What Are RCS Best Practices for First Campaigns?

RCS First Campaign Best Practices

Your first RCS campaign sets the tone for everything that follows. Here's how to do it right.

Choose the Right First Campaign

Best first campaigns:

1. Cart abandonment (high ROI, easy to measure)
2. Appointment reminders (clear use case, proven engagement)
3. Order confirmations (transactional, expected by customers)
4. Shipping notifications (useful, high engagement)

Avoid as first campaigns:

• Complex promotional campaigns (too many variables)
• Multi-step conversational flows (hard to optimize first)
• Re-engagement campaigns (need baseline data first)

Target Engaged Customers First

Start with your best audience:

• Customers who've purchased in last 90 days
• Customers with high email engagement
• Customers who opted in for SMS
• Geographic markets with high RCS coverage

Why: Higher engagement = better data = better learnings

Expand gradually:

• Week 1-2: Engaged customers (10-20% of audience)
• Week 3-4: Add moderately engaged (30-40% of audience)
• Week 5+: Expand to full audience if metrics are good

Design Simple, Clear Templates

First campaign template should have:

• Clear sender identification (your brand)
• Compelling subject line or first message
• One primary call-to-action
• Simple rich media (1 image or 1 button)
• Clear value proposition

Example first template:

[Your Brand Logo]

Hi [Name], you left items in your cart!

[Image of cart items]

[Shop Now Button]

Avoid in first campaign:

• Complex carousels (5+ cards)
• Multiple CTAs (creates decision paralysis)
• Long-form content
• Experimental designs

Set Clear Success Metrics

Track these from day 1:

• Delivery rate (target: 95%+)
• Open rate (target: 50%+)
• Click-through rate (target: 8%+)
• Conversion rate (baseline measurement)
• Opt-out rate (target: <5%)

Document baseline:

• Compare to current SMS performance
• Compare to email performance
• Establish ROI baseline for future comparison

Monitor Closely for First 2 Weeks

Daily checks (first week):

• Delivery rate (any issues?)
• Opt-out rate (any complaints?)
• Customer feedback (check support tickets)
• Technical issues (any rendering problems?)

Weekly reviews:

• Performance vs. baseline
• Comparison vs. SMS/email
• Optimization opportunities
• Lessons learned

Common First Campaign Mistakes

Mistake 1: Trying to migrate everything at once

• Solution: Start with one campaign, perfect it, then expand

Mistake 2: Over-complicated templates

• Solution: Start simple, add complexity as you learn

Mistake 3: Not monitoring closely enough

• Solution: Daily checks for first 2 weeks minimum

Mistake 4: Targeting too broadly too soon

• Solution: Start with engaged customers, expand gradually

Mistake 5: Not optimizing based on data

• Solution: A/B test, iterate, improve continuously

Optimization Roadmap

Week 1: Launch, monitor delivery and basic engagement Week 2: Optimize subject lines and CTAs based on data Week 3: A/B test rich media variations Week 4: Refine targeting based on what worked Week 5+: Expand to broader audience if metrics support it

Building Internal Confidence

First campaign success builds momentum:

• Show early wins to leadership
• Document lessons learned
• Build internal case for expansion
• Train team on what worked

Communication:

• Weekly updates to stakeholders
• Share early results (positive and negative)
• Be honest about challenges
• Celebrate wins publicly

Scaling After First Success

Once first campaign is working:

1. Document the playbook (what worked)
2. Identify next high-impact campaign
3. Apply learnings to next campaign
4. Expand gradually to more use cases
5. Build toward RCS as primary channel

Typical expansion timeline:

• Month 1: First campaign (cart recovery or appointments)
• Month 2-3: Add 1-2 more campaigns
• Month 4-6: Migrate most SMS campaigns
• Month 6+: RCS as primary channel

The Bottom Line

Your first RCS campaign should be simple, targeted at engaged customers, and closely monitored. Start with one high-impact use case, optimize based on data, then expand gradually.

Success with the first campaign builds momentum and internal support for broader RCS adoption.