Instant customer engagements, media support, and quick replies – SMS 2.0-based Rich Communication Messaging is all set to become the next-big-what in e-commerce marketing and customer engagement.
RCS Business Messaging offers businesses an opportunity to provide a richer experience for their customers than SMS ever could – from interactive content such as maps and contact information to video chat capabilities that let you connect in real-time with your customer service team.
So how promising is Rich Communication Messaging strictly for businesses to build conversational relationships with customers?
Let us explore!
RCS is All About Customer Experience
Every business relationship is based on the foundational value of mutual benefit. Customer pays monetary value to a business, and the business provides him/her with the goods and services equivalent to that value.
However, with the advent of online shopping, too many options, and fierce price competition, this banal relationship has skewed in favor of the consumer. Now, businesses need to offer their customer something more than just the value of the transaction itself – something more abstract yet critical. That ‘something’ is the Customer Experience.
Business Messaging that piggybacks on rich communication services gives all enterprises an edge vis-a-vis customer experience. RCS does this in 3 ways;
- The user experience can be improved by providing an enriched messaging environment with rich media, documents, and transactions.
- There’s also increased trust in your brand since all exchanges between customer and organization will occur on verified channels with no possibility of being hacked or leaked due to encryption features.
- Finally, there are better targeting capabilities with deep personalization through “native advertising” – enabling you to customize information based on what’s important not just at this moment but from past interactions too!
Do Customers Really Want a ‘Rich Communication Experience’?
72% of customers are more likely to make online purchases if they can interact with brands quickly. This is because, according to Google’s report that states the same percentage, there’s a significant difference between reading messages and emails on mobile devices.
Customers yield up to 35x higher engagement when using RCS messaging rather than an email link on their smartphone or tablet device!
Moreover, Rich Communication Services offer unparalleled advantages to the customers coupled with the simplicity of the SMS and topped-up with the power of rich media. Some of these advantages include;
Instant Opt-Ins & Actions
RCS messaging allows for quick replies and action templates for its users. As a result, customers can be more responsive to your business’s messages in real-time as the burden of ‘typing’ or ‘composing’ a message is cut off.
Brand Trust & Verified Business Identity
Every RCS text comes with your business name and logo, guaranteeing that customers know they’re reading a trustworthy message. When the communication goes off the internet (where links and domain names can verify sources), RCS builds the offline trust factor – a requisite to grow your business.
Rich Multi-Media Support
Rich Media inclusion and sharing them without an internet connection is perhaps the most unique feature for RBM.
The ability to include videos, emojis, and gifs in a message will make for a more expressive one. Additionally, intelligent chatbots can be integrated with RCS to allow for natural conversation and allow the brand to be helpful with every customer interaction.
Rich Communication is a Gateway to Customer Personalization
Rich Communication Messaging offers e-commerce businesses a way to deeply personalize their customer experience without the traditional user-obstacles of switching between different apps or even accessing their email.
For instance, you are an online airline ticket vending platform. As soon as a customer books a ticket, you want to send it to them via rich messaging. Then, on the day of their travel, you might like to send them their boarding pass instantly for e-check in. With multiple options for third-party integrations, you can easily send them their ticket and flight boarding pass with a QR code.
It is also possible to integrate it with a chatbot that will start dialogues. This could be when someone has questions, needs help, wants feedback on products and services- the possibilities are endless. RBM allows all of that – by just upgrading barebone text messaging to rich media messages.
RBM is more than just a set of the features mentioned above; it also provides Read receipts, Delivery receipts, and Intelligent customization features for the customer.
RCS Business Messaging is a flexible and universal platform that caters to industries like retail, tours and travels, hospitality, entertainment, healthcare, etc. It offers adaptability for each of these sectors so that the communication experience for the customer is both fulfilling and rewarding.
Closing Note
As the online competition for growth becomes cut-throat, it would only become crucial for enterprises to leverage instant conversational channels for customer communication. Rich Communication Messaging stands out as a promising prospect for this new customer engagement paradigm.
Are you ready to embrace this change for tremendous growth?
Stay tuned for more e-commerce marketing and automation tech trends, tips, hacks, and strategies.
Happy selling 🙂
