How RCS marketing differs from SMS and email marketing
| SMS marketing | Email marketing | RCS marketing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sender | A number, often a short code | A from-address and display name, trusted only as far as the domain's reputation | Your verified brand: name, logo, checkmark |
| Format | 160-character text, one link | Any length, HTML layout, attachments | Rich text (billed per 160-byte segment in the US), images, rich cards, carousels of up to 10 cards |
| Interaction | Reply with a keyword | Click a link, or reply into a mailbox | Suggested replies and actions: tap to buy, book, call, open a map |
| Measurement | Delivered, and whatever the link tells you | Opens and clicks, hours to days after the send | Delivered, read, and every tap, per message |
| Consent | Express written consent under TCPA | A working unsubscribe under CAN-SPAM; prior consent is best practice rather than the law | The same consent as SMS, plus a promotional agent and campaign registration |
| Reach | Every phone | Any email address, through spam filters and a promotions tab | Over 80% of US smartphones, with SMS fallback for the rest |
| Cost | Per message | A platform subscription priced by list size | $0.0039 per RCS text segment, $0.0150 per card or media message, on SimplyRCS |
The practical difference is the first row. A promotion from an anonymous number competes with the smishing sitting next to it in the inbox; the same promotion from a verified sender is opened because the recipient can see who is asking. Email has the opposite problem: the sender can be anyone with a domain, and the message lands in a promotions tab beside hundreds of others, to be read hours later if at all. Email keeps the jobs RCS is not built for, long-form content, attachments and a searchable record, so most brands run the two side by side. RCS vs SMS and RCS vs email go further.
What you can send
Four formats do almost all the work. A rich card pairs an image with a headline, a line of copy and up to four buttons. A carousel is two to ten cards the customer swipes through, which is how a product launch or a menu gets shown rather than described. Suggested replies let the customer answer with a tap, and suggested actions open a URL, dial a number, share a location or add a calendar event. Worked examples by format and by industry are in RCS messaging examples.
Consent, registration and the promotional use case
RCS marketing is subject to the same rules as SMS marketing, and one more. Consent must be express and documented (how RCS consent works), every message needs a way to opt out, and quiet hours apply (is RCS regulated). The extra step is that promotional traffic is sent from a promotional or multi-use RBM agent with a matching 10DLC campaign on the SMS fallback, separate from the agent that sends your order updates and passcodes, so a marketing opt-out never silences a transactional message. SimplyRCS files the agent and the campaign for you.
Campaign types that work
The ones that pay back first are the ones where the customer has already shown intent. Six cover most programmes:
- Welcome series. The first messages after opt-in, from the verified sender the customer just agreed to hear from, with a suggested reply that sets their preferences. See acquisition.
- Abandoned cart recovery. A rich card with the product photo, the price and a checkout button, sent while the intent is still warm. See abandoned cart.
- Loyalty and rewards. The points balance or the reward itself in the card, one tap from redemption, instead of a link to a portal. See loyalty and rewards.
- Product launch. A carousel of two to ten cards, one per product or variant, each with its own buy button, so the range is shown rather than described.
- Seasonal and flash promotions. A time-boxed offer with the expiry in the copy and the action on the button, which is where a verified sender and a read receipt earn the most over an anonymous SMS link.
- Re-engagement. A reason to come back for customers who have gone quiet, sent from the promotional agent so an opt-out here never touches their transactional messages.
Order and delivery updates are transactional rather than marketing, and worth keeping on the transactional agent.
Measuring it
Steer on four numbers: the share of sends delivered as RCS rather than fallback, the read rate, the tap rate per suggestion, and the conversion attributed to the thread. Compare channels at the tap and conversion layer, not the open layer; an RCS read receipt and an email open are different measurements. Click-through on RCS is commonly cited at 15 to 30% (The State of RCS 2026), against low single digits for SMS links, and what is the ROI of RCS shows how to turn that into cost per outcome.
What it costs
On SimplyRCS a promotional RCS text is $0.0039 per segment and a card, a carousel or a message carrying an image or video is $0.0150, with carrier fees passed through at cost and no monthly platform or agent fee; the software, including the campaign builder and inbox, is free, and RCS Sender ID setup and review is a one-time $250 support service, waived with Premium Support. Market rates and what the headline rate leaves out are in how much RCS costs.
How to start
See RCS on your own phone first with the live demo, then let verification run while you build the first campaign in the Blasts builder. Marketing teams launch without a developer; the migration guide covers moving an existing SMS programme across without losing numbers or consent. If you already run an SMS marketing platform, the best SMS marketing platforms that support RCS shows which of them have actually shipped it. Before the first send, RCS marketing best practices sets out ten rules for campaigns that convert.
- RCS marketing is promotional messaging from a verified brand sender with rich cards, carousels and tappable actions, and SMS fallback.
- The same TCPA consent rules as SMS apply, plus a promotional agent and campaign kept separate from transactional traffic.
- Click-through is commonly cited at 15 to 30% on RCS; measure at the tap and conversion layer.
- On SimplyRCS a promotional text costs $0.0039 a segment and a card or media message $0.0150, with the builder and inbox included.