The rise of Rich Communication Services (RCS) ushers in a critical turning point for brand-consumer relationships.

Brands are always looking for ways to strengthen their connection with consumers – and the coming explosion of Rich Communication Services (RCS) promises to help with that. It’s been 20 years since marketers started to use SMS to reach consumers – now it’s the communications channel of choice for companies, with high engagement and quick open rates. This year, the long-awaited transition to RCS will be available for everyone in the US, upending the way that consumer marketing is done – impacting messaging, email and apps along the way.

RCS Is A Major Step Up

Though RCS has been a global force since Google first announced it would be supporting the protocol on Android in 2016, full adoption in the US has been almost non-existent. However, with the support of major telecommunications players and Apple, RCS is expected to be fully available in the US by the end of 2024. This leaves marketers scrambling to understand if RCS fits their brand and how they can take advantage of the platform for current efforts and future strategies.

RCS is more than just a fancy version of SMS; it’s a whole new ecosystem. It takes the best of messaging, messaging apps, and brand apps and combines them into one communications monster. What RCS provides in visual appeal is matched only by improved function and security.

Reconsidering Channel Strategies

But the transition to RCS goes beyond adapting current messaging strategies. Marketers will need to re-evaluate strategies across communication channels. The potential to directly engage with consumers could see RCS become a first choice in communications channels over traditional email and app-based marketing approaches – offering a direct and engaging way to connect with consumers via native messaging apps (without the need for additional downloads or interfaces).

With new strategies in place, it begs the question, “Where do marketers need to focus their resources?” RCS supports more dynamic and interactive customer engagement – which allows businesses to not only send rich media content but also engage customers in real-time communications – significantly boosting the impact of traditional messaging campaigns.

More specifically, RCS offers:

• Verified sender IDs – Ensures that every message is linked to a fully verified sender ID, so recipients can instantly recognize the communicator, fostering a safer and more transparent messaging environment
• Enhanced security – The verification process with end-to-end encryption contributes to a secure messaging framework, safeguarding against spam, phishing, and other fraudulent schemes
• Better trust through branding – A higher level of safety means businesses can establish and strengthen trust with their customers, enhancing engagement by ensuring consumers recognize and feel secure interacting with the brand through the protocol
• Higher text limits – RCS expands messaging limits to 250,000 characters (from 160 with SMS)
• High-resolution images and videos – Brands can share high-resolution photos, videos, gifs, carousels, and other dynamic features right in the native messaging app
• Larger file sizes – Send files up to 10MB in size
• Cross-app connectivity – Send messages that open in browsers, maps, and other applications with designed buttons, not links
• Two-way communication – Brands can connect immediately and securely with consumers through RCS, which removes the need to open chat in another window or through an app

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What Brands Can Do To Prepare:  Crawl, Walk, Run

Brands looking to be early adopters of RCS will first need to evaluate their needs, their consumers’ needs, and their campaign needs before beginning a barrage of RCS communications. As RCS expands, brands will need to take manageable steps to ensure they’re ready to fire on all cylinders in 2025. The approach below outlines how brands can crawl, walk, and, finally, run with RCS.

Crawl – Set up your brand, validate your identity, and get in front of early adopter consumers.

Integrating RCS into a brand’s existing messaging campaign isn’t a complete reinvention, but rather an enhancement. You’re simply transitioning current messaging from text to a richer, more interactive format that includes images, brand logos and descriptions, and the reliability of verified sender status. This move allows brands to take advantage of RCS messaging without needing to go “all in” overnight. The gradual adoption will ensure brands move at the right pace, with no errors, while making each communication immediately recognizable and more engaging.

Walk – Begin leveraging rich media features, such as videos, carousels, maps, for specific campaigns.

Delivering next-generation communications with rich features can really boost consumer engagement once marketers begin to roll out full-fledged RCS campaigns. With advanced planning, marketers can meet the specific demands and preferences of their target sectors. For example, a retail company might use a carousel to showcase its latest seasonal collection, while a travel agency could employ maps to feature destinations in its newest travel packages. The “walk” stage is where marketers will be able to identify how much of the new technology they’ll be able to support before taking advantage of all RCS has to offer. Most of these capabilities will require planning, but are low on the amount of technology needed to produce results.

Run – Introduce AI and conversational capabilities, turning marketing campaigns into immediate, two-way experiences.

RCS is entirely unique from SMS in its ability to leverage AI capabilities on the platform to drive a seamless experience for consumers. The requirements for brands at this stage will be higher, with the necessary infrastructure needed to take advantage of tools like chatbots and AI that can handle real-time interactions with consumers without delays. Opening up two-way communications prematurely – i.e., without the capacity to manage it effectively – can harm a brand’s reputation by failing to meet consumer expectations for prompt responses. This means not only having high-quality chatbots online, but human representatives available and ready to take over a conversation when necessary. Though more preparation is needed to reach this stage, brands will benefit from direct customer engagement with content, instant communications that can make a sale or resolve an issue, or the convenience of an AI-generated carousel or video that responds to consumer preferences.

Why It Matters + Timeline

For marketers, the key to a successful campaign is forging authentic, long-term connections with consumers. This not only transforms one-time buyers into loyal fans and ambassadors, but enriches the most effective method of consumer engagement.

By assessing a brand’s needs and approaching RCS with a short, medium, and long-term strategy, marketers can ensure they take advantage of the new technology while it’s still exciting for consumers, but without overstepping their own capabilities and losing brand credibility. The “Crawl, Walk, Run” approach will allow brands to help consumers adjust to these new approaches and capabilities, as well as understand how they can communicate directly with a brand.

It’s an exciting time for marketing as we see the most ubiquitous method of communication – SMS – upended, allowing for new levels of creativity, interaction, and analytics.

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