Emerging Trends and the Future of Rich Business Messaging

Introduction

Remember when texting meant sending a few plain words on a tiny screen—and maybe splurging on a smiley face if your carrier allowed it? Today, messaging has evolved into a rich, interactive channel where businesses can showcase products, guide customers, and even process payments—all without leaving the conversation.

Over the past decade, business messaging has been shaped by trends in consumer expectations and mobile innovation. Customers now expect interactive experiences—images, carousels, quick-reply buttons, and payment options—delivered seamlessly across devices. Rich Communication Services (RCS) has emerged as a key driver of this evolution, transforming messaging from a simple utility into a fully immersive, multimedia-rich branded experience.

The Evolution of Rich Content in Business Messaging

These trends in rich content set the stage for how leading tech players are shaping the future of business messaging, creating a competitive landscape where Meta, Google, and Apple each bring distinct approaches to redefining how businesses connect with their audiences. 

These tech giants have carved out clear paths in advancing rich business messaging, setting the tone for how brands and customers interact today. Let’s take a look at how these brands are leading the charge in bringing these rich messaging trends to life.

How Meta has Led the Way in the West with WhatsApp

Meta has been a driving force in shaping the evolution of rich business messaging through WhatsApp, which now connects more than 3 billion monthly active users worldwide. By introducing features like images, quick-reply buttons, carousels, and embedded links, WhatsApp demonstrated how messaging could move far beyond text to create interactive, branded experiences. 

These capabilities not only elevated customer engagement but also set a new standard for conversational flows—allowing businesses to guide users through product discovery, support, and transactions seamlessly within the app. Just as importantly, WhatsApp established trust around secure and verified communication, reinforcing that rich content in messaging can be both dynamic and safe. In doing so, Meta redefined customer expectations for what “modern messaging” looks like and influenced the direction of the broader business messaging ecosystem.

Google’s Advancements in RCS and Business Messaging

Google has been central to scaling the adoption of rich business messaging through its push for RCS for Business (recently rebranded and formerly known as RCS Business Messaging). By providing branded messaging and embedding features like rich cards, suggested replies, carousels, and even integrated payments, Google transformed the default SMS inbox into an interactive space for trust and brand engagement. These kinds of dynamic, interactive features were once only available through email—another powerful channel that Twilio also supports. Learn more about the Twilio Sendgrid Email API.

While these advanced capabilities have been available in parts of the world through Android since 2018, Apple began adopting the RCS standard in 2024. By late 2025, over 3.7 billion devices worldwide are projected to be RCS-enabled, including those using Google’s RCS for Business platform. This surge in adoption is fueled by expanding mobile carrier support, greater device compatibility, and the progressive rollout by carriers to Apple devices, although Android still represents most of the user base. According to Juniper research, RCS business messaging traffic is expected to surpass 50 billion messages globally in 2025, highlighting the rapid pace of enterprise and consumer uptake. As a result, rich messaging capabilities are rapidly becoming the norm, with enterprises embracing RCS to deliver trusted, interactive, engaging experiences that consumers now expect from modern business communications.

These upgrades have transformed the humble text message into a channel where customers can browse products, book services, and receive personalized support—all without leaving the conversation. Google’s commitment to openness and interoperability brought RCS to carriers and Android devices worldwide, making advanced messaging accessible at scale. Now, with Apple also supporting RCS, these rich features—including interactive elements, carousels, and seamless business interactions—are available to iPhone users as well, bridging the gap between platforms and raising the standard for what customers expect in mobile business communication. As a result, brands can offer consistent, engaging experiences across both major ecosystems, and enterprises embracing RCS are setting a new bar for customer engagement.

Learn more about RCS and how it’s transforming business messaging with Twilio’s blogs: What is RCS Messaging for a deep dive, and 6 Things to Know About RCS Business Messaging for the key takeaways every business should know.

Rich Content Types Offered by RCS

RCS brings a toolkit of features that turn simple messages into full-fledged trusted experiences. Each type of rich content offers unique ways to capture attention, guide action, and create memorable interactions. From logos and branding to visuals that tell a story, interactive carousels, and tools that make taking action effortless, these capabilities show how messaging can do so much more than ever before.

The ecosystem powering this experience is growing fast. Apple’s support of RCS in the Messages app marked a major step toward universal adoption, while WhatsApp continues to set the standard for rich, interactive customer experiences across devices. At the same time, Google is rapidly expanding business-to-consumer RCS capabilities across new countries—seemingly every month—and Twilio is partnering closely with both Google and Apple to help shape this pivotal moment in the future of messaging.

