Creating Mobile Push Notification Creatives

About Mobile Push Notification Creatives

A push notification is a message that is sent from a mobile app to a mobile device. A user does not have to be using the mobile app or using their device in order to receive a push notification. They do have to opt in to receive push notifications from your mobile app. Push notifications are typically used to encourage users who are not currently using their mobile app to take a desired action.

Consider these best practices when you create a push notification creative:

• Provide a title that is an attention-grabbing summary of the default message.
• Write a message that encourages the user to open your mobile app. For example, you might invite the user to open your mobile app to see a new personalized offer or to take a tour of new experiences in your mobile app.
• Include an appealing or informative image to provide a more engaging experience for the mobile app user.
• Personalize the message (for example, by including the user’s name).

The appearance of a push notification varies depending on the user’s mobile device and how the user interacts with push notifications. When you create a push notification, two views are displayed: initial (unopened) and expanded (opened). These views enable you to visualize what the push notification might look like on a user’s mobile device. Here is an example of the two views of a mobile push notification creative:

Push Notification Views

The supported file formats for images that are included in push notification creatives are .jpeg, .jpg, and .png.

Add a New Creative

You can design a new creative that is automatically added to the task. Open the task and follow these steps:

1. Hover over the content pane and click Edit.
2. Depending on whether the task already has a creative, select one of these options:
   • New creative
   • From the list of creatives, select Add moreMake a creative
   • From the list of creatives, select Change content to replace the message and its creatives.
3. (Optional) Add a title.
   TipYou can personalize the title by clicking to add a variable. To assign a value to the variable later, click Personalization.
   Note: The maximum recommended number of characters for a title is 128. If the notification includes an image, the maximum recommended number of characters is 55.
4. Enter the message that you want.
   TipYou can personalize the message by clicking to add a variable. To assign a value to the variable later, click Personalization.
   Note: The maximum recommended number of characters for notification text is 256. If the notification includes an image, the maximum recommended number of characters is 55.
5. (Optional) Click to add an image. In the Select Image window, select one of these options:
   • Select From Assets and click to select a static image from the Assets repository in SAS Customer Intelligence 360.
   • Select From URL and enter a URL.
     Note: The URL must reference a publicly available image for the creative to render correctly.
   • Select From Frontify to select an image from your Frontify account. If you have not authenticated with Frontify before, follow these steps:
     1. Click .
     2. Sign in to Frontify through the authorization window.
     3. Click Allow Access to enable integration between Frontify and SAS Customer Intelligence 360.

     Use Frontify's content browser to select an image, and click Choose.

6. From the Notification action drop-down list, select the instruction that you want to pass to the application so that the application knows what to do when the user taps a notification. For example, for a calendar application, the action might be to instruct the application to open when a user taps a reminder.

   To link to a specific location in the application, select Link in application. Enter the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) that is provided by the application developer. A URI is an instruction in the form of a string. In some cases, the URI might be in the form of a link, but in other cases, the URI represents an action to be taken.

   Note: The mobile SDK does not automatically open the app to the location specified by the URI. The developer must provide the necessary code for the app to carry out the desired action.
7. (Optional) Update the name of the creative.
8. (Optional) Update the location of the creative.
   Note: This option is displayed only if folders are enabled for your tenant.
9. If the Code field is editable, you can enter a code that can be used to identify or track the creative. For example, the code can be used to integrate with external systems. Valid characters for codes are alphanumeric characters, multi-byte characters, numerals, underscores, hyphens, and periods. This value does not need to be unique.
   Note: Depending on the settings for your tenant, you might be able to edit this value. Editing this value can be useful if you want to match the code for this creative with another item.
10. When you are done updating the creative, select Ready from the list in Creative status. The creatives must have a ready or active status to activate the task.
    Note: Refresh the task to see the creative's updated status.

