RCS vs SMS. Which is best for your use case?

Ever since the first text message was sent 30 years ago, SMS has been the dominant messaging channel. Considering that over 5.32 billion people own mobile phones globally, and every handset can send and receive SMS by default, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

With 16 million SMS messages sent every minute worldwide, and 60% of consumers reading texts within the first 5 minutes of receiving them, I’m sure you’d agree that replacing SMS with another messaging channel would be almost impossible.

There was speculation that the introduction of RCS would reverse this trend, but this has not happened – although there has been a definite shift in usage as businesses adapt their communication strategies to leverage the benefits of both channels.

In this blog we will explain the difference between SMS and RCS Business Messaging in terms of features, device support, and security. We’ll also cover some examples of companies who are effectively combining SMS and RCS to get the best from both channels.

RCS stands for Rich Communication Services. It is an IP-based messaging service provided to mobile phone users through their operator networks. It’s used for both Person-to-Person (P2P) and Application-to-Person (A2P) communication and is often described as “SMS 2.0“ or “SMS on steroids“.

In the context of A2P communication, it’s formally known as RCS Business Messaging (RBM), and can be used to deliver branded, 2-way and interactive mobile experiences for consumers.

Other features include multimedia message capability, suggested reply buttons, barcode delivery, click-through options, and carousel messages with multiple images. All this good stuff is included natively on consumers’ phones with no need to download an app, leading to a steady rise in RCS adoption.

Unlike SMS which is available on every type of mobile device, the main drawback of RCS is that it is only available on Android phones and depends on individual telecom operators’ connectivity and data services. On Android it can be used through Google Messages which usually comes preinstalled on phones, and Samsung’s messaging app also supports RCS on their latest devices.

When an RCS message cannot be delivered, SMS is usually configured as a fallback option to ensure that the message reaches the end-user.

Messages sent between end-users and businesses are encrypted in transit between RBM agents and Google servers, as well as between telecom operators and users’ devices. Messages received on users’ devices are encrypted using any device-wide encryption that users have configured, and Google utilizes on-device security models to protect message data. In summary, RCS messages are just as secure as SMS when all available security features are applied by operators.

According to a Mobilesquared report, as of June 2022 there are almost 3.6 billion active Android devices worldwide. Since Google rolled out RCS via its Google Messages app, powered by its Jibe Hub, its reach has grown rapidly by providing telecom operators with a simple connection to the global RCS network. Although overall growth has been significant over the past two years, some markets are stronger than others with the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Italy, India, and Japan all seeing a significant growth in users.

SMS is still a powerful channel that brands use extensively due to its reach and device support. Nonetheless, SMS has some limitations that RCS successfully compensates for with its rich feature set. Check out the comparison of the two channels:

With these capabilities, it’s easy to see why more and more brands are moving from SMS to RCS for messages that benefit from the additional features. This shift is supported by Mobilesquared data, which shows that there are 1.7 billion unique RCS users in June 2022, up 55.9% year-on-year, while SMS-only users are down 5% from June 2021 to June 2022.

Because of its many features and app-like experience, businesses can benefit in multiple ways by including RCS messages in their communication strategy. Let’s have a look at some of the options that RCS offers for creating visually appealing, attention grabbing messages that can result in more clicks and a higher conversion rate:

Now that we have considered all of the features that make RCS such an advanced channel, you may be thinking how you can use it to drive engagement for your own business.

We have a wealth of experience working with customers to get the best from both RCS and SMS and have helped lots of brands to evolve their use cases to achieve significant and measurable results.

The key is to define the right use case for each that will deliver desirable results and positive ROI. For promotional messages we have seen significant gains for businesses shifting from SMS to RCS Business Messaging. Just a couple of examples include:

A great example is Club Comex, the loyalty program of one of the largest paint manufacturers and distributors in Mexico. They are RCS pioneers, having used SMS messaging campaigns to deliver offers and information directly to their members over the years. Club Comex’s customers were more engaged with the rich interactive content they received via RBM. The campaigns included images, videos, and buttons, resulting in a ten-fold increase in click-through and a 115% increase in revenue over their previous SMS marketing campaigns.

The potential of RCS to engage the audience and bring more interactions in the customers’ communication is also recognized by the marketing platform companies that work with clients who are looking for new ways to reach their customers. Digitaleo collaborated with Infobip to run a Black Friday campaign in France for their customer Bodemor Auto, using RCS Business Messaging to showcase new deals. The outcome was 17 times more engagement with the RCS campaign than SMS.

There is no RCS without a network connection. Aside from that, telecom operators account for a massive chunk of channel adoption. They should lead by example to show other businesses the benefits of incorporating RCS in their communication efforts. Also it is a good opportunity for them to recover revenue lost to ‘other’ OTTs once RCS is popularized. One of the ways to drive the adoption is to use the channel for campaigns aligned with their marketing strategy.

Recently we surveyed 3,000 telecom users worldwide to get insights into their expectations and satisfaction with the service they receive from their operators. The findings are presented in our eBook, but for the purposes of this article we’ll highlight a particularly interesting finding.

When it comes to receiving promotional messaging, Email is still popular among customers of all age groups, and is followed by SMS. Social media is increasing in popularity among the 18-29 and 30-39 age groups with 27% and 26% asking for it respectively. That increase opens up space to take SMS to the next level with other channels that offer richer communication experiences. RCS Business messaging is definitely one that can be a core component of future B2C communication strategies.

One of the telecoms that is well aware of their customers’ preferences is Telekom Deutschland, a world-leading integrated telecommunication company, who knew they needed a more advanced digital channel than SMS to promote a Spotify Premium offer to their subscribers. They sent two RCS campaigns to their customer base and compared to SMS, it performed 2x better – leading to customers engaging with the chatbot and subscribing to Spotify. They measured the campaign’s success in two ways: it increased the conversation rate, which they couldn’t achieve with cross-sell and up-sell SMS campaigns, and it demonstrated all of the channel’s rich capabilities.

No crystal ball can predict the future of RCS, but according to the latest market reports, RCS market size is projected to grow from USD 5.2 billion in 2020 to USD 11.7 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 17.6% during the same period. This projection is very encouraging and signals that RCS will shine even brighter in the future, owing to the fantastic results we see our customers achieve by combining RCS and SMS.

One of the most common reasons that businesses choose RCS is that it allows them to expand their SMS use case with rich interactive messaging through the same interface. That doesn’t mean that it can replace SMS but rather that it can cover additional use cases where traditional channels fall short, while they also serve as a backup option to ensure that messages are delivered.

Don’t wait any longer, contact us and we’ll work together to incorporate RCS into your communication strategy and drive demonstrable business results.