In today's digitally connected world, where mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives, businesses are constantly seeking effective ways to engage with their audience and stay competitive. One powerful tool that has emerged to meet this need is the Android push notification campaign. 

These campaigns offer direct and immediate communication, delivering personalized content and updates to users' devices. Push notifications are highly visible, capturing users' attention and increasing engagement rates. They also enable real-time interactions and feedback, allowing businesses to gather insights and refine their strategies. 

Android push notification campaigns are essential for delivering targeted messages, enhancing marketing efforts, driving conversions, and building lasting connections with the audience. In this article, we will cover how you can easily create engaging android push campaigns with NotifyVisitors.

Creating Campaign

To create an Android push campaign using NotifyVisitors, navigate to the campaigns section from the left-hand menu on the NotifyVisitors panel. Click on "create campaign" and select "Android push" as the campaign type.

After selecting the Android push campaign type, you will be presented with four options to choose from.

Refer to our guide “Types Of Push Notifications” to know more in detail about these options and choose the one best suitable for your campaign.

Following that, you will be prompted to select the type of notification you want to send. NotifyVisitors offers various options, including standard, rich, slider, gif, sticky, or timer campaigns. You can choose the notification type that best suits your campaign objectives and content.

› Standard: A basic form of push notification that typically includes a title, message, and optional icon.

› Rich: A push notification that goes beyond basic text and can include images, providing a more engaging and interactive user experience.

› Slider: A type of push notification that appears as a sliding banner on the screen, allowing users to view additional content or take specific actions by swiping or interacting with the banner.

› GIF: A push notification that includes an animated GIF, adding dynamic and visually appealing content to capture users' attention and convey information in an engaging manner.

› Sticky: A push notification that remains visible on the user's screen until dismissed or acted upon, ensuring important messages or reminders stay prominently displayed.

› Timer: Timer push notifications display a countdown timer, often used for time-sensitive offers, showcasing deals with an expiration timer to create urgency and encourage immediate action.

After selecting the type of notification, click on it to proceed. Assign a name to the notification, and upon clicking "create," you will be presented with several options divided into tabs at the bottom. The number of tabs displayed depends on the type of push notification you have chosen. 

However, there are total 6 tabs including "description," "media," "advanced options," "custom key value pairs," "targeting rules," and "advanced notification." Each tab offers specific settings and configurations related to your notification campaign. You can customize various aspects such as the content, media attachments, targeting criteria, and much more.

By navigating through these tabs, you can tailor your notification campaign to your preferences and requirements, ensuring that the message and delivery align with your marketing or communication objectives.

So let’s discuss each of these tabs in detail

1. Description Tab

Title: Enter the title for your notification, which will precisely describe its purpose. Keep the title short and specific, such as "Christmas Sale" or "Flat 30% Off."

Message: Write a brief message of the notification in the message field. For example, you could say, "Your Brand Name” is offering a flat 30% off on any products purchased from our outlets nationwide. Please note that this offer is valid for our offline stores only.

Summary: Provide additional details about your notification in the summary section. Use this space to summarize the offer or message you want to convey, such as "Get flat 30% off on your first order. Shop now!"

Target: This option allows you to determine the destination where users will be redirected when they click on the notification. By clicking on the dropdown menu, you will find various options to choose from:

a) Navigate in app: Select this option if you want to direct the user to a specific page within your app when they click on the notification. Once selected, you will need to provide the Android activity that corresponds to the desired destination.

b) Navigate to web page: Choose this option if you want to redirect the user to a webpage when they click on the notification. After selecting this option, you will need to enter the URL of the webpage.

c) Navigate to third-party app: Select this option if you want to redirect the user to a third-party app. You will also need to provide the package name of the specific app you want to open.

d) Share: By choosing this option, the notification will trigger a sharing action, allowing the user to share the notification's details on other apps. For example, you can use this option to enable users to share a referral coupon on WhatsApp or other social media platforms.

e) Call: This option will open the dialer with a predefined phone number when the user taps on the notification. This can be useful if you want to initiate a phone call to a specific number when the user interacts with the notification.

