What Are Push Notifications on Facebook?
Push notifications are alerts that pop up on your mobile device, even when you are not actively using the Facebook app. They allow Facebook to notify you in real-time about activity happening on the platform that is likely to be relevant or interesting to you.
Some common examples of Facebook push notifications include:
- Someone commented on your post or photo
- Someone liked your post or photo
- Someone tagged you in a post or photo
- You have a new message or friend request
How Do Facebook Push Notifications Work?
Technically speaking, push notifications are delivered from Facebook‘s servers to a Push Notification Service. This service then sends the alerts to your mobile device operating system (like iOS or Android), which triggers the notification on your phone:
This allows notifications to bypass the Facebook mobile app and get delivered directly to your home screen. Tapping on the notification typically opens the Facebook app so you can view the related content or respond.
Native OS Integration
Facebook leverages the notification services built into each mobile operating system:
iOS
The Facebook iOS app registers with Apple Push Notification service (APNs). All notifications get routed through APNs servers before appearing on the user‘s iPhone or iPad.
Android
Likewise, the Facebook Android app registers with Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) which handles the final delivery to Android devices.
By integrating closely with the native notification frameworks, Facebook can ensure reliable, quick delivery across billions of devices.
No App Required
A key advantage compared to in-app notifications is that push notifications do not require the Facebook app to be open in order to be delivered. As long as your OS settings permit Facebook notification delivery, alerts come through regardless of whether you have the app open in the foreground or background.
This capability enables Facebook to engage users even when they are not actively browsing their feeds and catch their attention regardless of what other apps are in use.
Benefits of Push Notifications
For Regular Users
For regular Facebook users, the main benefits of enabling push notifications include:
- Staying updated in real-time on the latest activity from friends/family
- Quickly responding to time-sensitive messages or event invites
- Joining interesting conversations early before they move on
Without push notifications, you would need to manually open the Facebook app constantly to check for new notifications. That can be very tedious and delays your ability to respond.
Table showing benefits of Facebook notifications for consumers:
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Real-time Activity Updates | Receive alerts about new comments and interactions without delay |
| Urgent Response Capability | Enables quick replies to time-sensitive messages or invites |
| Conversation Immersion | Can participate actively in discussions from the start |
Push notifications bring Facebook conversations and connections closer to the experience delivered by real-time chat apps. Yet they avoid the fatigue of always-on messaging channels.
For Businesses & Creators
For businesses, creators, and community managers, Facebook push notifications provide immense value as well:
- Notify followers instantly about new content or products
- Drive traffic and engagement on important posts
- Encourage users to take actions like claiming offers or limited deals
- Stand out in crowded newsfeeds where organic reach is declining
Well-timed, relevant push notifications are a proven way for brands strengthen connections with their audience. With over one billion daily active Facebook users, that reach is invaluable – but only if messaging respects the user‘s experience.
Table showing benefits of Facebook notifications for businesses:
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Announce New Content | Alert users immediately about newly published media |
| Increase Engagement | Prompt users to actively like, comment on posts |
| Drive Conversions | Get users to tap and take action on special offers or events |
| Rise Above Rivals | Draw attention against declining organic visibility |
Facebook‘s Motivations
Beyond the obvious benefits to users, why is Facebook so invested amplifying its use of notifications over email, texts and in-app alerts?
As one of the world‘s richest sources of user behavior data, Facebook has immense interest in notifications as both an engagement driver and real-time information feed.
Maximizing Engagement
While Facebook engagement metrics nosedived following recent Apple privacy changes, notifications remain a rare direct channel to users. As feeds become more algorithmic and less viral, notifications help counter the decline.
Facebook has described its notifications capability as similar to having "our own messaging platform, on a channel that we control."
Control being the operative word. Notifications – especially when enabled broadly – provide Facebook with an always-on activity detection system.
Monetizing Attention
Notifications also offer highly targeted opportunities for monetization. Facebook extensively conducts experiments matching notification efficacy to ad outcomes.
"We find that notifications can be used to influence offline purchases, donate money, and affect electoral voting" – Facebook VP Product Growth
Granular data on exactly what messages and formats best capture user attention offers incredible value to Facebook and its paying advertisers.
