If you’re in the automotive industry, you're looking to grab the attention of a diverse audience: from new leads to your most loyal owners, as well as those who are just on the edge of making the switch to your brand.
But with overflowing email inboxes and too many apps to keep track of, it’s easy for your promotions and dealership initiatives to get lost in the noise. That’s where RCS messaging comes in.
With results showing over 3x engagement and a 30% higher conversion vs. SMS, RCS creates an elevated, conversational experience that naturally leads to increased conversions and revenue, and Vibes’ RCS Studio tool can get you launched and sending RCS messages in a matter of minutes. Seriously - minutes.
What is RCS Messaging for Automotive?
RCS (Rich Communication Services) is the next evolution of SMS, delivered natively in the mobile phone’s default messaging app. For example, with RCS, owners interested in scheduling certain services could achieve this all through the message chain instead of having to download an app. RCS innovations include, but are not limited to:
- Time-saving actions, such as location sharing and maps
- Deeper engagement tracking, including messages delivered, reactions and clicks
- Verified branding via a built-in contact card with dealer name, logo and brand colors
- Interactive buttons for one-tap actions to book a service, confirm an appointment, browse inventory, etc.
- Beautifully rich images and videos
Why RCS is a Strong Fit for Automotive and Dealership Messaging
With the need for both promotional and service-oriented messaging, RCS messaging delivers on its promise of being a seamless customer experience channel. It combines the reach of text messaging with the rich, interactive experiences customers expect from modern apps - no downloads, no logins, no friction.
The two-way, conversational nature of RCS messaging not only helps connect digital engagement to on-site visits, but it also helps prevent a negative on-site experience - especially since one-way or pushy sales conversations tops the list of on-site frustrations for consumers at dealerships. Other reasons RCS is a strong fit include:
- Improved documentation. RCS enables easy, two-way conversations, meaning what used to be a verbal approval over a counter can now all occur within a digital, written conversation, reducing frustration over service work.
- Improved issue resolution. With RCS, quick questions can be answered almost instantly instead of waiting on hold to speak with a live person.
- Personalized experiences the customer wants. RCS helps dealerships build connections with their customers early on in the journey, but in a way that the customer feels in control of the experience.
Benefits of RCS Over SMS, Email, and Dealership Apps
RCS turns messaging into a true customer experience channel - let’s compare how.
RCS vs. SMS for automotive messaging
There are a number of key features only offered by RCS, including:
- “Verified sender” branding that builds trust and reputation
- Suggested action buttons users can engage with in just one tap (e.g. Dial a Number, View Location, Create Calendar Event, etc.)
- Rich cards that can provide images, videos and more detailed information, and carousels of up to 10 rich cards that users can scroll through
- Read receipts including timestamps
RCS vs. email for time-sensitive dealership interactions
Email click-through rates for dealerships have dipped to a dismal 2%, which means your email messages have a much lower chance of getting through to your customers. Other risks associated with email that RCS alleviates:
- Email is a high-risk channel for spam filtering, effectively reducing your deliverability rates.
- Crowded email inboxes make it more difficult to build engagement in a timely manner. And for the emails that do get opened, the average email response time is about 12 hours.
- eMarketer reports that consumers name email as the most overwhelming marketing channel, which is not exactly the right sentiment when action may be needed.
RCS vs. apps for convenience and reach
There are a few key benefits RCS has over mobile apps.
- RCS requires no additional download to use. Only your most loyal and engaged customers are the ones taking the steps to download your app. RCS, on the other hand, is not only available on all Android devices and all iPhone X models and above with iOS 18 or above, but it’s also enabled by default because it comes through the native messaging app.
- No development time required to launch RCS. Unlike a mobile app that needs to be built out or integrated via an SDK, RCS being built directly in the native messaging app means no development work is needed to start using RCS as a messaging channel.
- RCS provides a frictionless customer experience. While apps have push messaging, that’s just a means of getting users into your app to then interact with you further. RCS offers both the messaging and interactivity that your customers expect from a mobile app today - allowing them to respond to manage their service appointments, scroll through inventory, click to take the next step in their buying or leasing journey, and more.
How Dealerships Can Use RCS Across the Customer Lifecycle
Here are several use cases primed for RCS (and why this should excite you if you’re in the automotive industry).
