By adding a support for RCS (RICH COMMUNICATION SERVICES) to iPhones with its iOS 18 update in the fall of 2024, Apple gave us marketing specialists a wider audience to engage with new tools on messaging.
SMS mobile campaigns are an effective way to reach customers If they trust you enough to give you their mobile numbers. SMS are a popular way for customers to receive receipts, shipping updates, appointment confirmations And, more and more, agreements.
But text messages are a naked experience – even if it includes a attached file for an image, an emoji or a link to a website (which in fact, technically, a MMS or a multimedia text). For a more convincing experience sent by SMS, marketing specialists adopt the RCS.
In the United States, marketing specialists are reluctant to carry out RCS campaigns, even if the experience includes moving parts similar to an application, but without the need for download. The reason? Until Apple climbs on board, the RCS format was only supported by Android.
With Apple on board, expect RCS to become a more popular and more efficient channel for American marketing specialists. With Android alone, marketing specialists in the United States could expect to reach around 40% of American consumers. With Apple, the scope of the RCS increases to almost 100% of telephone users. (An antitrust trial submitted by the Ministry of Justice against Apple City the company held 65% of the American smartphones market.)
What is RCS?
RCS is a standard that supports features rich in messaging. It was established by the GSM Association, a group of the mobile network industry, a decade ago. Google has adopted the format in Google Messages, allowing access to format by Android users. Until 2024, Apple supported the format in iOS.
RCS allows users to share GIFs, videos and other interactive elements in an SMS directly. Marketing specialists can add logos and design elements that give messages a distinct and brand appearance. Sophisticated RCS conceptions can integrate carousels with several videos or products for sale. Users can press links to websites or buttons in the message, creating a user experience similar to an application, but without the hassles of downloading the application.
Marketing specialists will also have the power to measure behavior in RCS messages, so they will be able to optimize campaigns with mobile analyzes.
Dig more deeply: Why we care about mobile marketing
How will RCs change SMS?
“”[RCS] Finally, the sets of features that we all expect await us which, in our view, will make all these hesitations eliminate that companies had on the use of messaging not only as an operational tool, but a tool that can focus its customer experiences with mobile in an important way, “said Matt Ramerman, Vice-President Director, Customer Success and Innovation at Mobile Experience Company Sinch
“SMS are a large majority of how we use all of our phones and interact with our friends and family,” said Rameman. “The use of companies in the United States is largely defined by pushing notifications – the banks send you a fraud alert, Fedex telling you that your package will arrive today.”
He added: “Robust and modern analyzes around messaging have been largely limited, and the chain itself … is not rich in functionality. These things have tempered a lot of investment by companies to adopt messaging as a CX tool, which is a bit strange since this is where their customers live – but there was an obstacle there. »»
What RCS features should Marketing specialists use?
“RCS has implemented a certain number of interesting features for messaging,” said Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO of the World Commercial Messaging Company RCS Dotgo. “It is really a bidirectional channel rich in terms of content, and which provides many more analyzes than SMS able to provide. Companies get better results and better visibility thanks to the analysis, and consumers acquire a much more pleasant experience, better visuals, better user experience, so they use it more – which gives companies better results . »»
Here are some actions that marketing specialists can conduct with RCS campaigns, ranging from the addition of simple elements to the provision of deeper commitments with customers:
Send personalized messages and videos to each user. Include suggested answers that replace the requirement of a user to enter an answer. Add suggested actions: instead of responding to the sender, an action opens a card or a website to interact or calls a phone number to speak with a service representative. Ask the user location to recommend action in the user’s physical environment. Incorporate a carousel with five or more options than users can travel. Collect the analysis on all interactions with the message at the level of the individual user. A / B Test the elements in a RCS message. Drive bidirectional conversations with a generative AI via the RCS messaging channel, similar to a chatbot experience.
“The power to send someone a rich image, a video or a carousel of photos is so much higher than sending dry text to someone,” said Mumick.
What is RCS’s future?
Some American marketing specialists already use RCS campaigns, according to Annette Franz, founder and CEO of Customer Experience Consultancy CX Journey Inc. and A Martech contributor. Apple support to RCS will probably lead to a wider adoption of RCS campaigns by marketing specialists.
“Whether you communicate with Androids or between an Android and an iPhone, it will be on RCS,” said Mumick. “It will only be a matter of time before communication is exceeded by default.”
“With Apple on board now, more marketing specialists are looking to know how they can take advantage of RC,” said Franz. “For the moment, some marketing specialists (for example, Best Buy, Papa John’s, Subway, Walmart, Nissan) use it but are aware of the limits of the strike of part of the population. Apple users still receive messages, but they do not get the experience because RCS is not supported on iPhones at the moment. »»
Franz is suitable for richer email experience leads to a higher commitment, which makes the RCS attractive for marketing specialists.
“Improved service and support with real -time updates and more transparent purchasing capacities also lead to higher levels of satisfaction and experience of what customers had previously,” said Franz. “These value spells for customers and brands.”
“There are many use cases that marketing specialists can use to engage with customers beyond simple text messages and it will take a while to determine which of these use cases will adapt to consumers “Said Alex Campbell, co-founder and head of innovation officer for the mobile vibes technology company. “We don’t want to do RCS simply because it looks cool, we want to do it because it improves the return on investment and commitment and makes a better customer experience. This year should consist in determining what possibilities work with your specific customers. »»
Superior experience and better customer service could be sufficient for customers depending on RCS messaging for rich interactions with their favorite brands.
Twilio publishes Riche RCS content features
As more and more companies are exploring the damage of RCS customers, Martech suppliers who support customer -based customer experiences develop features to capitalize on RCS capabilities.
In January 2025, Twilio announced rich content cards, media and carousels of rich card to improve RCS messages. These features help companies deliver personalized, engaging and visually attractive messages to RCS compatible devices.
Twilio’s rich content cards help marketing specialists to send messages that include images, videos, action buttons and quick responses. The integration of the media allows brands to incorporate images, videos and documents directly into messages for more immersive communications. Rich card carousels allow users to scroll through several interactive cards in a single message – ideal for visually convincing products.
