Today we’re excited to announce the launch of Notifications. This new feature allows easy integration of Notifications into your campaigns without writing a single line of code. Unlike Push Notifications that are sent by a server, Local Notifications are initiated by an app. Both iOS and Android users are alerted with standard banners whenever a campaign that targets them is triggered.

Since Notifications are already configured inside your app through the Beaconstac SDK, they work seamlessly even when there is no Internet connection available. Marketers can easily create effective proximity marketing campaigns using Local Notifications and alert users with relevant offers for better conversions.

Survey shows 47% consumers would want a retailer to send a coupon to their smartphone when they are in-store or nearby. With Beaconstac, a retail marketer can offer discount coupons to their store visitors who have been around say, the Shoes section for more than 3 minutes.

How it works

To use this feature, download the latest version of Beaconstac SDK and follow these steps:

1. Head to the Local Notifications section inside Beaconstac Dashboard and click on the ‘Add a Notification’ button.
2. Give a Title and a Message to your Notification. By default, all notifications appear with a dismiss option, but you can add a custom call-to-action. Besides a regular website link, a call-to-action link can be a deep link inside your app or a third-party app.
3. Save the Notification and move to the Rules section. Select (or add) your desired Rule and scroll down to the ‘Set Actions’ section.
4. Pick ‘Local Notification’ from the Action Type dropdown and select the Notification that you created in step 2. Save the Rule and that’s it!

Android Customizations

For Android users, Local Notifications can be customised by using a promo image and custom icons. Once an image is uploaded, Beaconstac automagically converts regular notifications into rich notifications. To deliver a truly native experience, Beaconstac is integrated with Google’s Material Design icons – simply select an icon to see it tied to the notification without writing any custom code!

Working with cards

With this update, we are allowing Cards to be sent out as Local Notifications, which lets users receive an alert even when their smartphone is locked.

Since Local Notifications do not depend on servers, your app users are guaranteed to receive timely and relevant alerts. Its lightweight nature makes it an amazing mode for communicating with users.

Lastly, Local Notifications are integrated with our demo apps for both Android and iOS. To see it in action, simply download the app and modify pre-configured rule actions on Beaconstac dashboard. We’d love to hear your feedback – feel free to comment below.

Useful links:

1. Cocoapod Docs
2. Android Docs
3. Beaconstac Dashboard