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Feature Guide: Announcements
Feature Guide: Announcements

Learn how to send or pre-schedule Announcements and push notifications

Daniel Murphey avatar
Written by Daniel Murphey
Updated over a week ago

The Announcements feature lets you easily notify all of your attendees about last-minute changes and important reminders, and it's great for driving traffic to Event App features. 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.

Screenshot of a mobile push notification that says "Programs, Aspects, and more at your fingertips. Check out the full program, speakers, exhibitors, and more in the app!"

This article shows how to create and customize announcements, and it also provides an overview of the attendee experience.

Create and customize announcements

In your Event navigation bar under 'Event App', click Announcements to open the Announcements page, then click the New Announcement button.

💡 Keep in mind, you must first publish your Event App before you can access the Announcements page.

Screenshot showing the process just described.

In the modal that appears, enter the following information:

Screenshot of the New Announcement modal with numbers corresponding the numbers in the list below.

  1. From - Select who the message will appear to come from. Choose to send it using 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. 😄

  2. To - Send the announcement to all attendees, or select specific attendee subsets from the drop-down:

    1. Select one or more groups for a more personalized and targeted announcement.

    2. Send an announcement to all attendees who have a specific Session in their personal agenda when you need to move or cancel it.

  3. Message - While there's no character limit, we recommend you keep the announcement brief. Do your best to convey the most important information within the first 150 characters so that mobile users can read it without tapping the push notification.

  4. 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'.

    1. Internal Links lead to areas inside your Event App. This provides easy navigation to related 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.

    2. 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.

  5. Send - Decide to send the announcement immediately, or schedule it to be sent at a specific date and time.

    1. Selecting Send Now sends the announcement to all attendees in the app once you click 'Send Announcement'.

    2. 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.

  6. 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.

Two screenshots. Once shows the new announcement indicator on the Web App. The other shows a push notification on a mobile device.

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.

Screenshot of a list of Announcements on the Web App.

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's Metrics tab to learn how people are interacting with them. 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! 😎

Questions? Chat Us or Email support@socio.events

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