The Announcements feature lets you easily notify some or all of your attendees about anything! Schedule announcements to go out at a specific time, or simply send them right away. Attendees receive push notifications directly on their mobile devices, and the web version displays a red indicator on the Announcements feature to let attendees know there's a new announcement.
This article shows how to create and customize announcements, and it also provides an overview of the attendee experience.
💡 Keep in mind, you must publish your Event App before you can access the Announcements page.
Create and customize announcements
In your Event navigation bar under 'Event App', click Announcements.
Click the New Announcement button.
💡 Keep in mind, if you have a lot of planned announcements to schedule, consider importing them.
In the modal that appears, enter the following information:
From - Choose who the message will appear to come from. Select the event name, or select the name of one of your sponsors to send an announcement on their behalf.
💡 Keep in mind, only profiles created in the Sponsors feature appear in the 'From' field. If you want to send announcements from exhibitors, simply add your exhibitors to a Sponsor feature. No one will know the difference. 😄
To - Send the announcement to all attendees, or select specific attendee subsets from the drop-down:
Select one or more groups for a more personalized announcement.
Send an announcement to all attendees who have a specific Session in their personal agenda when you need to move or cancel it.
Message - While there's no character limit, we recommend you keep the announcement brief. Do your best to convey the most important and unique information within the first 150 characters so that mobile users can read it without tapping the push notification.
Link (optional) - Clicking or tapping an announcement that's internally or externally linked takes the user directly to the link destination. Click the drop-down and select 'Internal' or 'External'.
Internal Links lead to areas inside your Event App. This provides easy navigation to related features, information, and items, creating an intuitive experience for attendees. Read our Internal Links article for more information.
💡 Keep in mind, announcements can't be linked to Web Link features or Video Rooms.
External Links lead to areas outside your Event App such as a website. The website opens when an attendee taps the announcement or push notification in the app. Read our External Links article for more information.
Send - Decide whether to send the announcement immediately, or schedule it for a specific date and time.
Selecting Send Now sends the announcement, you guessed it, right away. 😄
Selecting Scheduled Time automatically sends the announcement at the date and time you choose.
💡Keep in mind, the 'Scheduled Time' option uses the time zone you set on the Event Location tab when you created the Event.
Click Send Announcement or Schedule Announcement when you're done.
Announcements in practice
When you send an announcement, an indicator appears next to the Announcements tab in the features panel. Mobile App users receive a push notification.
Web version users can click the Announcements feature to open a list of announcements that they can interact with. Mobile App users simply tap on the notification to open the announcement.
Clicking or tapping an announcement that's internally linked or externally linked takes the user directly to the link destination.
Metrics
After you've sent an announcement or two, review the Feature Comparison chart on the Event App Metrics page to learn how people are interacting with announcements. Metrics include:
Views
Date & Time
Clicks
To learn about all of the additional data points in the Export section of our Metrics article, export the Metrics.
Pro Tips! 😎
Consider showcasing your announcements on Live Display!
Read the Announcements Best Practices article for our best tips on sending useful announcements!
Questions? Chat with us or email support@socio.events.