After years of resistance, Apple will adopt the RCS (Rich Communication Services) standard on iOS later this year, a move that has been reported by multiple media outlets. This will improve messaging interoperability between iPhones and Android smartphones. For mobile marketers, this could become a compelling reason to shift from mature SMS messaging to richer messaging.

RCS is widely regarded as an enhanced version of SMS and has long been supported by Google (Android) as well as carriers such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. The standard allows for richer communication than the decades-old SMS, especially in media sharing capabilities. However, because Apple previously did not adopt the standard, RCS messages sent to iPhones would default to SMS format and appear as green bubbles rather than the blue bubbles of iMessage, a long-standing difference that has sparkeda persistent debate。

Apple's adoption of the standard may provide mobile marketers with more reasons to use RCS for business messaging (i.e., RBM) andleverage its advantages, such as appearing with verified sender identity, sending high-quality media, and longer, more interactive messages. Another difference between RCS and SMS is that it does not rely on cellular signal connections. According to Juniper Research, by 2025, the number of active globalRCS users is expected to reach 2.1 billion。

"Marketers will be able to leverage RCS's rich messaging features, such as images, videos, and action buttons that can be added to messaging campaigns, to make communications more visually appealing," said Molly Gatford, research analyst at Juniper Research, in an email comment. "This is expected to increase consumer engagement with marketing messages, making RCS more attractive to marketers."

Making the most of RCS

According to Juniper's findings, global carrier revenue from RCS business messaging traffic is expected to grow from $1.3 billion in 2023 to $8 billion in 2025, largely attributed to Apple's adoption of RCS. Among its many advantages, RCS marketing can help brands enhance value exchange by adding "magic moments," explained Vartika Verma, senior director of global marketing at conversational messaging platform Gupshup. For example, an airline sending messages to consumers via SMS might only send basic flight information (such as a booking number), but with RCS, it can also help consumers easily select seats or pre-plan in-flight meals.

"With RCS, more two-way interaction is now possible within the messaging window," Verma said. "SMS can indeed send short links, but it's not rich. When you see a picture of food, you feel hungry—now airlines can do that."

According to the executive, among clients using RCS marketing, some have seen engagement rates approximately 30-35% higher than messages sent via SMS. The standard may also hold value on other channels, such as email; one travel brand client of Gupshup observed a 2.7x increase in conversion rates and a 7% increase in open rates when using RCS business messaging compared to email, according to data shared by the company.

According to 9to5Mac, Apple has confirmed that its RCS adoption will be implemented through a software update later this year, but many details have yet to be announced. This adoption will bring several iMessage-like features to messaging between Android and iOS, such as read receipts and typing indicators, but Apple has stated that RCS messageswill still appear as green bubbles on iPhones。

Since Apple's announcement, many of Gupshup's clients have expressed a desire to learn more about RCS, Verma said, noting that cost-effectiveness may be one factor driving interest.

"The excitement and readiness are already there," Verma said.

AlthoughAndroid currently holds a larger share of the global mobile market, Apple smartphone users contribute significantly higher mobile value in some respects, which may make Apple's adoption of RCS more attractive to marketers. Specifically,iPhone users spend nine more hours per month using smartphone apps than Android users, and spend more on in-app purchases. However, iOS users are about 10% less likely to open push notifications than Android users.

The RCS standard has been in the making for over a decade, having been selected by the GSM Association (GSMA) in 2008 to replace SMS, which celebrated its 30th birthday in 2022. Google has been a major advocate of the standard—even offering backend services for carriers wishing to adopt it—by providing RCS through Google Messages (the default messaging app on Android), while alsopressuring Apple to adopt RCS through playful campaigns。

Despite the many benefits of RCS, Apple has refused to adopt it in the past, instead investing its efforts in iMessage and, in its announcement,emphasizing it as "the best, most secure messaging experience". In 2022, Apple CEO Tim Cook even suggested to someone asking about RCS that theybuy their mother an iPhone. Apple decided to adopt RCS in November, after facing pressure to designate iMessage as a"core" service。

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The RCS vs. SMS debateDespite Apple's adoption of RCS being expected to push the standard into the mainstream, SMS is still expected to remain dominant, according to Juniper Research,with SMS users projected to reach 9.3 billion in 2024. Some brands are also increasing their investment in SMS marketing, with more than half ofmarketers planning to increase spending on that channel last year

. Nevertheless, while SMS is not going away anytime soon, its one-way nature may be a reason for some marketers to reduce its use.

"SMS still wins on delivery, architecture, and global appeal," Verma said. "But I don't see it as a conversational channel; it's more of a communication channel... If you expect a reply on SMS, I think that era has passed."

Compared to SMS, RCS offers features that build consumer trust, such as verified sender badges, to help distinguish against fraudulent activity. As consumer privacy discussions intensify, end-to-end encryption has been a concern, but Apple has stated it will not use proprietary end-to-end encryption on RCS messages. According to 9to5Mac, Google's end-to-end encryption is implemented through Messages, not RCS itself.

As marketers navigate the trend of rising global SMS costs, RCS marketing could become a solid alternative, a trend expected to slow SMS traffic growth over the next five years, Gatford said. Due to higher costs, RCS traffic was expected to grow even without Apple's adoption, the executive added.

"SMS pricing has already become a significant issue for many businesses, so to ensure RCS's success as the preferred messaging channel, it must be deployed with attractive and reasonable pricing models," Gatford said in an email comment.

One challenge for brands integrating RCS into their strategy is that consumers can respond to messages via quick reply features, which requires marketers to be prepared to manage the volume and scale of replies and ensure consumers receive timely responses, Verma said. In such cases, using generative AI may help alleviate the pressure, she said.

"After all, it's also the same space where they interact with friends and family. So it's better to have some boundaries, some differentiation, and to have more empathy," Verma said.