First major RCS campaigns with response rates up 25%.

Conversational messaging experiences have become an essential part of differentiating the customer experience (CX) a brand delivers to its customers. As tech giants scramble to create their own branded messaging apps to win the attention of 4.3 billion smartphone users, and with so many messaging apps on offer, what’s needed is a more ubiquitous messaging channel for delivering two-way conversational messaging experiences. That's where RCS comes in, and Vodafone was one of first UK network providers to leverage this channel

While the mobile operator was experienced in using SMS and MMS for marketing and CRM communications, they saw the potential of RCS as a way to deliver a more innovative messaging experience.

Treating customers on the bank holiday

For the company’s first RCS campaign, Vodafone wanted to take advantage of the Spring bank holiday. By timing the campaign around the holiday, it meant that the message could provide a relevant and thoughtful interaction at the exact point when customers were winding down for the weekend – and more likely to check their phones.

• If the recipient responded ‘yes’ to the offer, they were presented with a three-card carousel containing seasonal offers from the network’s commercial partners. Each carousel card was customised with a specific image and text, with a CTA of ‘Redeem Now’. If the customer responded ‘no’, they received a link to personalised rewards and the opportunity to opt-out of future messaging.

• To monitor the campaign’s success – and to ensure those without RCS enabled devices still received the offers – Vodafone also ran the campaign across SMS and MMS channels.

Father’s Day

Taking advantage of a seasonal event, Father’s Day, users were sent a message asking if they still needed to sort out a Father’s Day gift and if so, the VeryMe Rewards program was there to help.

• Users could choose how they would describe the person they are looking to treat using 4 different buttons.

• From what they selected, a relevant offer would be presented back to them. For example, picking the ‘proper chocoholic’ option would enable the user to redeem a gift from Hotel Chocolat.

Are you 5G-ready?

Aim of this campaign was to promote Vodafone’s new 5G-ready unlimited network plans.

• After responding ‘Tell me more’ to an initial message asking ‘if they are ready for 5G?’, the user could select to upgrade to a 5G plan, which would direct them to the subsequent plan on a Vodafone page.

• Users could also select to enter the VeryMe Rewards competition, browsing through different options contained in an interactive carousel - all of which sat within the native message.