Add an Existing Creative

You can select existing creatives or an existing message to add to the task. You can also edit some of the creative content. Open the task and follow these steps:

1. Hover over the Content section and click Edit.
2. Depending on whether the task already has a creative, select one of these options:
   • Existing creatives
   • From the list of creatives, select Add moreSelect an existing creative
3. Select the creatives or message.
   Note:

   • Selecting creatives and messages in one task is not supported. You can either add one message or one or more creatives.
   • If you selected a creative that includes a variable for personalization, select the merge tag for the variable by clicking Personalization from the Content section.
   • Adding more than 50 creatives to a task can negatively affect performance.
4. (Optional) Update the title. If the title contains a personalization variable, set the merge tag by clicking Personalization from the Content section.
   Note: The maximum recommended number of characters for a title is 128. If the notification includes an image, the maximum recommended number of characters is 55.
5. (Optional) Update the message. If the message contains a personalization variable, set the merge tag by clicking Personalization from the Content section.
   Note: The maximum recommended number of characters for notification text is 256. If the notification includes an image, the maximum recommended number of characters is 55.
6. If the Code field is editable, you can enter a code that can be used to identify or track the creative. For example, the code can be used to integrate with external systems. Valid characters for codes are alphanumeric characters, multi-byte characters, numerals, underscores, hyphens, and periods. This value does not need to be unique.
   Note: Depending on the settings for your tenant, you might be able to edit this value. Editing this value can be useful if you want to match the code for this creative with another item.
7. When you are done updating the creative, select Ready from the list in Creative status. The creatives must have a ready or active status to activate the task.

Edit a Creative

You can edit a creative that is included in the task.

1. Hover over the content pane and click Edit.
2. Select the creative that you want to edit.
3. Edit the creative.
   Note: If the creative that you add is used in other tasks, you cannot edit it from the task. To edit it, open the creative from the Creatives page. If you want to continue editing the creative in the task, you can save a copy of it.

Personalize the Creative Content

You can personalize the content to improve the customer experience.

• You can add a creative that contains a merge tag or variable. If your creative contains a variable, select the appropriate merge tag by clicking Personalization from the Content section.
• When you create a creative from within a task, you can add a personalization variable to it. To add a variable, click . You can change the variable name by updating the text within the braces. Before activating the task, assign a merge tag to the personalization variable by clicking Personalization from the Content section.

See Also

• Personalizing Content
• Prerequisites for Using Merge Tags

Example: Offer a Discount to New Customers

In this example, customers sign up for a program that offers childcare supplies. A personalized welcome message invites each new customer to open an application and receive a discount.

First, build a creative that contains the merge tags.

1. On the navigation bar, click ContentCreatives.
2. Click . 
3. Select Mobile Push Notification.
4. In the Notification text field, enter this text:

   Dear ,
   Welcome to the Club for Excellent Parents! 
   Here is a discount toward your first purchase.

5. Place the cursor after Dear and click .
6. In the Select Merge Tag window, select a merge tag named New Customer. In this example, the site has a customer table that contains customers who have signed up in the past 24 hours. A New Customer merge tag retrieves content from the table. For more information, see Importing Customer Data in SAS Customer Intelligence 360: Administration Guide.
7. In the Default value field, type Valued Customer. Click OK.
8. In the Notification action drop-down list, select Open application.
9. Click Done.
10. Click . Enter a name for the creative, and then click Save.

Add the creative to a message container.

1. On the navigation bar, click ContentMessages.
2. Click . 
3. Select Add Existing Creative.
4. Select the creative that you created and click Done.
5. In order to be pushed, a creative must be active. In the creative, click and select Mark Ready and Publish.

Add the message to a task that performs the push notification.

1. On the navigation bar, click Tasks.
2. Click . 
3. Select Push Notification.
4. Select Bulk to deliver messages at the same time.
5. Select an application name and click Create task.
6. Open the task. Hover over the Content section and click Edit. Add the message that you created.
7. Hover over the Send Options section and click Edit. Enable Limit total impressions per user and set the Total impressions to 1 so that a customer sees the offer only one time.
8. Hover over the Targeting section and click Edit. Choose a segment, imported list, or transient list that targets customers who have signed up during the past 24 hours.
9. Hover over the Send Options section and click Edit. Enable Set a schedule and select Recurrence. Click and ensure that no end date is set.
10. Click Review to ensure the task has all of the information required to activate, and then click Activate.

When the task becomes active, a discount offer is made every day to customers who have signed up during the past 24 hours.