How Brands Can Build Trust with RCS Business Messaging in the New Year

In the rapidly evolving world of digital communication, Rich Communication Services (RCS) is emerging as a pivotal innovation. This advanced messaging system is redefining business communications and how brands engage with customers, bringing the richness of multimedia and interactivity to mobile messaging. 

With the RCS messaging market poised to grow to USD 5.68 billion by 2028, it’s clear that this technology is not just an upgrade from traditional SMS – it’s a complete overhaul​​. In this blog, we’ll explore RCS business messaging capabilities, its impact on customer communication, and how brands can harness this technology to foster deeper connections with their audience.

The Evolution of Customer Communication: From SMS to RCS Business Messaging

Even today, SMS remains a prevalent force in business messaging. The US SMS marketing industry alone is projected to reach a staggering $12.58 billion by 2025, with 86% of brands utilizing SMS marketing​​. This widespread use is reflected in the fact that 90% of SMS messages are opened within just three minutes of being sent, making SMS a prompt and effective communication method​​. By 2023, business-related SMS messaging is expected to peak at an unprecedented 3.5 trillion messages, showcasing the continued growth and potential of SMS in the business sphere​​.

Despite these impressive figures, SMS has inherent limitations. Primarily, SMS messages from brands often get marked as spam, diminishing their impact and reach. Also, the lack of advanced security features in SMS exposes customers to potential frauds, eroding trust and reputability of brands using this channel. SMS messages are sent as plain text, which can be easily intercepted or accessed by unauthorized parties, posing a risk to both businesses and consumers.

Enter RCS business messaging, offering a host of features that directly address the limitations of SMS. It provides end-to-end encryption, ensuring that conversations remain private and secure​. This enhanced security feature of RCS is essential for sensitive or confidential business communications, safeguarding both the brand and the customer.

RCS also brings a richer, more interactive messaging experience. With features like rich cards, carousels, suggested action and reply buttons, and high-resolution media sharing, RCS takes messaging to a new level, offering businesses a platform for more engaging and visually captivating conversations​​​​. 

Moreover, RCS messaging services combine the ubiquity and simplicity of SMS with these advanced functionalities. While maintaining the direct and widespread reach of SMS, RCS elevates the experience within the same SMS inbox. This means that brands can capture user attention with richer content without losing the penetration and reach that SMS offers.

Building Brand Identity and Trust with RCS Business Messaging

By offering richer and more immersive messaging experiences, RCS business messaging for brands opens up new possibilities for communication and collaboration, revolutionizing the way brands connect with their customers​​.

• Verified Trust Mark: One of the most significant features is brands having to obtain a verified trust mark, a proof of authenticity and legitimacy before using RCS for business messaging. This ensures both brand and user safety from frauds and duplicity. Once approved, brands receive a verified trust mark that’s visible on their logo, instilling confidence in customers, assuring them that the message is from a trusted entity.

• Brand Logo and Colors: Unlike SMS, where users receive messages from abbreviated brand names or short codes, RCS messaging allows brands to add their full name, logo, and color. This not only strengthens brand recognition and improves recall value, but also assures customers of a reliable point of contact for superior customer service and ongoing relationship building.

• Character Limit and Rich Media: Unlike the restrictive 160-character limit of SMS, RCS allows for more extensive and expressive communication. Brands can craft detailed messages without the worry of truncation, enhancing clarity and effectiveness. High-resolution images and video sharing capabilities mean that visual communication is no longer constrained by quality. Brands can showcase their products and services vividly, creating more impactful and memorable customer interactions.

• GIF, Audio, and File Sharing: The ability to share GIFs, audio, and various file types adds layers of creativity and functionality to RCS messaging. A brand could send a GIF to add a touch of humor or personality to a conversation for a more personal touch. This variety in content types enriches the communication experience.

• Rich Cards and Carousels: Rich cards and carousels allow for visually appealing presentations of products or services directly within the messaging app. For instance, a retail brand could use carousels to showcase a new clothing line, allowing customers to swipe through different styles without leaving their messaging app.

