RCS (Rich Communication Services) is an upgraded communications protocol for messaging that allows for enhanced features designed to provide a sleeker and more engaging experience while remaining within the native messaging app built into the customer’s smartphone.
It's the same channel, same inbox, but a totally immersive experience with a verified, branded sender ID that subscribers don’t have to save, rich visuals, and interactive replies.
Once your shop has gone through the application process and is provisioned as an RCS Agent, your automation flows will have new RCS-enabled features. This guide introduces you to RCS automation flows. We recommend looking through this guide to optimize RCS in Flow Builder for your brand.
Note: For non-RCS Agent brands, please refer to the Guide to Automation Flows instead.
Overview
RCS automation flows allow merchants to message subscribers at various stages in their customer journey, whether it's after they add a product to their cart, create their first order, or join the SMS program. Keep in mind that pairing automation flows with strategic segmentation allows brands to engage and send personalized messages to different pockets of the subscriber base, which can result in high click-through rates, conversions, and overall earnings.
RCS Automation Flow Basics
In this section, we'll take a look at how to navigate the flow editor's main page, dive into automation properties, and explain how reconnecting splits work.
Main Page Automation Properties Reconnecting Splits
Understanding how to navigate the Automation Flows main page is the first step to unlocking and harnessing the power of Flow Builder so your brand can optimize conversions, build an interactive SMS/RCS program, and create opportunities for hyper-segmentation.
Select these three lines to unhide the Postscript navigation bar and navigate out of Flow Builder.
Select Back to Flows to navigate out of the editor and into your Flows Dashboard.
Give your automation flow a name that helps you identify it from all automation drafts or activated automations.
Optional: Add a description to your automation flow.
When your automation flow has been activated, you can view your overall flow metrics.
Customize your flow by dragging and dropping Flow Actions into your automation flow. Each action is broken down here.
Preview your automation properties. For more information on Automation Properties, click the next tab in this module titled Automation Properties to the right.
Drag and Drop your Flow Actions (from step 6) to the Drag action here placeholders throughout your build. The Drag action here placeholder will show when an action is selected.
If your automation flow has been activated, this indicator will show the date and time the flow was last activated.
Save changes, activate or deactivate your flow, or view a flow's version history with these three buttons. To view a flow's history, select the circled ellipses, then select View version history.
This indicator shows the Status of your automation. Statuses are Draft, Scheduled, Activated, (meaning sending is in progress), and Deactivated (meaning the flow is no longer actively allowing subscribers to enter).
This tool allows you to zoom out, zoom in, or re-frame the entire flow (re-framing your flow is handy if you get lost in a void and aren't able to find your flow).
When you set up your automation flow, adding specific properties can determine what event adds subscribers to the flow, how often they can enter a flow, and when to remove a subscriber from a flow. Automation Properties also offer ways to fine-tune both the trigger event and filter specific subscribers in or out of a flow.
Select Automation properties from the RCS automation flow editor.
Define the automation trigger. A trigger is an action that will begin the automation flow. In the example above, the flow begins when a subscriber adds a product to their cart.
Add trigger filters. Trigger filters can help you fine-tune when an automation is triggered. The example above will only send to a subscriber who added an Acme Products item to their cart.
Add Subscriber filters. User filters can help you narrow down which subscribers can receive an automation. The flow above will only send if the subscriber has ordered once or has never ordered before.
Add a subscriber frequency filter. The subscriber frequency filter allows you to choose how often a subscriber can enter a given automation flow for a certain period of time. The example above will only allow subscribers to enter this flow every 30 days.
Add a cancellation trigger. The cancellation trigger tells Postscript when to remove a subscriber from an automation flow. In the example above, a subscriber will be removed from receiving this automation if they start to check out. Don't forget to save your automation properties by selecting Save or Update in the bottom-right.
Want to keep it simple? No worries! Adding trigger filters, subscriber filters, a subscriber frequency filter, or a cancellation trigger are all optional ways to customize your automation flow.
Reconnecting splits allow you to send targeted messages or test out different strategies with splits reconvening at the end of the flow. All branches in Flow Builder will always reconvene at the endpoint in the flow. While splits will reconnect, you can still add actions (Delay, Send Message, A/B splits, Subscriber Event Splits, Trigger Splits within automation flows, etc.) to each split before the connecting endpoint.
Within nested branches, the parent split has reconnecting branches, then all child splits will also have reconnecting branches.
How Reconnecting Splits Work
Within automation flows, your splits reconnect at the end of the flow. Let's take a look at an example. In the flow below, the brand sends the initial message to the entire segment. Depending on subscriber replies (or lack thereof) to the initial message, they could be funneled down one of two branches - branch A or branch B.
Subscribers in this flow will be removed from the flow once they begin checking out. In the first message, subscribers are asked if they want early access to an upcoming launch.
