lastly will include the function units we’ve all been ready for that we imagine will knock out any of these hesitations that enterprises had about utilizing messaging as not simply an operational software, however a software that may middle their buyer experiences with cellular in a major means,” stated Matt Ramerman, senior vice chairman, buyer success and innovation at cellular expertise firm Sinch
“SMS makes up a big majority of how all of us use our telephones and work together with our family and friends,” Ramerman defined. “Enterprise use within the U.S. is essentially outlined by pushing out notifications — banks sending you a fraud alert, FedEx telling you your package deal goes to reach at this time.”
He added, “Strong, fashionable analytics round messaging has been largely constrained, and in addition the channel itself…isn’t feature-rich. These issues have tempered a variety of funding by enterprises to undertake messaging as a CX software, which is somewhat odd contemplating that’s the place their clients dwell — however there’s been a barrier there.”
What RCS options ought to entrepreneurs use?
“RCS has put collectively numerous good options for messaging,” stated Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO of world RCS enterprise messaging firm Dotgo. ”It truly is a two-way channel that’s wealthy by way of its content material, and that gives much more analytics than SMS is ready to present. Companies get higher outcomes and higher visibility by way of analytics, and customers get a much more nice expertise, higher visuals, a greater person expertise, therefore they use it extra — which supplies companies higher outcomes.”
Listed below are some actions entrepreneurs can take with RCS campaigns, starting from including easy parts to offering deeper engagements with clients:
- Ship personalised messages and movies to every person.
- Embody instructed replies that change the requirement for a person to kind in a response.
- Add instructed actions: As a substitute of replying to the sender, an motion opens up a map or web site to interact with or calls a telephone quantity to talk with a service rep.
- Ask for the person’s location to suggest an motion within the person’s bodily setting.
- Embed a carousel with 5 or extra choices that customers can swipe by way of.
- Acquire analytics on all the interactions with the message at a person person stage.
- A/B take a look at the weather in an RCS message.
- Drive two-way conversations with generative AI by way of the RCS messaging channel, much like a chatbot expertise.
“The facility of sending anyone a wealthy image, a video or a carousel of images is a lot increased than sending anyone dry textual content,” stated Mumick.
What’s the future for RCS?
Some U.S. entrepreneurs are already utilizing RCS campaigns, in accordance with Annette Franz, founder and CEO of buyer expertise consultancy CX Journey Inc. and a MarTech contributor. Apple’s help of RCS will probably result in broader adoption of RCS campaigns by entrepreneurs.
“Whether or not you’re speaking with Androids or between an Android and an iPhone, it is going to be on RCS,” stated Mumick. “It is going to solely be a matter of time earlier than communication shall be over RCS by default.”
“With Apple onboard now, extra entrepreneurs want to learn the way they will benefit from RCS,” Franz stated. “For now, some entrepreneurs (e.g., Finest Purchase, Papa John’s, Subway, Walmart, Nissan) are utilizing it however are conscious of the constraints of hitting only a portion of the inhabitants. Apple customers nonetheless get the messages, however they don’t get the expertise as a result of RCS just isn’t supported on iPhones in the meanwhile.”
Franz agrees {that a} richer messaging expertise results in increased engagement, which makes RCS engaging to entrepreneurs.
“Improved service and help with real-time updates and extra seamless buying capabilities additionally result in increased satisfaction ranges and an expertise in contrast to what clients have beforehand had,” stated Franz. “These spell worth for patrons and for manufacturers.”
“There are numerous use circumstances that entrepreneurs can use to interact with clients past simply easy textual content messages and it’s going to take a while to determine which of these use circumstances will match with customers,” stated Alex Campbell, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer for cellular expertise firm Vibes. “We don’t wish to do RCS simply because it seems cool, we wish to do it as a result of it improves ROI and engagement and makes a greater buyer expertise. This 12 months must be about determining which prospects work together with your particular clients.”
A superior expertise and higher customer support may very well be causes sufficient for patrons to rely upon RCS messaging for wealthy interactions with their most well-liked manufacturers.
Twilio releases RCS wealthy content material options
As extra companies discover reaching clients with RCS, martech distributors that help data-driven buyer experiences are creating options to capitalize on the capabilities of RCS.
In January 2025, Twilio introduced Wealthy Content material Playing cards, Media and Wealthy Card Carousels to boost RCS messages. These options assist companies ship personalised, participating and visually interesting messages to RCS-capable gadgets.
- Twilio’s Wealthy Content material Playing cards assist entrepreneurs ship messages that embody photographs, video, call-to-action buttons and fast replies.
- Media integration permits manufacturers to include photographs, movies and paperwork straight into messages for extra immersive communications.
- Wealthy Card Carousels permit customers to scroll by way of a number of interactive playing cards inside a single message — splendid for visually compelling product showcases.
