Rich communication services (RCS) isn’t new, but its adoption has rapidly expanded, bringing advanced capabilities that go beyond traditional SMS. With both Android and Apple adopting the technology in late 2024, marketers now have a powerful tool to enhance customer engagement with rich media, greater interactivity, and branded messaging.
While SMS remains a foundational tool for mobile programs, RCS expands what’s possible and offers new opportunities to create more personalized, dynamic, and visually engaging customer experiences.
Discover how RCS transforms mobile marketing and what brands can do to take full advantage of its capabilities.
Unlocking New Possibilities with RCS
RCS elevates mobile messaging with advanced capabilities that bridge the gap between SMS and modern communication channels like email and apps. To deliver a high-impact mobile experience, marketers need access to the same personalization and engagement features seen in other digital channels, such as email and in-app messaging.
Customers expect a smooth, uninterrupted experience across digital touchpoints. RCS helps marketers deliver that by:
Integrating with other mobile apps and platforms.
Supporting cross-app linking to make it easier for customers to move between text, mobile wallets, shopping carts, and content hubs.
Driving Engagement with Interactive Experiences
Interactivity and gamification are proven drivers of engagement, and RCS makes it easy to incorporate them by:
Carousels that let brands showcase multiple product images within a single message.
Buttons enabled with predefined actions like “Shop Now” or “View Details.”
Interactive touches such as carousels or buttons can go a long way. In the same way that gamification has proven its effectiveness in both email and in-app campaigns, adding interactivity into text messages is a sure-fire way to gain customers’ attention.
When all of these capabilities come together, text messaging is transformed into a captivating branded experience that deepens customer engagement. Whether you’re in retail, travel, finance, or any other industry, RCS unlocks new opportunities to connect with customers in more meaningful ways.
Here, Inkredible Eatery entices customers to tap into their latest offer by adding an image of the meal deal to the description.
For Inkredible Retail, they used two different tactics via RCS. On the left, they provided customers with the three store locations nearest to them along with a Google maps preview and link. To the right, they sent an eye-catching carousel displaying their latest dress offers. In both cases, customers were immediately routed to the relevant page once they tapped in.
Lastly, Inkredible Travel paired their “12 hours away” message with an image of the boarding pass so that all of the most critical information was at customers’ fingertips.
Augment Your Strategy With RCS
RCS offers a new set of benefits to marketers that’s worthy of exploration. Add it to your marketing toolkit along with SMS and in-app personalization to create a fully personalized mobile experience that engages customers.
Looking for more forward-thinking thought leadership on martech’s latest developments? Check out the related resources below, or discover what first-class personalization could look like for your email and mobile programs with a demo.
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