Note that since this is an RCS message, two Suggested Actions are at the end of the message instead of requesting the user to respond with a text message. However, since not all devices support RCS, merchants should be sure to update the Fallback text to accommodate those subscribers as well. In the example below, the merchant is requesting a YES response for subscribers who want to learn about the new colors.
If a subscriber selects the Tell Me First! suggested action or replies with Yes, they are funneled into Branch A, which includes a confirmation message that they'll be notified before everyone else.
If they reply with anything else or do not reply at all, they are funneled down Branch B, which includes confirmation that they won't be notified.
Branch A confirms the subscriber's enrollment in the new product alert. Five days later, on March 2nd, Branch A notifies subscribers that the new products are live on the site and offers an exclusive promo code. Branch B is also delayed five days to keep the two branches in sync for when they rejoin.
After the 5-day delay, Branch A sends an RCS Carousel message that includes images of both of the new colors, along with buttons on each card and a suggested action at the bottom.
Once again, check and update the Fallback message for non-RCS devices.
At the end of this flow, the branches reconnect and send a final RCS Card message to both parties, nudging them to check out the colors and providing all subscribers with a less valuable promotion that has a longer expiration timeline.
Flow Actions
Our toolkit of flow actions assists with perfecting the timing of your automation messages, allows you to experiment with various approaches through A/B splits, automates responses to subscribers based on their actions or inactions, and can tag subscribers based on their engagement with your brand for future hyper-segmentation. To add any of these actions, just drag them from the toolkit and drop them into your flow.
RCS MessageDelayA/B SplitEvent SplitsUpdate SubscriberAdd to flowAttribute Split
Postscript's RCS Message tool offers a variety of customization options to create on-brand campaign messages.
After dragging an RCS Message action to the flow, you can further customize the subscriber experience by selecting which type of RCS message to send on the left.
Text RCS will send a simple text message along with actions to spur engagement.
RCS Card will send a message that includes images, formatted text, and action buttons.
RCS Card Carousel sends multiple RCS cards the subscriber can swipe through.
Selecting this takes you to the RCS Content editor.
All RCS messages include a fallback option for devices that only support SMS/MMS. This fallback message is generated automatically based on the RCS Content, but brands can further customize it by selecting the Fallback tab.
Text RCS
Enter the text of the RCS Message.
Add emojis to your message by clicking the smiley face icon.
Add "Reply STOP to unsubscribe." by clicking the bell icon.
Add tags to your messages, such as the first or last name of your subscriber, your shop name, or shop link.
Add product or discount links to your message. Discount links are links embedded with a Shopify discount. Note: only Shopify coupons can be included in campaigns.
Select a Template.
Select + Add Action to add responses or links as buttons at the bottom of the RCS message.
Select Update.
After updating, the changes will display in the flow on the right.
RCS Card
Add a JPEG, GIF, or PNG file under 100 MB.
Enter a Title for the card.
Enter the text of the RCS Message.
Add emojis to your message by clicking the smiley face icon.
Add "Reply STOP to unsubscribe." by clicking the bell icon.
Add tags to your messages, such as the first or last name of your subscriber, your shop name, or shop link.
Select + Add Card Button to add text responses or links as buttons at the bottom of the card itself.
Select + Add Action to add suggested actions (links and text responses) as pill buttons at the bottom of the RCS message.
Select the Add button to add the RCS card to the flow (or Update to save and refresh the preview on the right).
RCS Card Carousel
Under Cards, create the three initial RCS cards for this carousel, using the RCS Card instructions.
Optionally, add additional cards (up to 10) by selecting + Add Card.
Insert the desired content (i.e. media, title, description and actions) into the card.
Select Save to update and refresh the preview on the right.
With our Delay action, you can choose from three types of delays that will allow you to perfect the timing of each individual message within a flow to your subscribers (note: we do not recommend using a Delay action to kick off, or activate, your flow. Instead, please use the Schedule or Launch button in the upper-right corner of Flow Builder). Learn about each type below or, for a deep dive into message scheduling, check out this article.
Delay your message for an amount of time. This option allows you to send your message after a specific interval of time (e.g., Delay sending this message until after a 5-minute delay or after a 5-week delay).
Delay your message until a specific date allows you to choose the exact date and time that you'd like to send each individual message (e.g., Delay sending this message until December 20th, 2022, at 4:00 PM).
Delay your message until a certain time of the week allows you to choose a day of the week and a time of day that you'd like to send each of your flow messages (e.g,. Delay sending these messages until Sundays at 2:00 PM).
Save. Once you've added your message delays, don't forget to save!
Duplicate your Delay action to make building out a flow of messages more efficient.
Delete your Delay action by selecting this option or clicking Delete Step in the upper-right corner of the Delay editor.
