Introduction to RCS

Rich Communication Services (RCS) is a type of messaging that allows businesses to engage with their users more dynamically and interactively. As a marketer using RCS, you can leverage rich media, such as images, videos, and interactive elements, to create more engaging and visually appealing messages.
With RCS, you can create personalized and targeted campaigns that can be delivered directly to your users’ messaging app. This allows for a more seamless and convenient communication experience for the end user, as they can easily interact with your brand. RCS also offers advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing you to track the performance of your campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
The following image shows an RCS message delivered to a user's messaging app:

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Key Benefits

As a marketer, you can consider RCS as an engagement channel for the following reasons:

Enhanced customer experience: RCS makes conversations more interactive and engaging. Features like suggested replies and actions can guide a customer smoothly through a transaction or support request. This greatly improves their journey with your brand.
Rich media capabilities: RCS can include high-resolution images, GIFs, videos, and audio. This makes your communication more appealing and informative.
Branding opportunities: RCS messages can be branded with logos, color schemes, and other visual elements. This helps keep your brand consistent and recognizable.
Verified sender: RCS includes a verified sender status. This assures users they are interacting with a legitimate business, increasing trust and security.

Use Cases

Following are some business use cases that can be achieved using RCS:

Retail promotions: Retailers can send rich, interactive promotions that allow users to view images of products and even make purchases directly within the messaging app.
Appointment reminders: Healthcare providers or service-based businesses can send appointment reminders to customers so they can confirm, cancel, or reschedule their appointments directly through the message.
Banking alerts: Financial institutions can send secure account alerts and enable customers to perform simple banking actions like checking balances or fraud alert verification through RCS messaging.
Personalized marketing: Marketers can create personalized campaigns based on customer behavior, interests, and purchase history, delivering tailored recommendations and offers.
Event tickets and check-ins: Customers can receive their event tickets through RCS and even check into events seamlessly.

RCS in MoEngage

MoEngage helps you create RCS campaigns. Following is the high-level overview of the process and available features:

When you create an RCS campaign in MoEngage, you follow steps similar to other channels. You simply select RCS only or RCS with SMS as fallback as the message type.
MoEngage offers a comprehensive view that aggregates analytics for both RCS and SMS. It also shows separate engagement funnels for each channel. This helps you improve customer engagement and campaign effectiveness. For more information, refer to SMS & RCS Campaign Analytics.
When you use the RCS with SMS as fallback message type, MoEngage sends the campaign as traditional SMS if the recipient's device or network does not support RCS, thereby ensuring 100% delivery of these messages. This capability ensures that every segment of the target audience is reached, enhancing the reach and impact of your campaigns.
You can send RCS campaigns using the current user profiles; it is not necessary to create new user profiles specifically for RCS campaigns.

Compliance

RCS compliance follows the same rules as SMS. For more information, refer to the following articles:

RCS Partners

MoEngage RCS partners are intermediaries that enable you to procure a phone number and send RCS messages. For more information on RCS partners, refer here.

Next Steps