You can select any of these options based on your preference and the desired user experience you want to create.

Extra action: This feature provides users with the ability to easily copy a coupon code or any other important information. Simply click on the "Copy Code" button and enter your desired coupon code or text.

Action Buttons

In addition to assigning an action to the notification itself, you have the option to include two additional action buttons within the notification. These buttons can be used to assign different actions to the notification, providing users with multiple choices to engage with the notification content.

To add an action button, navigate to the action buttons panel and enter the text that will appear on the button. Next, select the target options for the button, similar to what we did in the descriptions tab.

The difference is that the target options added in the description tab are performed when a user clicks on the notification itself, whereas the target options added in the action buttons section will be performed when a user clicks on a specific action button.

One unique target option available in this section is the "snooze" option. If you want to include this option, simply select it and specify the duration in seconds for which you want to snooze the notification.

After providing these details, you can add one more action button and fill in the necessary information in a similar manner. However, please note that there is limited space within the notification, so we only allow a maximum of two action buttons.

Once you have filled in all the required details, click on the "Save and Continue" button to proceed to the next tab.

2. Media Tab

In the "media" tab, you have the option to add an image to your notification by either providing its URL or uploading it from your device. This image will appear as the icon of your notification. It's important to note that the image size for the icon should be 200px by 200px.

However, if you are creating a rich, slider, or gif-based push notification, you will have additional options to include rich media. To do this, select the "rich media" panel from the top and enter the URL or upload media from your device. The size for the rich media image should be 512px by 256px.

In the case of a rich push notification, you can only upload a single static image, such as a PNG or JPEG file.

For a slider push notification, you can create up to three slides, each with a different image and associated actions. To add slides, simply fill in the image URL, select a target from the dropdown menu, and specify the desired action based on the selected target. If you wish to include more slides, click on the "add slide" button. With the slider push, users can swipe through different images and take actions by clicking on the images.

In the case of a gif push notification, you can add the links of multiple images, and our system will automatically create a gif for you. You also have the option to select the sliding time for the images used in the gif. The sliding time is specified in milliseconds, with a minimum limit of 500 milliseconds and a maximum limit of 5000 milliseconds.

By utilizing these media options, you can enhance the visual appeal and interactivity of your push notifications. It allows you to incorporate eye-catching images, create engaging sliders with multiple slides, or add dynamic gif content, depending on the type of push notification you are creating.

At last, click on save and continue button.

3. Advanced Options

The "advanced options" tab offers customization features like message life, frequency capping, Do Not Disturb (DND), conversion tracking, and more. These options allow you to personalize the notification according to your preferences and optimize its delivery and tracking for better user engagement and analytics. Click here to learn more.

Action Button Parameters

Action button parameters allow you to include additional information or data when a user interacts with an action button within the notification. When a user clicks on an action button, you can pass specific parameters along with the action to provide context or trigger specific actions on the backend.

For example, let's say you have an action button with the label "Buy Now" in your notification. By using action button parameters, you can pass information like the product ID or SKU as a parameter when the user clicks on the button. This allows you to track which product the user is interested in and perform actions such as adding it to their shopping cart or initiating the checkout process.

To add action button parameters, first select the action and data type. Data type defines the type of data that can be passed as a value for a specific parameter. There are 3 data types you can choose from the dropdown, i.e, integer (whole numbers without any decimal places), string (sequence of characters, such as text or alphanumeric values), boolean (logical value that can be either true or false).

Next fill in the key and value. The key represents the name or identifier of the parameter, while the value is the actual data associated with that parameter. You can customize the key-value pairs based on your specific requirements and backend system.

Similarly, you can add additional action button parameters by clicking "add more field," with a maximum limit of 15 parameters.

4. Custom Key Value Pairs (for Timer Push only)

Custom key-value pairs provide the ability to pass additional information or data when a user interacts with notifications, just like action button parameters. The main distinction is that custom key-value pairs offer customization without requiring a specific data type selection.

