Understanding RCS: Why It Matters & What Marketers Need To Know


With over a billion active users worldwide, Rich Communication Services (RCS) is transforming how brands connect with customers across the globe. As the first marketing platform to launch an RCS marketing test campaign in the United States with our client Dooney & Bourke, Listrak can confirm: This channel has the power to supercharge customer engagement, driving more than double the revenue per send compared to SMS/MMS for the brand.
Are you ready for the latest gamechanger in mobile marketing? Read more to learn why RCS should be a part of your marketing strategy and how to make the most of it.
What Is RCS and Why Should You Care?
Rich Communication Services, or RCS, is an interactive communications channel that allows you to send and receive text-like messages, voice calls, video calls, and multimedia files directly via a phone’s messaging app. With Apple support in place as of iOS 18, RCS currently boasts over a billion monthly active users. For brands and retailers, RCS makes it possible to send highly interactive messaging via RBM (RCS Business Messaging), including product carousels, multiple-choice questions, polls, and more. Another key benefit of RCS is that brands are verified, elevating the customer experience (as brands are more readily identifiable as trusted senders) and encouraging higher conversion rates.
Enhance Your Martech Stack
Listrak clients are already seeing impressive returns of $1+ per text message sent on average, and RCS has the potential to bring even more revenue and engagement to your marketing strategy. RCS is more than just an upgrade to traditional SMS; it's a tool for delivering rich, interactive experiences that bring your brand to life in the messaging app. For certain campaign goals, RCS is a great complement to Text Message Marketing, and its more conversational nature is perfect for when further two-way communication is needed to close a sale.
Extend Your Reach Internationally
RCS has already made a splash globally, having been available for some time on Android devices, which have the majority market share overseas. Apple adding RCS support in September 2024 expanded its reach and is likely to make a substantial impact on markets like the United States where Android vs. Apple users are evenly split. Traditional Text Message Marketing depends upon originator provisioning by country, so adopting RCS can help extend your global reach without needing multiple short codes, long codes, or Toll-Free Numbers. Instead, you can register the same branded sender ID across the countries with which you want to communicate.
Additionally, Apple’s support for RCS has allowed for more flexible messaging, standardizing experiences across device types. This will allow marketers to plan for the same or similar content to extend internationally. Compliance rules and best practices still apply (including country-specific regulation), but the flexibility of messaging via RCS provides opportunities for longer campaigns, more media, and interactive elements.
Get Started with RCS Now
In November 2024, Listrak became the first marketing platform to launch an RCS test campaign in the United States. In partnership with our client Dooney & Bourke, we used an integration with Infobip to identify subscribers who could receive RCS messaging and targeted them with the brand’s “12 Days of Dooney” holiday campaign. This test campaign demonstrated that RCS more than doubled revenue per send compared to SMS/MMS campaigns. Read the press release for more details.
Don’t miss the boat – now that carriers are beginning to support RBM across their networks, it’s the perfect time for you to add this fresh channel to your marketing strategy. Start discussions with your marketing teams and leadership about how to reach your prospect and customer base via interactive messaging. Probe further into your international and domestic website traffic and purchase breakdown, check out your inbound text message activity, and establish benchmarks for your existing programs (if you don’t have them outlined already).
Listrak: Your Partner in Cross-Channel Innovation
At Listrak, we’ve been an industry leader in cross-channel marketing automation for over two decades. We’re committed to staying ahead of trends and providing our clients the tools they need to succeed in an ever-changing landscape. For more information on how Listrak can help you stay ahead of the curve with RCS, connect with us today!