New model launches and promotional campaigns.
Just imagine the ability to send your customers a carousel of images of new models and trims, along with deals personalized for loyal customers that they can scroll through. Plus, pairing each carousel with single-tap “Shop Inventory” buttons makes it easier for customers to know what’s available before they come to your dealership.
Lead nurture and vehicle consideration.
Build and maintain a steady connection during the sales cycle with RCS tactics such as:
- A carousel of featured vehicle images the customer can scroll/swipe through.
- Payment estimator links that can open within the messaging conversation, allowing the customer to engage with the tool without being redirected to a separate browser.
- The ability for the customer to schedule a test drive with a single-tap “Schedule Test Drive” action button.
Service reminders and maintenance offers.
Question about a vehicle warranty? Need help with managing an existing service appointment? RCS makes all of this not only possible for your customers, but also helps to solve issues faster within the RCS chat — especially because there’s less toggling between a messaging app, a web browser, and a mobile app.
The interactive features, like read receipts and typing indicators, also aid in providing a superior customer service experience because your customers are seeing when you are writing a message back to them, recognizing that you are actively working to help them.
Post-purchase service and ownership engagement.
RCS has several key features it offers that elevate the post-purchase and owner experience - some that are built right into the solution (i.e., no custom tech integration work required):
- “View location”, which is natively integrated with the phone’s maps application, makes it easy for your customers to get directions to your dealership or the closest dealership to them.
- “Dial a number” is also built in, and a helpful option if a customer has a question that they simply want to speak to a human about. RCS ensures they have a direct line of communication to you when they need it.
- Another built-in feature, “Add to Calendar,” makes it easy for customers to add an upcoming appointment to their calendar. It’s also a good action to consider if you’re having a grand opening of a new location or an on-site event.
- Map links and check-in buttons make the online-to-on-site experience seamless, mimicking an experience users have with a mobile app without the additional download.
Loyalty, rewards, and repeat visits.
RCS makes staying connected beyond the sale easier than ever before, especially when the messages can be personalized to each individual. RCS offers a more streamlined communication experience on topics like:
- Maintenance reminders inclusive of visuals
- Recall or warranty notifications
- Loyalty offers with tap-to-redeem buttons
- Trade-in or upgrade prompts
What Automotive Teams Need Before Launching RCS
There are a few elements to consider as you prepare to launch RCS messaging.
Determine your messaging aggregator.
RCS messaging requires working with a messaging aggregator, and like any industry, not all aggregators are created equal.
Tier 1 aggregators like Vibes have direct carrier connections that give brands unmediated access to faster RCS agent registration and quicker, compliant campaign approvals, which is how we launched more RCS agents in Q4 2025 than any other direct connect aggregator.
Have an SMS fallback strategy.
While RCS is close, it’s not a universal channel in the US yet. That’s why it’s important to think about the experience for non-RCS-enabled customers and work with a messaging platform that enables logic between RCS-enabled and non-RCS-enabled devices - allowing you to set up a fallback message that the non-enabled devices can accept.
Submit your RCS agent request to get your brand verified.
RCS is run through a separate agent that uses the RCS protocol to send and receive messages on your behalf and becomes the face of your brand’s verified messaging profile. Here’s a high-level overview of the steps you’d take to complete this process:
- Submit your agent request by providing some key brand and program details via an RCS agent registration form.
- Once submitted successfully, your agent gets created in the Google Business Messaging ecosystem.
- Get your brand verified with the third-party verification platform, Aegis, to validate the brand you submitted belongs to the proper owner.
- Once verified, your agent is submitted to the wireless carriers for approval to launch in market.
Determine your various use cases.
From two-factor authentication requests to highly sophisticated rich media messages, RCS offers a centralized hub to meet a wide variety of customer needs.
Not sure where to start? Consider this level-step approach that keeps things simple and ramps up customer adoption with ease.
- Level 1: upgrade your SMS program to - or start with - RCS to receive access to a verified branded agent.
- Level 2: use more RCS features to improve customer engagement vs. SMS/MMS.
- Level 3: convert your web and app flows to true conversational RCS and enable frictionless car shopping through to long-lasting customer loyalty, with no app required.