The following custom key value pairs can be passed for timer based push notifications:

You can simply enter the desired key and value without specifying a data type. Additionally, you have the option to add multiple key-value pairs by using the "add more field" button.

It's important to note that custom key-value pairs are exclusive to timer-based notifications and cannot be utilized in other notification types. Therefore, this tab for adding custom key-value pairs is only visible in timer-based notifications.

5. Targeting Rules

Targeting rules for push notifications are a set of criteria that determine who receives the notifications based on specific attributes or conditions. These rules help ensure that the notifications are delivered to the right audience at the right time. These include basic rule (to choose specific subscribers), location rule (to target users based on their location), Select group (to select specific preference groups), Audience (to choose segments), and Geofencing rule (to select a geofencing area).

To know more in detail about each of these options, kindly refer to our guide “Understanding Targeting Rules for Push Notifications.”

These rules allow for personalized and targeted communication with users, increasing the effectiveness of push notifications.

However, when creating a CSV or transactional (API) based campaign you will notice that the “targeting rules” tab is missing. This is because:

• CSV-based campaign exclusively targets the users listed in the CSV file, eliminating the need for additional targeting options.
• On the other hand, transactional (API) based notifications sent to individual users in real-time based on specific events or actions. Hence, targeting options are not required in this case either.

6. Schedule Notification

When it comes to push notifications, scheduling plays a crucial role in delivering messages to users at the right time. The schedule notification options provide flexibility and control over when and how frequently notifications are sent. Whether you want to send a one-time notification for a specific event or set up recurring notifications to engage users over an extended period, these scheduling options allow you to fine-tune your messaging strategy. 

However scheduling notifications vary by notification type. Kindly refer to our guide “Types Of Push Notifications” to set up scheduling options based on the type of notification you’ve selected.

By utilizing these scheduling options effectively, you can ensure that your push notifications reach your target audience at the most opportune moments, increasing the chances of user interaction and conversion.

Other Options

› Sending Test Notifications: 

The "send test notification" option allows you to send a test campaign to a limited number of users, enabling you to evaluate and validate your notification before sending it to a larger audience. This feature is accessible in the top right corner of the campaign creation interface across all notification types.

To create a test campaign, simply click on the "send test notification" button while setting up your actual notification campaign. A popup window will appear, providing you with options for selecting test users. You can choose to send the test notification to all test users by clicking "send to all test users."

To select specific test users, navigate to the "segments" section and access the "User list" tab. Click on the name of the user you wish to include as a test user, and then check the "test user" option in the top right corner of the window that appears.

Alternatively, if you want to send the test notification to a specific user, you can enter their device ID or subscription ID in the designated field.

Once you have made your selections, click "send" to send the test notification to the chosen users. Additionally, at the bottom of the "send test notification" window, you can view a history of previously sent test notifications for reference and review. This feature allows you to thoroughly test and fine-tune your notifications before sending them to your desired audience.

› Duplicating a Notification Campaign: 

To quickly create a new notification campaign with similar settings as an existing one, you can duplicate the campaign. In the campaign section of the panel, locate the notification campaign you wish to duplicate and click on the three-dotted button next to it. From the options that appear, select "duplicate." 

This will create a copy of the campaign, including all its properties and configurations. You can then make any necessary modifications to the duplicated campaign while retaining the original campaign as a reference. Duplicating campaigns can save time and effort, especially when you need to create multiple campaigns with similar characteristics.

› Analytics

To access the analytics reports for your notification campaigns, navigate to the "Campaigns" section in the left menu. Locate the campaign you want to view the analytics for and click on the three-dotted button next to it. From the options that appear, select "Analytics." 

In the analytics window, you'll find comprehensive information and statistics about your notifications, including delivery stats, CTA clicks, failures, discards, as well as reports on notification center activity such as total clicks, inbox views, and inbox push views. 

Conclusion

Creating an Android push notifications campaign is a powerful way to engage and communicate with your app users. By following the simple steps outlined in this guide, you can craft compelling notifications and deliver them effectively to drive user engagement and enhance the overall app experience. Get started with your android push notification campaign today and reap the benefits of effective mobile communication.