Next messaging generation

While RCS looks like the future of messaging, what consumers want from platforms is changing. Paul Skeldon takes a look at what other things RCS may have to embrace.

Messaging has had quite a time of it across the 2020s. The pandemic elevated everything from SMS to WhatsApp and WeChat to new heights of importance among businesses as they sought new ways to communicate with customers in lockdown.

Post-pandemic that trend has continued and the messaging landscape is very different today to what it looked like in 2019. However, while RCS is set to take off in 2025 now that Apple in on board, what consumers want from messaging is changing just as fast – and, to be successful, rich business messaging, be that RCS or OTT, needs to be aware of these trends.

VOICE MESSAGING

More apps are adding voice features, which make communication more personal and immersive. In some countries, sending voice messages via rich messaging, especially iMessage, has long been established. This trend is likely to continue to grow as the convenience becomes more apparent. Speech-to-text and text-to-speech functions, driven by AI, will also make the interchange between written and audio messaging even more blurred. Factor in live translation and things look really interesting from a voice messaging perspective for brands and consumers.

VIDEO MESSAGING

With GenZ all now communicating via what are essentially video messages on TikTok and particularly SnapChat, the next generation of consumers are

very much going to be video message driven. As with voice, video makes things more immersive and more personalised. The use of AI to create avatar along with the text-to-speech and speech-totext functionality discussed above also points to an exciting nexus of avatars that can speak what is texted and vice versa. There are some really interesting applications for business here waiting to be unleashed across messaging platforms.

AI-DRIVEN PERSONALISATION

As well as creating avatars, parsing speech into text and vice versa and being a chatbot, AI can also analyse data to send personalised messages from businesses to an even greater degree than anyone has so far been able to do. The use of predictive analytics to anticipate future behaviours too can be used to add to this personalisation play. Putting AI behind messaging is going to very quickly revolutionise how people interact with each other and with companies, marketing and content.

NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING (NLP)

NLP allows AI to understand and respond to human language, creating a more interactive experience. This will build on the

above to create services that sit on messaging platforms that can understand who they are talking to, about what and why and respond accordingly. Initially by text and/or voice, but soon with avatars and images. They will also be able to understand context and sentiment, making for even natural interactions across all messaging media.

INTERACTIVE AI

Brands can use a federation of chatbots and AI algorithms to trigger actions at key points in the customer journey. Then businesses can make transactional messages actionable by providing clear options to solve customer needs or frustrations. So, moving beyond help towards helping and selling.

CONVERSATIONAL COMMERCE

Businesses can use messaging apps to drive sales through these conversations. Conversational commerce is in its infancy today, but combining messaging, payments, AI and personalisation will see messaging move from a simple ad on to other ad channels to being a fully-fledged – and possible the major – ad channel brands use. Pulling it all together will see brands be able to appear to market individually to consumers with the exact product they will want to buy at the moment they want to buy it – and offer an easy way to pay. All in one nice interaction that won’t look anything like messaging or ecommerce as we know it today.