Send your First RCS Message in Less Than 5 Minutes with Vibes RCS Studio™
Launch speed is crucial for the automotive industry because it directly impacts your competitive advantage, ability to meet growing consumer demands, and ultimately your profitability.
But when it comes to launching new innovations, often that comes with lengthy timelines and cumbersome processes. RCS is no different in that setting it up for your business can be complex - but Vibes fixed that with RCS Studio™. How?
Launching RCS messaging usually means working with multiple vendors, waiting on carrier provisioning timelines, and navigating compliance requirements over the span of several months. RCS Studio™ removes these common launch barriers by offering an automated, streamlined provisioning process - all in one simple, secure interface.
With RCS Studio™ creating an RCS agent and sending test messages takes 5 minutes or less, and launching RCS messages live in market takes a few weeks, not months.
Why RCS Studio™ is a Strong Fit for Automotive Marketers, Product Teams and Developers
Built for both a technical and non-technical audience, RCS Studio™ is a turnkey solution that handles RCS agent creation, provisioning, compliance, and carrier delivery - all in one place, and all on behalf of the user.
It is also designed for both technical and non-technical users to easily build RCS agents and conversational flows without writing any code.
And when it comes to integrations, developers can rest easy: RCS Studio™ makes complex integrations simple by offering a connector library that’s packed with low code/no code connections to your internal and external APIs from a wide library.
FAQs About RCS Messaging for Automotive
What is RCS marketing for automotive?
When it comes to powerful marketing tools for the automotive industry, RCS marketing serves as a premier solution to elevate customer interactions and enable a frictionless journey during - and after - the car buying process. It gives automotive brands and dealerships the ability to reach more potential customers through their preferred communication channel, while giving you more visibility into the engagement funnel via more in-depth information about the status of messages, such as read receipts, interaction timing, reactions, multimedia element engagement, and more. This information enables hyper-personalized messages for more effective campaigns.
How can car dealerships use RCS messaging?
Here are just a few examples of how dealerships can use RCS messaging to streamline the customer journey from awareness to ownership:
- With its conversational nature and deeper customer data visibility, RCS makes targeted promotions easier than ever before.
- The rich media aspect of RCS captures the attention of potential buyers more easily, allowing dealerships to showcase new inventory or model launches.
- Dealerships can use RCS to visually explain necessary repairs, promote servicing offers, and enable one-tap buttons to schedule or manage appointments or contact a service rep at the dealership.
Is RCS better than SMS for car dealerships?
Although RCS has the potential to replace SMS in the near future, we don’t recommend thinking about one channel being better than the other. Rather, it’s about one channel possibly being a better fit than another depending on the use case.
Read our RCS vs. SMS article for guidance on which channel may be a better choice to consider for a specific situation.
Can dealerships use RCS for test drive scheduling?
Yes, RCS can facilitate smoother, timely customer interactions, just like the ability to schedule a time for a test drive.
Can automotive brands use RCS for service reminders and promotions?
Yes, automotive brands can use RCS’s richer visuals to promote servicing offers and enable one-tap buttons to manage service appointment reminders and follow-ups.
Do customers need an app to receive dealership RCS messages?
No, RCS messaging takes place entirely within a user’s native messaging app. This makes communication more dynamic and helps drive higher engagement and stronger customer loyalty by creating a more seamless, app-like experience without requiring a separate app download.
What happens if a customer’s phone does not support RCS?
If an RCS agent attempts to send a message to a user who does not have an RCS-enabled device, the RCS aggregator you partner with should have logic enabled in their platform to easily set up the SMS fallback experience.
How can car dealerships get started with RCS quickly?
Vibes has you covered. We’ve recently launched RCS Studio™, the turnkey provisioning, compliance, and management platform that allows dealerships to join the RCS revolution right now. Technical and non-technical users can create their first RCS messages and launch them to devices in less than 5 minutes.
The Bottom Line
There’s no denying it: RCS is built to drive overall customer satisfaction.
With Vibes’ RCS Studio™ platform, we’ve removed every barrier to launch - giving your automotive business a direct, seamless way to launch rich, elevated messaging experiences without the complexity.
Get in touch with Vibes today to learn how we can help drive your dealerships forward in the modern automotive world.