• Integrated Payment: The integration of payment options within RCS messages simplifies the buying process. Customers can make purchases directly from the chat, streamlining the transaction and enhancing the user experience.

• Suggested Replies and Action Buttons: These features facilitate smoother, more efficient conversations. Suggested replies can guide customers through common queries or transactions, while action buttons can, for instance, confirm appointments or track deliveries, all within the chat interface.

• Typing Indicators and Read Receipts: These features add a level of interactivity and engagement to conversations. Customers can see when a brand is responding in real-time and know when their messages have been read, fostering a more connected and dynamic communication experience.

• Advanced Analytics: Advanced analytics in RCS goes beyond just tracking message deliveries and open rates; it enables brands to deeply understand customer interactions and preferences. With this robust data, brands can craft highly personalized and relevant messages, enhancing the customer experience and fostering stronger relationships. 

This level of customization in communication is pivotal in transforming generic interactions into meaningful, customer-centric dialogues.

The integration of these features within the default messaging environment is a strategic advantage for brands. By leveraging RCS, they can engage with customers in a rich, interactive manner without requiring them to download another app, tapping into a vast, yet underutilized territory of customer engagement.

The Future of RCS and Brand Engagement

The future of RCS in the realm of brand engagement and marketing is a landscape marked by substantial growth and innovation. The global number of active RCS users is expected to reach 1.1 billion in 2024, up from 930 million in 2023, indicating a rapid adoption of this advanced communication platform​​. This burgeoning user base presents a tremendous opportunity for brands to connect with their audience through richer, more interactive messaging experiences.

The anticipated support for RCS by Apple in 2024 is a significant development. While this move may not immediately revolutionize business messaging, it signals a shift towards a more unified and rich messaging landscape, bridging the gap between Android and iOS users​​. The integration of Apple into the RCS messaging services ecosystem promises to enhance interoperability between devices, making it easier for brands to reach a broader audience with consistent messaging experiences.

However, the world of business messaging remains complex, with varied technologies and feature support across different platforms. Despite this complexity, there’s a clear trend towards the adoption of richer messaging experiences. As consumer preferences evolve, businesses are likely to follow suit, embracing RCS business messaging and other rich messaging channels to engage with their customers more effectively​​.

By 2030, with an estimated 6.3 billion mobile subscribers, the potential for businesses to leverage RCS and similar technologies is immense. Businesses can create engaging, one-click experiences within these messaging channels, offering convenience and personalization to consumers without requiring them to switch apps​​. This evolution in messaging aligns with consumer desires, with a significant percentage expressing interest in using conversational messaging for product selection and purchases.

The integration of AI and machine learning with RCS will further personalize customer interactions, enabling brands to engage with customers in more meaningful ways at a global scale. This combination of technology and consumer preference positions RCS as an integral part of future marketing and engagement strategies.

Embracing the RCS Revolution with Gupshup

RCS is more than just the future of business communication – it’s a revolution happening now. As brands and enterprises seek innovative ways to engage with their customers, the early adoption of RCS presents a unique opportunity. With RCS, businesses can stand out in the messaging inbox, providing rich media, credible trust marks, and an interactive, conversational journey​​.

Gupshup’s RCS messaging API solutions and other business messaging solutions are at the forefront of this revolution. Gupshup’s platform enables brands to create engaging two-way conversations, personalize experiences based on customer insights, and increase conversions through interactive messaging​​. With AI chatbots and deep conversational analytics, Gupshup ensures that brands can offer instant support and effectively track message performance, thereby skyrocketing customer satisfaction​​.

In a world where 74% of consumers prefer to engage with a brand via RCS and with over 900 million RCS subscribers globally, the message is clear: brands that invest in RCS today are positioning themselves for success in a rapidly evolving digital landscape​​. With Gupshup, brands can harness the full potential of RCS, serving their customers better and staying ahead in the competitive market. Discover how our RCS API solutions and business messaging expertise can transform your customer engagement strategies today!