At Twilio, we make it easy for businesses to harness the latest in rich messaging. With Twilio’s Content Template Builder, you can design interactive, media-rich content—such as cards, buttons, carousels, webviews, and quick replies—once and deploy it across channels. These templates are omnichannel by design, not limited to RCS, and include automatic fallback to SMS, MMS, or WhatsApp, ensuring your message always reaches customers in the best possible format.

Branded Text Messages

Branded messaging from RCS allows a business to attach its name, brand logo, tagline, and a verified badge to every text it sends, which means customers instantly recognize and can verify who’s reaching out. In short, RCS delivers trust which increases engagement.

Visuals

Visuals don’t just capture attention—they create lasting engagement. With RCS messaging, you can take familiar media like images, GIFs, and videos and elevate them into dynamic cards that transform how brands interact with customers. These cards aren’t just static visuals—they come with interactive buttons that can drive instant actions like “Shop Now,” “Track Order,” or “Get Directions,” making them ideal for promotions, service updates, and customer support. Add in webviews, and you unlock the ability for customers to browse a catalog, fill out a form, or even make a purchase—all without leaving the conversation.

Carousels

Scrollable carousels allow multiple items or pieces of information to be presented in a single, organized view. This keeps conversations concise and visually appealing, unlike long lists or multiple messages. Customers can explore options without leaving the chat, reducing friction and encouraging deeper engagement with offerings.

Buttons, Suggested Actions & CTAs

Tappable buttons and quick replies transform messaging into a guided, interactive experience. Instead of typing or leaving the conversation, customers can instantly book, buy, or sign up with a single tap. These intuitive prompts keep momentum high, reduce friction, and turn messages into conversion-ready touchpoints that drive engagement and measurable results.

Location & Calendar Integration

Integrations with location and calendar tools make interactions more convenient and actionable. Customers can view directions, track deliveries, or add events to their calendars with a single tap, reducing errors and missed opportunities. This seamless functionality positions messaging as a proactive tool rather than just a notification channel.

Messaging Benefits

RCS transforms messaging into a truly interactive and engaging channel. By combining text, visuals, carousels, buttons, and app integrations, businesses can communicate more clearly, guide customer actions seamlessly, and drive conversions—all within the messaging app customers already rely on. These features elevate messaging beyond traditional SMS, delivering the dynamic, modern experiences that today’s customers expect.

Why & How Rich Messaging Channels are Superior to SMS

Rich messaging channels outperform traditional SMS by offering interactivity, visuals, and seamless user experiences, as highlighted above. They increase engagement by making messages more dynamic and memorable, reduce friction with one-tap actions, build trust through recognizable, branded experiences, and enable personalization that adapts to context and user behavior.

It’s important to remember that while RCS offers significant advantages, the “right” messaging channel can differ widely depending on geography. Device adoption, carrier support, and cultural preferences all influence which channels resonate most with consumers in a given region. For example, while RCS penetration is growing in the U.S., U.K., and parts of Latin America, other markets in Europe, Asia, or Latin America may still rely heavily on SMS, WhatsApp, or other messaging apps. Understanding these regional differences is key to delivering timely, relevant, and engaging communications.

Platforms like Twilio’s multi-channel solution empower businesses to navigate this complexity with flexibility. By leveraging data to segment audiences by geography, device type, and user behavior, businesses can choose the channel best suited to each audience segment and adjust their approach as adoption patterns shift. This ensures that messaging campaigns are both globally aware and locally effective, enabling brands to reach customers on the platforms they prefer, wherever they are.

How Rich Messaging Helps Across Business Use Cases

Rich messaging channels like RCS do more than just deliver information—they transform how businesses engage with customers across the entire journey. From notifications and marketing campaigns to sales, customer support, and conversational commerce, these interactive channels make messages actionable, visually engaging, and easy to navigate. By combining branding, visuals, quick actions, and context-aware personalization, businesses can reduce friction, drive conversions, and deliver experiences that feel seamless and intuitive, no matter the use case.

Notifications

Rich messaging transforms routine notifications into interactive touchpoints that keep customers informed and empowered. Delivery updates, appointment reminders, and order confirmations can now include branding, clickable links, actionable buttons, or even embedded tracking information. These interactive notifications reduce confusion, allow users to take immediate actions—like rescheduling an appointment or tracking a package—and improve overall satisfaction by making every update more useful and engaging.

