1. User Guide
  2. Campaigns and Channels
  3. SMS & RCS
  4. Getting Started with RCS
RCS Templates

Overview

RCS helps elevate brand trust and increase business engagement. It allows you to send personalized messages and visual media to customers, improve efficiency, and enable automated notifications. You can send RCS messages using Rich Card or Simple Text message types.

Businesses can communicate with customers interactively through RCS messages created using exciting templates. Templates are pre-designed components that can be easily customized and reused to create RCS messages efficiently. They allow for quick and seamless content creation, saving time and aiding in the development of engaging and visually appealing messages.

For users outside India, template approval is not needed, and sending free-form RCS messages is allowed. Although the use of RCS templates is not mandatory for these users, it is still recommended for the convenience of reusing message content.

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Information

The template approval process is required only while sending RCS messages to users in India. These templates are linked with the RCS agents created through your RCS providers.

 

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This is an add-on feature. To enable it for your account, contact your MoEngage CSM (customer success manager) or the support team.

Use Cases

RCS can be used in multiple use cases. To refer to RCS use cases, read Introduction to RCS. 

Template Management

On the RCS template management page, MoEngage allows you to create additional templates, search for existing templates, filter templates, edit, view, duplicate, and delete templates. To manage all your RCS Templates:

  1. In the MoEngage dashboard, navigate to Settings > SMS & RCS > RCS template management. template management.png

  2. On the RCS template management page, you can see the following fields: 

     

    Field Description
    Search template by name, content

    Use this search bar to search for templates using their name or content.

    Filter   filter.png

    		 Use this additional filter option to filter templates based on Template Type, Provider, and Sender profile.
    Add Template Click Add Template to add templates to your MoEngage account.
    Template name  The Template name column in the table lists the names of all the created templates. The template name is a hyperlink; clicking it will redirect you to the template in view-only mode.
    Content The Content column displays the message added to the content section of the respective templates while creating them. Hover over it to view the entire message. 
    Template Type The Template type column mentions if the template is Simple Text or Rich Card.
    Sender Profile The Sender Profile column mentions the name of the sender profile for each template.
    Provider The Provider column mentions the name of the provider for each template. (For example, Karix, Gupshup)

After a template is added, you can manage it according to whether or not an active campaign uses it. You can View, Edit, Duplicate, or Delete the template. vedd.png

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You cannot delete the template if an active campaign is using it, as deleting the template can affect the campaign. Therefore, you should stop the campaign before deleting the template.
Template  Usage Allowed Template Controls
If the template is not being used in any active campaign. View, Edit, Duplicate, Delete

If the template is being used in any active campaign.

 View, Duplicate

Add Templates in MoEngage

To add templates in MoEngage, perform the following steps:

  1. Navigate to Settings > SMS & RCS > RCS template management. Click + Add Template.settings rcs.png
  2. On the Add template page, under the template Settings section, enter the following details: settin.png
    Field Description
    Select Provider Select the service provider with which you want to send this templated message. (For example, Karix, Gupshup)
    Select sender Select the sender associated with the selected provider with which this template is approved. You can add only a single sender. This is the RCS agent that would have been created on the provider portal.
    Template Name Enter a name for the template. The name can be up to 100 characters. 
    Template ID (Optional)

    Enter the template ID. You can find the template ID in the provider's dashboard.
    Template type Select a template type. MoEngage supports Simple Text and Rich Card. 

     

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    The Template Name and Template ID should match the information in your provider dashboard if you send the RCS message to Indian customers.
  3. On the Add templates page, under the Content section, enter the following details. You can add the content of the message to be conveyed to the customers.
    Simple Text Rich Card
    A Simple Text template is a basic text-only message type that allows for detailed communication without images or videos. It can include a verified checkmark for credibility and your brand's logo for brand recognition. If the Template type is set as Simple Text, you can add up to eleven actions.
    The following image illustrates how the Content section appears in a Simple Text template type. simple - content.png
    Field Description
    Message

    Enter the exact message added to the template in the provider's dashboard. You can enter up to 2500 characters. The message must communicate the objective to your audience. It can have text and variables. Ensure that the variables consist of only alphanumeric characters, underscore, and curly brackets (for example, {{v1}}, {{custom_param}}) for personalization during campaign creation.

    The following image shows an example of an RCS message that uses the Simple Text template.Simple text template.png

     

  4. You can add actions that allows the customers to interact with the brand. There are multiple different types, they can either reply, set a reminder, click to call, or click on URL. On the Add template page, under the Action section, enter the following details.

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    Information

    If the Template type is set as Simple Text, you can add up to 11 actions; if it is set as Rich Card, you can add up to 4 actions.

    Action.png

    The following three fields are common, regardless of the actions you choose. The tabs below details which fields are specific to certain actions.

    Field Description
    Type of action

    Select the type of action you require. The available options are:

    • Reply: Use this option when you want your customers to reply to the sent message with a single-click response.
    • Calendar event: Use this option when you want your customers' calendar app to create an event with the information filled in advance. 
    • Dialer Action: Use this option to open the dialer on the customer’s device. 
    • URL Action: This option allows you to enter a URL to which you want to redirect the customer.

    For more information on each type of action, refer to the tabs after this table.
    Title

    Enter a title for the CTA button. You can personalize the title, allowing you to name it differently for individual customers.
    Enter suggestion postback

    When the user clicks the RCS message action, the entered value is returned, facilitating additional chat functionalities.

     

    Reply Calendar Event Dialer Action URL Action

    reply.png

  5. After completing all configurations, click Save.

The template will be listed on the RCS template management page.

Personalizing RCS content

MoEngage uses a specific personalization format. Always use double curly braces ({{ }}) for all personalized fields, including the title, description, CTA titles, and so on.
If you are creating content on a platform that uses a different syntax, update the variables to use double curly braces before saving the template in MoEngage. Otherwise, the variables will be sent as plain text.
Ensure that variable names contain only alphanumeric characters, underscores, and curly braces. For example: {{v1}}, {{custom_param}}.

For more information, refer to Personalize SMS and RCS Campaigns.

Next Steps

Create an SMS and RCS Campaign

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