A new study from Juniper Research has found global business messaging traffic will grow from two trillion messages in 2025 to nearly three trillion by 2030.
The growth will be fuelled not by simple alerts but by conversational use cases – commerce, customer support, and real-time engagement delivered via SMS, Rich Communication Services (RCS), and over-the-top (OTT) platforms.
For enterprises, the implications are profound. Messaging is shifting from a tactical communication channel into a strategic engagement platform – with the potential to reshape customer journeys, cut costs, and deliver measurable ROI.
Yet, operators’ lack of visibility and strategy around RCS leaves a gap that CIOs, CMOs, and digital leaders must navigate with care.
As authentication use cases shift from messaging channels, conversational messaging presents a potential new revenue stream for operators,” said Molly Gatford, Senior Research Analyst at Juniper Research. Therefore, operators must prioritise the monetisation of conversational use cases to secure future revenue growth.”
Why Enterprises Should Pay Attention
For years, messaging was about scale, not sophistication. Banks sent one-time passcodes, airlines sent boarding alerts. retailers pushed promotions – but that world is fading fast.
What matters for enterprises is not just the volume of traffic but the depth of engagement.
Customers increasingly expect messaging channels to behave like apps: interactive, personalised, and responsive. Instead of passively receiving an order confirmation, a consumer can now check delivery status, initiate a return, or even make a repeat purchase – all within the same thread.
For CMOs, this represents a leap forward in customer experience (CX). For CIOs and CTOs, it raises questions of integration with CRM, AI, and data governance frameworks. For CFOs, the debate centres on ROI and cost efficiency compared with traditional call centres or app development.
RCS Use Cases
Several companies are already demonstrating the power of RCS to transform customer engagement.
Sephora leveraged interactive messaging in a Malaysian Lunar New Year campaign, sending virtual “Ang Pao” red packets with surprise gifts, which the company said led to a 132 percent increase in purchases among participants .
In Europe, EasyPark and Micromania-Zing used Sinch’s RCS platform to deliver interactive reminders and promotional offers, while Infobip has enabled businesses to offer richer customer support by allowing users to send images or videos of their issues – helping support agents resolve queries faster and more accurately.
The Operator Dilemma: Visibility and Value
But Juniper’s analysis also highlights a critical obstacle: operators lack sufficient visibility into conversational traffic.
Reliance on Google to monitor RCS business messaging leaves them strategically exposed. Without granular data on adoption patterns, usage, and outcomes, operators struggle to:
- Optimise pricing strategies for enterprise clients.
- Tailor services that match specific vertical demands (e.g., banking, retail, healthcare).
- Demonstrate value creation and justify investment in RCS infrastructure.
For enterprises, this matters because the operator ecosystem underpins the reliability, cost, and scalability of messaging. A fragmented or opaque operator strategy risks driving up costs or slowing innovation.
Strategic Considerations for Tech Buyers
Enterprises exploring conversational messaging should weigh several key factors to ensure adoption drives real business impact.
Interoperability: Messaging platforms must integrate seamlessly with CRM, marketing automation, and AI tools. Without robust APIs and developer support, initiatives risk becoming siloed.
Security & Compliance: Data protection is critical, especially in regulated industries. Buyers should check encryption, audit logs, retention policies, and compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS.
Vendor Risk: Over-reliance on major players like Google or OTT providers can create lock-in. Evaluate vendor roadmaps, SLAs, and financial stability to avoid strategic exposure.
ROI & Metrics: Define clear KPIs—engagement, conversion, cost savings, and operational efficiency. Tracking outcomes ensures messaging investments translate into measurable business value.
Customer Trust: Adoption depends on transparency and experience. Clear opt-in/opt-out policies, consistent brand voice, and secure interactions help build confidence.
Scalability: Platforms must support high-volume traffic, multiple regions, and emerging technologies like AI chatbots. Scalable solutions protect against future bottlenecks.
Bottom Line
Conversational messaging is no longer just a channel – it’s potentially the engine of enterprise engagement.
With traffic set to soar the winners will be the companies that turn conversations into action, insight, and revenue.
Enterprises that get integration, security, vendor strategy, ROI, trust, and scalability right won’t just keep up – they’ll redefine how customers interact with their brand.
