How to create an RCS campaign in Klaviyo

How to create an RCS campaign in Klaviyo

Estimated 4 minute read

Updated Feb 24, 2026, 12:00 AM EST

Table of contents

Step 1: Create a text message campaign
Step 2: Select your audience
Step 3: Create your RCS message
Step 4: Review the SMS fallback
Step 5: Edit the SMS fallback (if needed)
Step 6: Preview and test
Step 7: Review billing forecast
Step 8: Send or schedule your campaign
Key things to remember

RCS lets you send rich, interactive messages which can increase engagement and conversions compared with SMS.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create a basic text-only RCS campaign. If you’d like to add rich features, see our guide to creating rich RCS messages.

Before you begin, set up SMS and activate an approved RCS agent for each country where you want to send RCS. See how to set up RCS. Recipients must have consented to SMS marketing to receive your RCS campaign.

Once an RCS agent is activated in your account, RCS becomes the default message format in any country where you have an active agent. This means:

Messages will always be sent via RCS to RCS-capable devices
All other recipients will automatically receive the SMS fallback

Even for text-only campaigns, RCS provides advantages over SMS:

Messages are sent from a verified branded sender, which builds trust and brand recognition
Delivered over modern data networks, improving deliverability and throughput compared with legacy SMS networks
You receive open receipts when recipients have read receipts enabled, giving you more visibility into engagement than SMS

Because not all devices and carriers support RCS, every RCS campaign includes an SMS fallback for recipients whose device or carrier does not support RCS.

If you want to send only to contacts who can receive RCS, you can use the RCS capability property to create an RCS segment.

Step 1: Create a text message campaign

Go to Campaigns in your Klaviyo account.
Click Create campaign.
Enter a campaign name.
Select Single channel as the campaign type.
Under Type, choose Text message.
Click Continue.

Step 2: Select your audience

Choose the lists or segments you want to target. This works the same way as with SMS campaigns.

Click Next to open the message editor.

Step 3: Create your RCS message

In the message editor, select RCS message.
Select either Rich Card or Text only according to your use case
Write your message content.
Optionally, add rich features.

You’ll see a live preview in the editor.

Step 4: Review the SMS fallback

Select SMS fallback in the editor to review the fallback message.

Klaviyo automatically generates an SMS fallback version of your message. Profiles that can’t receive RCS will see this SMS or MMS instead.

Keep the SMS fallback within 1,600 characters. If the content copied from your RCS message exceeds this limit, shorten the fallback separately as described in Step 5.

Step 5: Edit the SMS fallback (if needed)

By default, your SMS fallback uses the same content as your RCS message. To edit it separately:

Turn off Use the same content from RCS message if it is on.
Edit the fallback message.

Editing the fallback separately can help reduce costs and improve performance by:

Removing emojis and special characters (which reduce the SMS character limit from 160 to 70)
Simplifying the text to fit within 1 SMS segment
Removing or replacing media

Step 6: Preview and test

Before sending, click Preview to see how both the RCS and SMS fallback versions will appear to recipients.
Select RCS message and SMS fallback in the preview to check each version.
To send a test to your phone, enter your phone number and click Send test. Note that you must have an active RCS agent in the same country as the phone number you are sending to.
Click Done to close the preview, then Next to save your message and open the campaign review page.

Step 7: Review billing forecast

On the campaign review page, Klaviyo shows a billing forecast where you can review:

The total estimated cost of the campaign
The estimated number of recipients who will receive RCS vs SMS fallback and the associated cost
A country-by-country breakdown

This helps you understand the cost before sending.

Note: RCS pricing depends on the destination country and message type. For pricing, please contact our Sales team.

Step 8: Send or schedule your campaign

Once you’ve reviewed everything, click Schedule or send. You can then either:

Send immediately: Select Send now, then click Send now to confirm.
Schedule for later: Select Schedule, choose the date, time, and time zone, then click Schedule message.

Key things to remember

Default format: Once an RCS agent is activated in your account, RCS becomes the default message format in any country where you have an active agent. Therefore, text messages will always be sent via RCS to RCS-capable devices, while all other recipients will automatically receive the SMS fallback.
Fallback: The SMS fallback provides a version for recipients whose device or carrier does not support RCS.
Segmentation: If you want to send to RCS-only recipients, use segmentation.
Pricing: Sending long RCS messages or adding rich content can increase the cost, depending on the destination country and message type. Check your billing forecast before sending.

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