This article provides information on the recommended steps to migrate from an old web push provider to Emarsys.
Contents
Transferring from previous provider
If this is the first time your organisation has used Web Push notifications, please move onto the Developer integration guide. If you are transferring from another provider, there are important points to consider when planning the migration.
Emarsys does not support importing tokens from previous providers for either Safari or VAPID browsers. The reasons are provided below.
VAPID Tokens
Emarsys does not support importing VAPID tokens. Until the contact returns to the website after migrating to the Emarsys web SDK, the previous providers SDK will still be in use. If the previous providers SDK is not compatible with the Emarsys web push message structure, the campaign may not be displayed correctly or not at all if tokens were imported.
Safari Tokens
Emarsys does not support importing Safari tokens. The challenge with importing Safari tokens is that even if the APNS certificate added to the Emarsys account is the same used when collecting the token, the Safari package installed on the browser would remain controlled by the previous provider. The result would be that any interaction event on a Safari push message would be sent to the previous provider from the browser, as well as the title would be controlled by the previous provider. The recommended method to gather tokens of Safari users would be to collect them organically, meaning, allow the Emarsys SDK to collect them when it is live on the site.
Steps to migrate from a previous provider
When implementing the Emarsys web SDK and Service Worker, please generate a new VAPID key and APNS certificate. This will ensure a new push token is generated and therefore, during the migration period, the risk of duplicate push messages being received by the contact will be mitigated when sending from both old and new providers at the same time.
The first step is to implement the Emarsys web SDK and Service Worker onto the website, by following the implementation guide. Followed by removing the previous providers web SDK and Service Worker.
The next step is to drive the contacts back to the website when the Emarsys web SDK and Service worker is live. To achieve this, it is possible to use any channel preferred, it is also possible to use the old web push provider. If you send a web push campaign using the old provider, all the contacts that have not visited the website since the web SDK's have been switched will still receive the push campaign. When the contact then clicks on the push campaign and returns to the website, the Emarsys web SDK will be loaded and the push token for the user will be sent to Emarsys. The contact will not be requested to provide push permission again (i.e. there will not be a pop up), as the push permission is set on the browser settings for the domain. To ensure the push token is set to Emarsys, please use the subscribe method detailed in the integration guide.
In Summary, the high level steps are confirmed below:
- Generate a new VAPID key and APNS certificate.
- Implement the Emarsys web SDK and Service Worker.
- Remove the old providers web SDK and Service Worker.
- Drive traffic to the website, using any channel and/or the old web push provider.
- As contacts visit the site, your web push audience will build and the push tokens will be stored in Emarsys. You can use segmentation with the criteria of 'web push equals true' to see your audience size.
- When the web push audience has reached an acceptable mass, stop sending using the old provider. The length of time this will take is different per company, and therefore Emarsys cannot provide an estimated length of time.