Push Notifications

Push notifications deliver dunning messages directly to a customer's device — whether they are using your mobile app or have your web app open in a browser. They are ideal for re-engaging customers who may not check email frequently.

When to Use Push

Push notifications are most effective when:

• Your customers primarily interact with your product through a mobile app
• You want an immediate, high-visibility touchpoint
• Email and SMS have not driven engagement
• You need a zero-cost messaging channel (no per-message fees)

Push works well as a middle step in a multi-channel campaign:

• Step 1: Email with full payment details and update link
• Step 2: Push notification 24 hours later as a quick reminder
• Step 3: SMS as a final escalation

Setting Up Push

Prerequisites

Before using push notifications in campaigns, you need to integrate push into your application:

1. Register your app — Configure your push credentials in Settings > Channels > Push. You will need:

   • iOS: Apple Push Notification service (APNs) certificate or key
   • Android: Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) server key
   • Web: VAPID keys for Web Push API

2. Collect push tokens — Your app must request push permission from users and send the resulting device tokens to LostChurn via the API. Tokens are stored against the customer record.

3. Handle token refresh — Device tokens can change over time. Your app should send updated tokens to LostChurn whenever they are refreshed.

Verifying the Integration

After configuring push credentials, send a test notification from Settings > Channels > Push > Send Test. Enter a device token or select a test customer to verify delivery end to end.

Creating Push Templates

Navigate to Campaigns > Templates and click New Template. Select Push as the channel.

Push templates have two fields:

Both fields support personalization variables. Keep messages short and action-oriented since push notifications are displayed in a constrained UI.

Example Push Templates

Payment reminder:

• Title: "Payment update needed"
• Body: "Your {{amount}} payment for {{product_name}} didn't go through. Tap to update your card."

Subscription at risk:

• Title: "Don't lose access to {{product_name}}"
• Body: "Update your payment method to keep your subscription active."

Best Practices

Content

• Lead with the most important information in the title
• Use clear, direct language — push notifications are scanned in seconds
• Include a call to action ("Tap to update", "Open to fix")
• Avoid repeating the same message across channels; vary the copy

Timing

• Push notifications are time-sensitive — send them during active usage hours
• Configure quiet hours to avoid sending overnight
• Space push notifications at least 24 hours apart to avoid notification fatigue

Permissions

• Not all customers will have push enabled — LostChurn gracefully skips the step if no valid push token exists
• Respect platform-specific opt-out mechanisms (iOS Settings, Android notification channels)
• LostChurn honors the customer's communication_preference for the Push channel

Delivery Tracking

Push notification delivery statuses:

Note that Opened tracking is not available for push notifications. Use Clicked (tap-through) as your primary engagement metric.

Platform Considerations

iOS

• Notifications are grouped by your app automatically
• Rich notifications with images require an iOS Notification Service Extension
• Badge counts can be configured in your push credential settings

Android

• Notifications are delivered via FCM and appear in the notification shade
• Notification channels (introduced in Android 8.0) let users control notification behavior per category
• High-priority messages are delivered immediately even in Doze mode

Web Push

• Works in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari (macOS Ventura and later)
• Notifications are delivered even when the browser tab is closed (but the browser must be running)
• Web push has lower engagement rates than native mobile push

What's Next

• Email Campaigns — Use email as your primary outreach channel
• WhatsApp Campaigns — Add WhatsApp for conversational recovery
• Creating Campaigns — Combine push with other channels in a multi-step flow