Web Push is in the closed pilot phase. If it is of interest to join the pilot when further customers are added, please register your interest with your Emarsys Client Success Manager. The details below are for the current capabilities of the feature, however, we plan to release updates before it enters a general release stage.
This article provides you with information for setting up Web Push notifications to user groups across multiple browsers.
1. Web Push tab
To check the existing Web Push Messages, go to Channels->Mobile Engage->Web Push tab. On this tab you can see details of all your web push messages listed with their Name, Recipient source, Status, Domain name, number of messages Sent, the date it was Created and last Changed.
Clicking the delete is a hard delete action. It means that the delete action is irreversible and will delete the Push message permanently.
1.1. Recipient Source
A Push message can have one of the following Recipient sources:
- Automation Center – Sends push messages from an Automation Center program.
- Using a segment – Sends push messages to a standard Emarsys segment.
1.2. Status
A Push message can have one of the following statuses:
- In design – Some content or settings are still missing.
- Tested - Test message has been sent but not launched yet.
- Ready to launch – Not activated yet, but ready to launch.
- Launched - Campaign has been launched
2. Creating a new push message
Click Create Push Message in the Push Messages tab to open the message creation wizard. Emarsys offers a very intuitive workflow for creating new push messages. These are presented in the form of the following main steps:
Scheduling step is only available if the recipient source is using a segment.
2.1. Message settings
Define the General settings of your brand new push message campaign (or rename your existing one).
General settings
- Message name – You can name (or later rename) your push message to identify the campaign on the Push Messages tab.
- Domain name – You can select the domain on which you want to display your message notification. You can send your message only to one domain. Only domains already associated with your account are listed here.
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Recipient source – Define the target audience of your message. For options, see Recipient source.
- Segment – You can select a pre-built segment, if you are using a segment for your recipient source.
2.2. Recipient source
The options for Recipient source are as follows:
- Automation Center – Sends push messages from an Automation Center program.
Web Push Message can only be used in an Automation Center or Interactions Program if the Recipient Source is set to Automation Center and the Push Message is launched. After the Push Message is launched, it can be selected in the drop-down menu of the Mobile Engage node in Automation Center. If the Push Message is not yet launched, then it will not show up in the drop-down.
- Using a segment – Sends a push message to a standard Emarsys segment.
3. Content creation
In the Content creation step you have several tabs to use for defining the content of your push message campaign and also the Preview pane to add text/media. The tabs in the Content Editor are the following:
3.1. Adding text and rich media
To add text to the push message, type the text directly into the Preview pane available on the right hand side of the screen.
Rich media is attached to the push message by following the steps below:
- Click on the Media Icon at the bottom right of the push message.
- Click on Open Media DB.
- Click on the plus icon to the right of the image you wish to add to the push message.
- Click Apply
3.2. Personalization tab
Use the Visual Content Editor (VCE) to add new content (personalized token) to the push message field.
You can add a personalized token to your push message, as follows:
- Use the dynamic search field to find the required personalized token.
- Alternatively, you can select a token from the following categories:
- Capabilities: Contact data (General, Personal, Company, Other)
- Use Cases: External, First Name, Voucher
- Alternatively, you can select a token from the following categories:
- Drag the selected token over onto the Preview pane and drop it to the field where you want.
3.3. Web Push Settings
Use the Web Push Settings function to add a destination URL for when the contact clicks on the push message.
3.4. Languages tab
You can add and remove languages. Use the dynamic search field to find the requested language or select it from the drop-down list then click Add.
Add any new languages and write the message content in that language. Languages which are not shown here will receive the content in the browser default language.
You can delete languages as well, but a default language is mandatory.
If you add a language but it has no content, those customers will also receive content in the browsers default language.
3.5. Testing a push message
Click Test Messages button on the left.
In the appearing Send Test Message window, you can specify an email address or contact list to which a test message will be sent.
The test email address must be a valid address in your Emarsys database, associated with a known device.
For sending the test message to a contact list or segment, the maximum number of contacts allowed in the contact list is 50. This is to mitigate the risk of sending to a large audience by accident.
If sending of the test message fails, a red warning message appears on the screen. The reasons for this could be the following:
- No contact has been found in Emarsys database with the given email address.
- The email address has been found, but there is no device associated to it.
To test your message, click Save & Send.
Click Next step to continue to the Scheduling step.
Scheduling step is only available if the recipient source is using a segment.
4. Scheduling
When you have tested your message, and the recipient source is using a segment you can continue to the Scheduling step.
On this screen, the number of users in the applied segment are displayed.
In the Scheduling section, you can either select Launch now for immediate action, or you can define a specific date and time in the future and click Schedule. Scheduling launches in the future is available to all kinds of recipient sources except the Automation Center.
When a message is scheduled for launch, the contents of the message are still editable right up until launch and can even be deleted. If the message content is deleted for any additional language, the default language will be used; if that is empty no message will be sent.