How to Enable Facebook Push Notifications
Enabling push notifications is simple on both iOS and Android devices:
On iOS:
- Open the Settings app
- Select Notifications
- Scroll down and select Facebook
- Toggle Allow Notifications on
On Android:
- Open the Facebook app
- Tap the More Options button (three-line hamburger menu)
- Choose Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications
- Toggle Allow Notifications on
You can customize the types of push notifications to receive in your Settings.
Best Practices for Businesses
While push notifications are extremely powerful for reaching customers, brands need to be careful not to annoy users with spammy alerts.
Here are some tips:
- Only send notifications that provide real value to users
- Keep your notifications brief yet descriptive
- Limit your notification frequency to 2-4 times per week at most
- Always give users the option to disable notifications
Relevant, personalized notifications based around new products, limited deals, or exclusive content perform the best.
Facebook also provides guidelines on creating notifications people love:
❌ Don‘t send too many notifications
❌ Don‘t send notifications users didn‘t ask for
✅ Keep notifications relevant and timely
✅ Use emojis and imagery
Push Notification Statistics
As notifications become more deeply embedded across our devices, some data highlights how pervasive they have truly become:
- 80% of smartphone users have push notifications enabled as of 2022, up from 64% in 2018 (Source)
- Average American receives 63.5 app notifications per day (Source)
- 58% of users report disabling an app‘s notifications due to irrelevance (Source)
- 97% open rate for transactional Facebook push notifications (Source)
The following table highlights the breakdown in volumes across some of Facebook‘s notification options:
| Notification Type | Monthly Volume |
|---|---|
| Likes | 5 billion |
| Comments | 1 billion |
| Shares | 1 billion |
| Messages | 500 million |
With billions of notifications in play every month, both users and Facebook itself must closely analyze engagement signals to determine ideal frequencies. Too many unwanted distractions easily trigger prompt disablement from frustrated users.
Notification Case Studies
Viber
Global communications app Viber effectively leverages notifications to facilitate free calls, chats, shopping and more for its one billion-plus users.
Some notification highlights:
- Personalized promotional alerts help grow new service adoption
- Around 2 notification per user per week to avoid fatigue
- Localized notifications increase relevance
"For Black Friday promotions, we used geo-targeted notifications leading to a 300% increase in clicks" – Viber VP Growth
Wish
Counter to Viber‘s measured approach, ecommerce upstart Wish took an aggressive route – bombarding users with multiple notifications per day.
This mercenary approach triggered immense customer frustration:
"I just received 14 notifications from the wish app in less than 20 minutes. I thought my phone was vibrating with a phone call at first."
Eventually Wish was forced to scale back amidst a mountain of 1-star reviews centered around what users dubbed "notification spam."
Key insight: While notifications represent a alluring channel for user engagement, restraint is required to build sustainable adoption. Abusing notifications tanks loyalty faster than nearly any other marketing tactic.
The Future of Push Notifications
Looking ahead, with mobile device usage plateauing, messaging channels proliferating, and engagement declining across social media, push notifications seem likely to only increase in importance.
As alternatives like email, texts and in-app notifications exude passiveness, the interruptive, unavoidable nature of push notifications earns them greater prominence in capturing user attention.
At the same time, weariness of perpetual alerts looms large. Facebook along with mobile platforms like iOS and Android may need to explore more granular user controls over notifications.
Potential directions include:
- Scheduling notification quiet hours
- Increased personalization and intelligence
- Additional target devices like tablets, watches and connected TV
- Further integration into messaging apps
As notifications become an ever-present aspect of our digital existences, the aligned tradeoff between value and distraction will continue its delicate dance. Users, developers and networks share joint custody of this balance.
Appendix: Notification Terminology
Push notification: Mobile alerts delivered from app servers directly to user devices via a persistent channel with the native operating system. Do not require the app to be open.
In-app notification: Messages that appear only within an opened app via badge icons or message boxes. Require the app to be open to be seen.
Local notification: Notifications scheduled directly within an app that do not utilize external servers. Seemingly coming from the app itself.
Provisional notification: Pre-permission notifications used to obtain user approval to receive push notifications (or location data) after an app is installed.
