Introducing RCS: The next-generation messaging channel for modern marketers
Developing relationships with customers has been a tough challenge for marketers for years. SMS has been one of the most coveted channels of engagement for marketers because of its swift delivery and incredibly high open rates. If you’ve used our SMS channel, then you already know the goal is to build a database of subscribers to foster long-term customer loyalty.
Updated on Jun 4, 2021
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Insider’s promotional SMS enables brands like yours to quickly send bulk SMS to segmented users. It helps you efficiently and effectively reach a large audience without putting a dent in your marketing budget.
But where does SMS fall short?
Although SMS is a really effective channel in terms of engagement, it does fall short when it comes to user experience and conversions. If you’ve used WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, etc., then you’ll understand the importance of customer-rich experiences on messaging channels. When compared with other messaging channels, SMS falls short because it:
- Limits the creative thinking with just 160 characters
- Has limited personalization
- Does not have rich/engaging elements
On the other hand, messaging apps have been growing in popularity and are a great fit for a brand looking to engage with its customers in increasingly relevant ways.
With more apps in the market, the instant messaging landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented. To support customers across a crowded messaging ecosystem, developers constantly tussle with variations in APIs and capabilities. Keeping up has proven to be difficult, time-consuming, and — most importantly — costly. Marketers have yearned for a standalone messaging service like iMessage to engage their Android users.
Enter Rich Communication Services
RCS messaging, the next generation of SMS, offers a rich and personalized experience that aims to drive increased customer engagement. With RCS messaging, you can deliver a seamless experience using the power of personal and interactive messaging along with some of the key features of Apple’s iMessage, including read receipts and the ability to send rich media, among others.
Apart from the iMessage features, you can experience more exciting features that the regular SMS protocol or Apple messaging platform doesn’t provide, such as:
- Brand customization: Bring familiarity to your users with company logos, independent brand colors, and brand fonts.
- Verified status: The verified badge helps you to reassure customers they’re engaging with the official brand.
- Rich media: Send high-resolution images and rich cards to deliver a far more engaging experience that increases your conversion rates.
- CTA-like response buttons: Suggest specific actions and predefined replies via CTA buttons that make your messages more intuitive and interactive.
- Read receipts (double ticks): Allow customers to learn and optimize their messaging strategies via delivery and read receipts.
- A new channel for customer journey: Combine with other channels for a comprehensive communication strategy.
How can Insider help build a winning RCS messaging strategy?
RCS messaging is not your regular messaging channel, as the platform is new to the marketing environment and allows sending promotional messages. Marketers can easily deploy RCS messaging as an effective marketing missile for all kinds of transactional, bulk, and promotional messages.
Keeping this in mind, we have developed tailor-made use cases that marketers can deploy to use the platform as an effective user engagement channel.
- Convert cart abandoners using cart abandonment messages.
Businesses can leverage RCS messaging along with our Integration to send automated cart triggers to users, reminding them to come back to their cart and complete their shopping. You can either send them directly to the checkout page, or you can share message cards with a clear view of all the products in their cart.
2. RCS + SMS = A foolproof strategy for messaging (fall-back mechanism)
Google has been selectively and steadily rolling out RCS to its messaging app across the world. But this creates a hurdle for marketers who want to send messages to customers who belong to the country where RCS is not enabled or their operating system version does not have RCS enabled.
No worries, we’ve got you covered. With Insider’s Smart Delivery option, you can send messages to customers via standard SMS in case an RCS message doesn’t go through to a customer’s device.
Why RCS is the future of mobile messaging (promotional messages)
Messaging apps have emerged as a powerful marketing platform that can help companies achieve high engagement and increase conversion rates. If you’ve used messaging apps in your marketing strategy, then you already know how their policies restrict brands from sending promotional messages. But RCS allows marketers to leverage the simple, yet familiar opt-in of SMS to send their customers bulk, triggered, and promotional messages. This simplified opt-in process makes RCS the most versatile and effective channel for messaging and fostering customer engagement.
If you want to experience the power of RCS messaging, reach out to your account managers today or schedule a demo with us to see it live in action.