Marketing & Promotional

Promotional campaigns come to life with rich messaging. Product launches, flash sales, and loyalty offers can leverage branding, carousels, images, and interactive buttons to showcase multiple products or offers in a single, visually appealing message. By turning campaigns into trusted, engaging experiences rather than static alerts, businesses can drive higher click-through rates, measurable conversions, and stronger brand recall while giving customers a more interactive way to explore and act on promotions.

Sales

Rich messaging enables a seamless path from discovery to purchase. Businesses can send product recommendations with rich media, checkout links, or limited-time offers directly in the conversation, using suggested actions and CTAs to reduce friction. This direct approach streamlines the buying process, allowing customers to act instantly without switching apps or navigating multiple steps, ultimately driving conversions and creating a smoother, more satisfying shopping experience.

Customer Support

Customer support becomes faster and more efficient with interactive messaging. Whether addressing troubleshooting questions, handling returns, or providing FAQs, businesses can guide customers through solutions directly within the conversation. By enabling self-service options, reducing back-and-forth exchanges, and providing clear next steps, interactive messages improve resolution times and enhance the overall support experience.

Conversational Commerce

Two-way, interactive messaging combines customer support, product guidance, and sales into a seamless experience. Customers can book appointments, select products, or customize services through structured messaging options, completing transactions naturally within the conversation. These interactions allow businesses to answer questions, provide recommendations, and facilitate purchases in real time, creating a journey that feels personal, intuitive, and frictionless.

Bringing It All Together

Across notifications, marketing, sales, customer support, and conversational commerce, rich messaging channels like RCS turn every interaction into an opportunity to engage, guide, and convert. By combining interactivity, visuals, and actionable prompts, businesses can reduce friction, improve customer satisfaction, and drive measurable results—delivering a seamless, personalized experience at every stage of the customer journey. 

Choosing the Right Channel for the Right Audience

Not every messaging channel works for every customer—or every use case. The effectiveness of a message depends on who is receiving it, where they are, and what action you want them to take. For example, RCS delivers rich, interactive experiences in numerous regions around the world, while other regions may rely more heavily on WhatsApp, SMS, or push notifications due to device adoption and local preferences.

Because the messaging ecosystem is constantly evolving—channels rise and fall in popularity, features emerge, and audience behaviors shift—businesses need a strategy that can adapt. Twilio’s multi-channel platform future-proofs customer engagement by allowing brands to orchestrate campaigns across SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, email, push notifications, and more. This ensures that every customer receives the right message on the right channel at the right time, while marketers maintain consistent, personalized experiences regardless of how the landscape changes.

Future-proofing Messaging with Multi-channel Orchestration

The world of messaging moves fast—channels gain popularity, features evolve, and regional adoption can vary widely. RCS stands out as the first rich channel with broad coverage, letting businesses send interactive, engaging messages at scale. But no single channel can cover every audience or scenario.

Smart Messaging for a Changing Landscape

Multi-channel orchestration is about more than just sending messages on multiple platforms—it’s about coordinating them strategically to create a seamless, personalized customer journey. By managing campaigns across SMS, RCS, WhatsApp, push notifications, and beyond, businesses can:

Ensure each customer receives the right message on the right channel at the right time
A retail brand sends a delivery update via RCS while customers who cannot receive RCS receive an SMS or WhatsApp message through Twilio’s automatic fallback functionality—so every customer gets the message in the format that works best for them.

Adapt quickly as channels evolve or audience preferences shift
A restaurant chain notices more customers engaging with WhatsApp than email for reservations, so it quickly shifts promotional campaigns and booking confirmations to WhatsApp to meet customers where they are.

Deliver consistent branding, tone, and personalization across every touchpoint
A travel company ensures that its loyalty offers carry the same visual design, brand voice, and personalized travel recommendations whether they’re sent via RCS, email, or app push notification.

Reduce reliance on any single channel, making messaging strategies more resilient and future-proof
A financial services provider uses messaging and email for account alerts when their customers have opted-in to both channels. If a carrier or email service provider experiences downtime, customers still receive timely notifications, keeping communications uninterrupted.

Channels rise and fall in popularity. Twilio ensures your messaging is adaptable, consistent, and future-proof.

RCS and the Path Forward

Business messaging has come a long way, and Meta and Google are leading the charge by delivering rich, interactive experiences at scale. The “right channel” always depends on audience and geography, making multi-channel orchestration essential to stay adaptive and future-ready. With Twilio, businesses can deliver consistent, personalized experiences across every channel—turning every message into an opportunity to engage, guide, and convert.