Image for RCS: new trends
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2023 has been a busy year for Sinch, particularly for rich communications services (RCS) campaigns, named after the protocol that allows multimedia communications to be sent directly to the native Google Messages messaging app of recipients using Android devices.
And France stands out in particular, since more than 7 million RCS messages were sent by French brands over the course of last year, with a notable acceleration during the last quarter.
RCS, a growing channel in France
Various graphs showing the dynamism and growing adoption of RCS by brands in France
This growing adoption of RCS by French brands can obviously be explained firstly by the new functionalities offered by this new communication channel:
Increased security with end-to-end message encryption and mass sender verification.
The integration of multimedia content in the form of high definition images, videos, image carousels or products…
The ability to start group conversations.
Interconnectivity with other applications installed on the recipients' smartphone, thus allowing the direct opening of links in the browser, or of routes in the mapping/GPS application.
More detailed statistics on RCS campaign performance: read confirmations, read rates, click rates, etc.
And many other things!
Furthermore, as our colleagues at Sinch Mailjet showed in their report on email engagement , the French public is more inclined than the global average to receive communications from brands via SMS, MMS or RCS. Thus, to the question “On which channel do you agree to receive messages from brands?”, 34.4% of French respondents answered text messages.
With the global average for this response standing at 19.2%, this shows a certain maturity of the French public for mobile marketing communication. And this is even more true if these brand messages on mobile are attractive, interactive and offer similar features to OTT messaging applications, as RCS does.
RCS has been experiencing a phase of increased growth for the past poland number for whatsapp two years. If you haven’t started yet, it’s not too late. But if you want to stay ahead of your competitors, don’t delay. It’s a safe bet that within 2 years, this channel will be ubiquitous and widely adopted for marketing purposes. So to stand out, think about it now.
Furthermore, with the announcement late last year of RCS's upcoming compatibility with Apple's iOS devices (i.e. iPhones and iPads, offering a parallel solution to the iMessage app), virtually the entire national telephone fleet will be able to read and enjoy RCS messages.
Various data on the use of RCS by French brands in 2023
Due to its versatility, RCS also adapts to different communication strategies, regardless of your company's sector of activity. RCS messages have allowed our customers to:
Better manage their customer service and support , reducing friction rates;
Generate more visits and sales on their e-commerce sites during crucial periods;
Double the reading rates of their communications;
Double their conversion rates .
This versatility, which makes recipients feel more like they're communicating via an instant messaging service like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp than via a series of enhanced SMS messages (which would be a better fit for RCS if we had to describe it very crudely), improves engagement.
How Sinch can support you
RCS presents new opportunities for conversational marketing as well as mass conversation sending. If these benefits interest you, let's talk about it ! Our teams will be happy to help you set up a winning strategy for your business and your brand image. And if you want to deepen your knowledge of RCS, check out our guide dedicated to this subject.