SMS has helped businesses with a wide reach for decades, but its limitations are clear: no branding, basic text only, and zero interactivity.
With rich communication services (RCS) business messaging, you’ll never have to choose between rich features or universal reach. It offers both and transforms standard texting into an interactive experience without requiring customers to download a third-party app.
Today, over a billion users have access to RCS across major platforms. So it’s high time we moved past the “should you use RCS” to “how quickly you’ll capitalize this unified messaging ecosystem” ones.
Here’s everything you need to know about RCS business messages, their types, capabilities, and use cases to streamline customer engagement.
What is RCS business messaging?
RCS messaging is a protocol that upgrades text messaging beyond the basic limitations of SMS. It adds features like high-resolution images, typing indicators, read receipts, and interactive buttons — all delivered directly to a mobile phone's native messaging app.
Simply put, RCS is SMS with superpowers.
While SMS limits you to 160 characters of plain text, RCS lets you send videos, offers suggested replies, and includes branded messages to help recipients take action right from the message.
Here’s an in-depth SMS vs. RCS discussion to catch up on their differences and benefits.
Barclays used RCS for business to reduce branch visits by guiding customers to their mobile app.
Their messages asked if customers knew they could make payments themselves, included a "See how" button that played a tutorial video, and provided a direct download link. This self-service approach improved customer experience while reducing operational costs.
Capabilities that RCS provides your business with
Here are the key features that make RCS better than traditional SMS.
Verified sender profiles
Trust drives purchasing decisions, and 87% of customers will pay more for products from brands they trust.
Every RCS business message comes from a verified sender profile that displays your business name with a verification badge. This tells recipients they're receiving legitimate communications, not spam or phishing attempts.
Branded messages
Your logo, brand colors, and business name appear at the top of every RCS communication.
Studies show that 86% of consumers made two or more purchases in the previous year directly from branded text messages. When customers see your logo and signature colors in their messaging app, they're already primed to engage.
Modern interactive features
RCS supports a range of interactive elements that static SMS can't match.
Rich cards combine media, text (title and description), and calls to action (CTAs) in a single message. These cards can link directly to products, allowing customers to go from message to purchase with one tap.
Further, carousels let customers swipe through multiple products or offers without leaving the messaging app.
Cross-platform support
Apple's iOS 18 update, which introduced RCS support, has significantly reduced the communication gap between Android and iPhone users.
With both Android and iOS supporting RCS, you can now reach virtually all smartphone users with rich, interactive messages. There’s no need for separate strategies for different devices.
Advanced analytics
RCS provides detailed engagement metrics beyond simple delivery reports.
You can access read receipts, typing indicators, and click-through rates (CTRs) for every interactive element. This data shows which cards, buttons, or documents drive the most campaign engagement.
You can monitor read reports, customer actions, and identify trends to adjust your campaign strategies.
RCS vs. SMS vs. MMS: What's the difference?
You've used all three at some point: SMS for basic text, MMS for image transfer, and maybe RCS without even realizing it.
But what makes them fundamentally different? Let’s see.
Types of RCS for business messaging
Moving beyond the technical differences, let's look at how businesses apply RCS messaging in practice. Unlike SMS, RCS gives you three distinct message formats to match your communication needs.
Basic messages
Basic messages work much like SMS but with verification. They contain text-only content within 160 characters and include URL previews that recipients can tap to visit your website.
What sets these messages apart from SMS is that they come from verified business profiles with a brand logo displayed. This verification immediately creates trust, even though the message itself is simple.
Basic messages work best for:
- Authentication codes and one-time passwords
- Appointment reminders
- Order confirmations
- Service updates
The biggest advantage is that you can often use your existing SMS API and pricing structure. Many providers automatically "upgrade" SMS to Basic RCS messages on compatible devices, making this a zero-effort enhancement.
Single Rich messages
Single Rich messages break free from text-only limitations by adding visual and interactive elements. Here’s what you can include with these messages:
- High-resolution images and videos
- Interactive buttons for direct actions
- Rich cards displaying product information
- Carousels showcasing multiple items
- Location data with map previews
For example, take a travel company sending a booking confirmation as a Single Rich message. They add the hotel image, display the check-in date, and use action buttons to "Add to Calendar" or "View Reservation Details."
The result is high engagement with minimal backend efforts.
Conversational messages
Conversational messages enable real-time, two-way discussions between brands and customers.
They come in two forms. Brand-initiated (A2P) starts when a customer responds to your Basic or Single Rich message within 24 hours. On the other hand, user-initiated (P2A) begins when a customer messages you first or responds after the 24-hour window.
