Smart notification management describes systems used to push, moderate, and operate smart notifications. Smart notifications are any notifications that are automated through the use of artificial intelligence algorithms that decide the appropriateness and use time for notifications.
Smart notifications are usually based on factors including behavioral data, ecosystem data, smart timing, smart location, and smart grouping. These factors are chosen to make notifications that sound more human and come at the right time, as opposed to system notifications that act as an inbox of notifications.
Smart notification management is often used to describe push notifications for personal devices such as smartphones, but it also applies to industry technology that notifies personnel according to certain criteria. This includes heating and cooling systems, air quality controls, electrical monitoring, vehicle surveillance, and more.
One of the most used tools for smart notifications comes in the form of smartphones, with Apple and Samsung each having their own notification platforms that allow third parties to send alerts to users. Apple's Apple Push Notification (APN) service is an example of a cloud service that allows third parties that are installed on Apple devices to send push notifications from remote servers to users over secure connections. These notifications save user battery life and allow brands and companies to send consumers and users information whenever they are on their phone, not just when using said application or site.
Customer relationship management (CRM) tools have begun to utilize smart notifications in a number of ways to connect consumers and grow loyalty among their user base. The ability to send messages directly to users' mobile devices gives companies increased ability and flexibility in their messaging and gives another source of customer data. As a result, smart notifications are effective at optimizing longer sales cycles, capturing target audiences, and building customer loyalty.
Context-based messaging is a key to smart notifications, in that it uses a person’s device information in order to send a message to an appropriate device rather than send a message to all of a user's relevant message applications. This can reduce the emails or messages a person receives. For example, a user on their computer receives a notification or message only on the computer they are using, rather than having the message redundantly sent to the computer, as well as a smart phone, tablet, or smart watch.
These notifications are based on the opportunities to use notifications in a way to discover things around a user. One example is Google’s Nearby service, which uses push notifications to help a user see contextual environmental data, such as a notification to download the United Airlines app for in-flight entertainment while waiting at a gate before board boarding begins.
These notifications also include the use of geodata from a connected or smart device in order to understand what a user is doing and what notifications a user may find relevant. Relevancy can be further developed through understanding a user's history of interests and behaviors.
Location-based notifications can also be used to notify a user of where a driver or delivery person is in real-time. Similarly, location-based notifications can be used either in store to greet people to a store and provide information for ongoing promotions, or to provide a user with the location of a store in order to bring them in for a promotion.
Part of smart notifications is also understanding whether a recipient of a message has read the message, email, or notification, for either work-related reasons or for marketing purposes to glean what types of notifications drive engagement with a product.
Read reports exist on many messaging services already, but the smart notifications allow a user to receive the read receipts on other platforms. For example, a user could receive a notification of an email being read through Slack.
Internet-of-Things compatibilities have raised the level of use in smart notification management. Aside from standard mobile devices, IoT devices open the available channels for brands to connect to users. Devices such as smart watches, smart speakers, and smart monitors are all examples of devices that can be used by smart notification management platforms to deliver alerts, news, and other information to users.
Context-based messaging can also be used with IoT platforms in order to understand information, either through smart-healthcare, smart-industries, smart-cities, and smart-transportation. These services can include relevant notifications based on a user's connection, such as a person waiting for a bus or train being notified of a delay or being given the exact location and timetable of that bus.
The majority of smart notification systems utilize push notifications, or sent notifications from third-party applications that alert users over secure connections. Push notifications operate in contrast to pull notifications, which continually poll developers' servers in order to determine if new information occurs. Pull notifications require continuous connection, which increases energy usage and allows a security layer between the notification developer and user.
Push notifications have shown a clear advantage in retaining customers, with studies showing that mobile app push notifications can double retention rates. The Kahuna Mobile Marketing Index found that the 30-day audience retention rate increases by 125% when push notifications are used. Additionally, Localytics reported that compared to non-push notifications, push notifications more than double the level of engagement.
