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What is RCS?
RCS, short for Rich Communication Services, is the next evolution of mobile messaging, designed to bring rich media, branding, and real-time interactivity directly into the default messaging apps of mobile devices.
Consider it SMS 2.0 - the same ease of use, but with the features of any other popular modern messaging app. Images, videos, carousels, suggested replies, buttons, media sharing, branded profiles, read receipts, typing indicators, and more - it's all possible within the native messaging app or inbox of your mobile phone with RCS, so no third-party apps required!
RCS for Marketers
For marketers, RCS offers a more engaging way to talk to customers. Deliver branded, customized messages to customers like product or sales announcements with in-app product carousels (extra points if you tailor these recommended products to your customers), or use it to send abandoned cart reminders with pictures of the item they left - and possibly similar products to entice them to buy more.
For your audience, it simply offers a better, but also safer experience. Because RCS requires businesses to verify their profiles, the chances of your customers falling prey to fraudsters and scammers is considerably lower - and it'll also increase the trust in your brand profile. And because your customers don't need to download a third-party app, it's incredibly user-friendly.
There's so many different ways in which you can use RCS for your marketing campaigns, but does this channel also compare to SMS when looking at benchmarks and statistics? SMS always had solid open rates (98%), which is (still) one of its main selling points. Can RCS compare?
How Does RCS Compare to SMS, WhatsApp, and Email?
When evaluating a new marketing channel, numbers matter. Pretty looking messages are one thing, but you also want your marketing efforts to deliver measurable results. Let's compare RCS to other popular marketing messages channels like SMS, WhatsApp, and email, and see.
Open Rates: Catching Up to SMS
SMS is traditionally unbeatable with open rates of 98%. But RCS follows closely behind with open rates between 90–95%, while offering far richer content and brand trust features like verified sender IDs. This means that the messages are being seen - and that are trusted.
Read Rates: Solid Engagement Statistics
With 70–85% of RCS messages read, engagement is significantly higher than email (which averages below 20%) and comparable to other popular channels like SMS (80%) and WhatsApp (70% - 80%). Similar to SMS, RCS messages land directly in the phone’s native messaging app, where attention is almost guaranteed.
Click-Through-Rates (CTR): Where RCS Triumphs
CTR is what every marketer is looking for - not only have your messages been received and read, your customers actually engage with them. And once they click, you might drive conversion! Where SMS sees 4–7%, RCS campaigns drive 15–30% CTR (up to 51% for exceptional use cases). That’s up to 7× higher engagement, thanks to interactive features like carousels, quick replies, and embedded CTAs. This rivals WhatsApp Business with 15-35% CTR (best cases 45% - 60%), but without the need for a third party app.
Conversion Rates: From First Click to Action
Ultimately, conversions matter most. With 20–40% (50% - 80% in strong cases) conversion rates, RCS doesn’t just drive engagement - it drives sales, bookings, and actions. Compare this with SMS (~3–5%) and email (<2%), and the ROI speaks for itself. Every campaign touchpoint, whether it’s a product launch, abandoned cart reminder, or loyalty reward, becomes more effective.
Why RCS Belongs in Your Marketing Mix
Email, while cost-effective for mass reach, lags far behind in key metrics and benchmarks for marketing. SMS still dominates delivery and open rates, but it lacks engagement. Its format is outdated, and the lack of rich and interactive features is starting to play its part. WhatsApp, similar to other popular Messaging channels, combines high open rates with great CTR's - perfect for any marketer. But it does require your audience to have WhatsApp installed. RCS mirrors WhatsApp in performance, with the added benefit that there's no third party app required.
RCS Is proven to no longer be 'just an SMS upgrade' - it's a high-performing marketing channel that competes with WhatsApp and outshines traditional SMS and email. RCS bridges the gap between reach, ease-of-use and action by delivering rich, branded, and interactive experiences straight into the native messaging app of the phones of your audience.
The best part? You don’t have to choose between channels. By combining RCS, WhatsApp, SMS, and email in a single strategy, you reach customers where they’re most engaged.
Ready to see what RCS can do for your marketing endeavors? Contact one of our experts to brainstorm or check out the RCS product page.