With these messages, your business can:
- Handle customer service inquiries
- Provide personalized recommendations
- Guide customers through complex processes
- Qualify leads before transferring to sales
The messages require more backend work but deliver the full RCS experience.
Say a travel company could help a customer select vacation packages, add excursions, and complete the booking, all without leaving the message thread.
RCS business messaging use cases
Now that you know the different types of RCS, it’s time to see them in action. Here are some ways businesses use RCS messaging and drive results.
Marketing campaigns
With RCS marketing, it’s easy to create immediate connections through visual content that customers can act on directly. You send product showcases with embedded purchase buttons, surveys with tappable answers, and promotions with instant booking options.
For example, EaseMyTrip used RCS for a post-COVID travel survey with quick-tap answer options and a thank-you coupon.
The campaign achieved a 4x higher CTR than email and 10x more survey completions, resulting in a 2.7% increase in conversion rate.
Holiday promotions
Holiday shopping periods demand special attention. RCS makes your seasonal promotions stand out with visual product showcases, limited-time offer countdowns, and immediate purchase paths.
Nespresso used RCS for their holiday campaign to showcase their lesser-known accessory collections as gift options.
Their messages featured product carousels with direct purchase links. Making the experience interactive and circular (allowing users to replay or explore more) facilitated a 25% increase in purchase intentions.
Payments and transactions
RCS streamlines financial transactions with secure, interactive payment flows. Banks can send payment requests with verification buttons, fraud alerts with immediate action options, and bill reminders with one-tap payment capabilities.
Take Axis Bank, which implemented RCS for loan, credit card, and fixed deposit management.
Their interactive banking chatbot activated over 2,000 users, enabled 45% cross-sell opportunities, and processed 6.5% of service requests directly through RCS messaging.
Customer engagement and loyalty
Loyalty programs often fail because they're forgettable. Instead of sending a static "You have 250 points" message, RCS creates interactive experiences.
Here, customers swipe through reward options, play mini-games to earn bonus points, or receive personalized recommendations based on their preferences.
ENGIE tackled its inactive loyalty program with an RCS Advent Calendar. Each day revealed new surprises, educational content about their "Mon Programme pour Agir," and opportunities to earn and immediately redeem points, transforming a forgotten program into a daily habit.
Travel check-in and boarding passes
RCS streamlines travel experiences by combining reservation management, check-in, and digital boarding passes in a single conversation.
Airlines can walk passengers through seat selection, meal choices, and safety information with visual guides and simple taps, then deliver a scannable boarding pass directly in the messaging thread.
Google's RCS integration with Google Wallet lets travelers save their boarding pass with one tap. Once saved, the pass updates automatically with gate changes or delays, ensuring travelers always have accurate information without searching through emails or downloading airline apps.
RCS for business messaging is the future
As we've seen across these use cases, RCS is not an emerging technology anymore; it’s become a communication standard. But where is this technology headed?
According to Juniper Research, RCS business messaging will grow from just 3% of operator messaging revenue in 2024 to 18% by 2029. Total revenue will jump from $1.8 billion to $8.7 billion — a 370% increase in just five years.
What's driving this growth? Trust.
As SMS becomes increasingly compromised by scams and phishing attempts, businesses are migrating to RCS, where brand verification comes standard.
Market penetration is another factor. With Android holding over 70% of the global mobile market share and Apple's adoption, RCS now reaches every smartphone user. This universal reach without requiring app downloads gives RCS a significant advantage over platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
The integration of AI with RCS will further accelerate adoption.
Smart chatbots that understand customer intent can handle routine inquiries and provide a personalized experience. Unlike traditional chatbots, RCS bots can share rich media, walk customers through complex processes with visual guidance, and seamlessly transfer to human agents when needed.
For your business, this transition represents an opportunity to get ahead. Companies that adopt RCS now will build familiarity with the platform while developing communication strategies that take full advantage of its capabilities.
Simplify your customer engagement with Plivo RCS API
With RCS positioned to transform business messaging, you need the right tools to capitalize on this opportunity.
Plivo's RCS API helps you bridge the gap between current SMS capabilities and the personalized, advanced experiences customers now expect. The platform's pay-on-delivery model means you only pay for messages that reach customers.
You also get valuable engagement metrics, including read receipts and button click data that traditional SMS can't provide. Plus, there are intelligent chatbot flows to help with instant issue resolution.
With RCS expanding its user base and showing engagement rates 35x higher than email, Plivo's API gives you a direct path to this growing audience. If your customers are among the 70% more likely to engage with brands through RCS, Plivo gives you the tools to meet them there.
Get started for free and build better customer conversations today.
