Personalization tailors a message to its recipient, from a first name and an order number to the product shown on a rich card, using data the business already holds about that customer.
Levels of personalization
The simplest is variables: {first_name}, {appointment_time}, {amount_due}, filled in per recipient from the send list. Next is content selection: choosing which rich card, image or offer each person sees based on what they bought or where they are in a flow. The most useful in messaging is action personalization: an appointment reminder whose "Confirm" button already knows the slot, or a payment prompt whose "Pay now" opens the right invoice. RCS makes the third level ordinary, because a suggested action can carry per-recipient data.
The data rule
Use what the customer gave you for this purpose. First-party data collected with consent is fine; inferred or purchased attributes in a text message are unsettling and, for sensitive categories, unlawful. Keep account numbers, balances and health details out of the message itself, personalize the prompt and authenticate on the page. The compliance checklist has the specifics.
Personalization and segmentation
Segmentation decides who receives which campaign; personalization decides what each of them sees. Both run from the same customer data, and SimplyRCS blasts apply variables and per-recipient buttons in one send.