Push campaigns: your message on your customer's lock screen

How does the message reach Apple Wallet and Google Wallet?

In Apple Wallet, BTAQA updates the pass and writes your message into a field on its back. The iPhone shows that field's text on the lock screen whenever it changes, through what Apple calls a change message (changeMessage).

In Google Wallet, BTAQA sends the message through Google's messages API, so the phone gets a notification and the message is added to the back of the pass. Your previous message is removed first, which keeps the pass tidy, while stamp and reward messages stay untouched.

Put simply: you write once, and both wallets receive it.

How long can a message be, and how often can you send?

A message holds up to 150 characters. Roughly the first 44 show on the lock screen, and the full text shows on the card. A character counter and a lock screen preview show you how it will look before you send, and warn you when you pass the visible length.

Google allows 3 notifications per pass in 24 hours, so BTAQA applies that same limit per card for both wallets, as a rolling window rather than a midnight reset. If you hit it, the page shows a countdown to your next send.

The limit is a ceiling, not a target. Too many notifications can lead customers to turn alerts off or delete the card, and the message people notice is the one that comes rarely. For a sense of the right pace, read how many push notifications you should send.

What should you send, and when does it work?

A message that works gives a reason to visit in the next few days, not a generic hello. Think about what changed at your place this week, and put it in one line a customer gets from the lock screen.

Each message goes to one card's holders. If you run two cards for two different services, you can write to each audience separately, and each card has its own window of 3 sends.

• A coffee shop: a new seasonal drink joined the menu this morning.
• A restaurant: a new family dish for the weekend.
• A car wash: after a dusty week, a reminder that the car has earned a wash.
• A beauty salon: open slots this week before the holidays.

What does the dashboard show after you send?

After you press Send Notification, the page shows how many notifications went out, and Last Notification Sent keeps the message text, its date, and the number next to Reached.

That number counts customers, not devices. A customer who holds the card on an iPhone and an iPad counts once, so you see how many people got your message, not how many screens.

The message reaches every cardholder who agreed to messages, however long the card's customer list is. If the send stops before any notification goes out, for example because nobody on that card has agreed to messages, the slot goes back to you and doesn't count toward your 3 sends.

How do campaigns fit with automated notifications and nearby reminders?

A campaign is a message you write and send when you decide. Automated notifications run on their own: a welcome, a birthday greeting, a win-back for customers who stopped visiting, and a review request. Both live on the same page, in the Send Notification and Auto Notifications tabs.

Nearby reminders need no send at all, because the phone shows the card when a customer gets close to your branch. A campaign reaches everyone wherever they are; a nearby reminder reaches whoever walks past you.

To see how this compares with an app or SMS, read how to send push notifications without a mobile app.