Optimize your message conversions by finding the best combination of timing, images, message copy, and incentives for your brand through A/B testing in Flow Builder! Not sure what to test? Check out the four A/B tests every SMS Marketer should be running.
Auto Balance automatically sets your branches to an even distribution.
Designate Branch A's distribution by adding the percentage of subscribers you'd like to have your Branch A experience (this includes messages, delays, etc.).
Designate Branch B's distribution by adding the percentage of subscribers you'd like to have your Branch A experience (this includes messages, delays, etc.).
Save. Once you've customized your A/B Split distributions, don't forget to save!
Preview or add to your Branch A's experience by dragging and dropping flow actions to the Drag action here placeholder.
Preview or add to your Branch B's experience by dragging and dropping flow actions to the Drag action here placeholder.
Delete your A/B Split action by selecting this option or clicking Delete Step in the upper-right corner of the Split editor.
Postscript offers two types of event splits-- Trigger Event Splits and Subscriber Event Splits. Generally, Subscriber Event Splits are leveraged when subscribers take (or do not take) an action (e.g., subscriber response). Trigger Event Splits can be used to split subscribers into branches based on the automation trigger (e.g., keyword triggered, checkout started, etc.). In this section, we'll discuss both in detail.
Subscriber Event Splits
With Subscriber Event Splits, you can time and send automated messages to subscribers based on their actions or inactions. For example, you can send a Welcome Series and then split responses based on whether the subscriber purchased from your Welcome Series. Take a deep dive into this tool by checking out this article.
Add an event to your flow. This indicates that you intend to branch subsequent messages based on this event. For example, create branches based on if a subscriber creates an order after receiving the previous Day of the Week automation message.
Add the Max Wait Time that you will allow for subscribers to complete the event. For example, wait 24 hours for subscribers to create an order after receiving the first message in your flow.
Create your branches and select specific properties of each branch. In the example above, we will branch the flow based on if the subscriber creates an order using the Shopify discount code SHOPIFYDISCOUNT or not.
Subscriber Event Splits will always include a none of the above or event never occurred branch to capture any events that do not match the specifications and subscribers who do not respond within the Max Wait Time.
Add a new branch by selecting this option.
Save. Once you've customized your Event Splits, don't forget to save!
Preview your branches.
Delete your subscriber event split action by selecting this option or clicking Delete Step in the upper-right corner of the Split editor.
Trigger Event Splits
Trigger event splits are related to the overarching automation flow trigger. You can create unique messages for subscribers based on their experiences. For example, you may create an automation that triggers any time a subscriber orders. With trigger event splits, you can send subscribers down unique paths with customized messaging or offers based on how much they spent on that order. For a closer look at trigger event splits, see this article.
Assign your automation trigger. In the example above, the automation trigger is Order Created.
Drag and drop your Trigger event split action into your flow where you want the flow to split based on a trigger-related event.
Select a property. All properties available are relative to the automation trigger.
As you add branches, the last branch to the right will always include subscribers who do not meet the conditions of any other branch.
Save.
Add contextual messages to your flow according to the trigger event split properties.
With this tool, you are able to update subscriber profiles with tags based on their actions following a previously received message within your flow. This lets you craft more personalized and hyper-targeted flows in the future. For a deep dive, take a look at this article.
Add or remove a subscriber tag based on which path the subscriber takes. In the example above, subscribers will be tagged as conditioner or shampoo based on their response to the Wait for Subscriber Response Split.
Save. Once you've added your subscriber tag, don't forget to save!
Preview the Update Subscriber action.
After tagging a subscriber, you may consider sending them a follow-up message. In the example above, we sent a shampoo recommendation to those who responded to our first message with the word shampoo.
Duplicate your Update Subscriber action to make building out a flow of messages more efficient.
Delete your Update Subscriber action by selecting this option or clicking Delete Step in the upper-right corner of the editor.
The Add to flow action in Flow Builder allows you to add subscribers to another automation flow that is triggered by an Added via Another Flow trigger event. You can move subscribers from a campaign flow or an automation flow into a new automation flow.
To use the Add to flow action, you'll need to create a "child flow", or a flow that uses the Add via Another Flow trigger. Once you have a flow that uses the Add via Another Flow trigger, you can link a flow within a flow.
Check out this Guide to Add to Flow Action in Flow Builder for a deep dive into this action.
Link a Flow Within a Flow
Under Flow Actions, select and drag Add to flow into your flow.
Under Automation Flow on the left, select an automation from the drop-down list and then select Save.
Only flows with a Trigger event or property set to Added From Another Flow will appear in the Add Flow action's drop-down list.
Key Information
Postscript takes a product-led approach to compliance, meaning compliance is built into everything we do. For this reason, Add to flow action is not available for transactional triggers or Cart Recovery triggers, such as Product Added to Cart, Browse Abandonment, and Checkout Started. Learn more about Abandoned Cart compliance here.
