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Mobile Engagement Isn’t About Sending, It’s About Being Seen
Mobile-first brands rely heavily on push notifications to drive engagement. They’re fast, scalable, and deeply integrated into apps. These are all great things, but as consumers receive more notifications than ever, a critical question emerges: Which messages actually get noticed?
As brands compare RCS vs push notifications, the difference becomes clear: push notifications compete for attention, messaging earns it.
Understanding how these channels perform in real-world conditions is key to building mobile strategies that don’t just send messages, but get read and interacted with.
How Push Notifications Work, and Why Brands Use Them
Push notifications are messages sent by an app to a user’s device through the operating system (iOS or Android). Brands use them because they are:
- Immediate and real-time
- App-integrated
- Easy to automate
- Useful for alerts, reminders, and updates
For years, push notifications have been a cornerstone of mobile engagement strategies, especially for apps with high daily usage. But that model is starting to crack.
The Push Notification Problem: Fatigue, Opt-Outs, and Control
While push notifications are easy to send, they’re just as easy to ignore or disable entirely.
Push Notification Opt-In Rates Are Declining
Users must explicitly opt in, and many don’t. Even among opt-ins, permissions are often revoked over time (as you’ve probably seen in your reporting dashboard).
Notification Overload Is Very Real
The average consumer receives dozens of notifications daily. Most are dismissed without being read or get lost in a shuffle of other app notifications that get cleared quickly.
OS-Level Controls Reduce Visibility
Both iOS and Android aggressively filter, group, silence, or hide notifications. Brands don’t control:
- When notifications appear
- How prominently they’re displayed
- Whether users ever see them
This creates a major gap between notifications sent and notifications actually seen.
RCS Advantages: Inbox Placement, Branding, and Permanence
RCS (Rich Communication Services) for Business fundamentally works differently. Instead of competing in the notification tray, RCS messages land directly in the native messaging inbox alongside trusted, person-to-person conversations.
Why RCS Is Harder to Miss
Inbox Placement
Messages live where users already look, not in the notification layer.
Verified Branding
Brand names, logos, and rich content build trust and recognition, reducing skepticism and accidental dismissal.
Permanence
RCS messages persist until read or acted on. They don’t vanish if ignored once.
This structural difference is why RCS message read rates consistently outperform traditional push notification engagement.
Engagement Comparison: Impressions vs Reads
This might be the most important part of this discussion because this is where the push notifications vs RCS debate becomes crystal clear.
Push Notifications Measure Impressions
- Notification delivered
- Possibly displayed
- Often dismissed or silenced
- Engagement inferred, not guaranteed
RCS Measures Reads and Actions
- Message delivered to inbox
- User opens the thread
- Content is visible and persistent
- Buttons and replies drive interaction
Push notifications are optimized for attempted attention. RCS is optimized for actual engagement.
Trust and Visibility: The Hidden Performance Factors
To us, engagement isn’t just about reach, it’s about trust. Push notifications:
- Often feel promotional or interruptive
- Are mentally associated with spammy app behavior
- Lose credibility over time
Meanwhile, RCS messages:
- Appear in a trusted communication space
- Are clearly branded and verified
- Feel conversational rather than disruptive
This trust factor plays a major role in whether messages are opened, read, and acted on.
Best Use Cases for Push Notifications & RCS
This isn’t about replacing push notifications entirely, it’s about using each channel where it performs best.
When Push Notifications Work Well
- Urgent, real-time alerts
- In-app events for highly engaged users
- Time-sensitive system updates
When RCS Performs Better
- Promotions and campaigns
- Customer journey progression
- Rich content and discovery
- Two-way engagement and support
- Messages that must be seen and remembered
If visibility matters, messaging wins.
Blended Strategies for Mobile-First Brands
The strongest mobile strategies don’t choose sides, they use both. Smart brands use:
- Push notifications to prompt immediate attention
- RCS to continue the engaging conversation
For example, you can set up a messaging campaign like this:
- Push notification alerts a user
- The CTA in the notification opens an RCS thread
- RCS delivers rich content, options, and follow-up
- Engagement persists beyond a single moment
This approach combines urgency with continuity, something push alone can’t achieve.
How nativeMsg Helps Brands Go Beyond Notifications
Adopting RCS for Business is only part of the equation. Execution matters. nativeMsg helps brands turn RCS into a high-visibility, high-engagement messaging channel. With nativeMsg, teams of all industries can:
- Launch branded, verified RCS campaigns
- Orchestrate RCS alongside push, email, and paid ads
- Design messaging-led journeys that persist over time
- Measure real engagement, not just delivery
- Reduce reliance on noisy notification strategies
To put it simply, nativeMsg helps brands move from “messages sent” to “messages seen.”
So… Which Channel Actually Gets Seen?
In closing, push notifications are easy to send and also easy to miss. RCS messages live where attention already exists, combine trust with branding, and stay visible until acted on. For brands focused on real engagement, not just reach, the answer is clear.
Want to see how RCS outperforms push notifications in real campaigns? Book a free, 30-minute demo to discover how messaging-first strategies drive visibility, trust, and results, and to see RCS in action.