Flows that use the Added via Another Flow trigger are not compatible with Postscript-generated Coupons. You can, however, use Shopify-generated coupons in these messages.
If you attempt to deactivate a child flow linked in one or more flows, you'll receive an error message instructing you to reconfigure the parent flow without linking the child flow. This error message will also list all of the parent flows that the child flow is linked with.
Subscriber Attribute Splits allows you to target multiple segments within a single automation. This not only simplifies flow management but also enables more precise messaging strategies for marketers.
Drag and drop the Subscriber attribute split into the flow where you want to branch subscribers based on the segment.
Haven't created a segment yet? No sweat-- just select the Create Segment to start building.
Select the dropdown menu to start including subscribers based on their segment.
Don't forget to save!
Understanding Automation Flow Metrics
Metrics, or data, help you understand whether the messages you send are achieving the goals you've set. You can view the performance of your automation flows on your Flows Dashboard page or on a specific automation flow page. Simply select an activated flow to view overall performance metrics and metrics by a specific message.
Overall Performance Specific Message Performance Branch Analytics
Revenue: The amount of sales dollars earned from orders created within your shop's designated attribution window. See your shop's attribution window here.
Orders: The number of orders attributed to this flow. This card also contains your flow' Conversion Rate (calculated by dividing the total amount of orders placed within your shop's designated attribution window by the total number of clicks * 100).
CVR: The percentage of messages that resulted in a conversion.
Clicks: The number of times subscribers clicked a link, button, or action in the message.
CTR: The total number of times subscribers have clicked any link in this flow. Click-through-rate (CTR) is also populated on this card (calculated by taking total clicks on all links divided by the total number of messages sent.
Messages sent: View the total number of messages that were sent while this flow was activated.
Automation Triggered. The number of times this subscriber was fired due to a subscriber taking an action. This card also populates the unsubscribe rate for this flow (calculated by dividing the total number of unsubscribes attributed to a flow message by the total number of messages sent in this flow).
Rev.: Attributed Revenue is the amount of sales dollars earned from orders created within your shop's designated attribution window after a subscriber receives this specific message within your automation. See your shop's attribution window here.
EPM: Earnings Per Message is a direct calculation of revenue earned per automation, divided by the total messages sent (i.e, [total revenue] / [# of messages delivered] * 100).
Orders: The number of orders attributed to this message. Learn more about attribution here.
Click conv.: This calculates the number of orders divided by the number of clicks.
Msg conv.: This calculates the number of orders divided by the number of messages sent.
CTR: Click-Through Rate is calculated by taking the number of clicks on the links included in this message, divided by the number of Sent Messages recorded for this specific message.
UCTR: Unique Click-Through Rate indicates the number of unique subscribers that clicked on links included in this message, divided by the number of unique subscribers who received this message.
Sent: The number of times this specific message was sent to subscribers.
Unsub.: Unsubscribe Rate is calculated by dividing the number of unsubscribes attributed to this message within the flow by the number of Sent Messages recorded for this specific message (e.g. 65,463). Note: Postscript attributes an unsubscribe to a flow if the flow message was the last message the subscriber received before unsubscribing.
Note: If you edit and save a live flow, the analytics on all individual actions (i.e. specific messages) will be reset, but the overall performance analytics will remain the same.
Branch analytics will display on a Split Action card. These analytics are an aggregate view of all the individual messages and action metrics within a branch to provide you with a holistic view of the branch. Key metrics surfaced include:
Rev. (Attributed Revenue)
EPM (Earnings Per Message)
Orders
Click conv.
Msg conv.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
UCTR (Unique Click-Through Rate) indicates the number of unique subscribers that clicked on links included in this message, divided by the number of unique subscribers who received this message.
Sent
Unsub. (Unsubscribe Rate)
These metrics are calculated based on the RCS Message Actions contained within each branch. When a branch contains a nested split, then aggregated metrics reflect the performance of all send message actions from within the branch up to the point where the branches reconvene. This ensures the analytics for "Branch A" represent the combined results of messages within it - including the messages in the nested split. Additionally, if a branch contains nested splits, the metrics will roll up to the parent split to provide a complete picture of performance.
To hide branch analytics, simply click the Settings icon in the bottom left panel and then toggle the Show analytics in flow actions switch.
Extra Resources
Automation Flow Metrics Quick Guide. Better understand the performance of your automation flow by analyzing each flow.
Fantastic Texts. Need some inspiration? Check out some real-life customers and how they interact with their subscribers using automations.
Guide to Subscriber Event Splits. Learn how to branch based on click events, subscriber responses, and more.
Customize and Brand Your Messages. Learn how to further customize your messages by checking out this section in the Help Center!
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