Well-written and well-timed notifications can significantly improve your response rates. Sending multiple, engaging reminders throughout your fieldwork helps keep your brief visible and encourages more community members to participate.

⚠️ Important

Launching a brief does not automatically send email or mobile notifications to your community.

Notifications must be created, scheduled and sent manually from the Launch section of your brief.

If no notifications are sent, participants will only discover the activity when they next open the app or receive another communication. For the best response rates, we strongly recommend sending an initial notification when the brief goes live, followed by reminder notifications throughout the fieldwork.

Before You Send

• ✅ Make sure your brief has been fully tested and launched before sending any email or mobile notifications.
• ✅ Remember that launching a brief does not notify participants automatically. Email and mobile notifications must be sent or scheduled manually.
• ✅ Check that your incentive has been set up (if applicable) before notifying participants.
• ✅ Ensure your brief title, introduction and reward messaging are final, as these should align with your notifications.

Default Notification Templates

When creating a brief, platform automatically generates default Email and Mobile Push notifications that can be used. 

You can find these under: Launch -> Email or Push Notification

Best Practice: Update the default templates - tailor it to your brief.

• ✅ Tailor the message to match your brief topic.
• ✅ Make it engaging and relevant to participants.
• ✅ Clearly explain why participants should take part.
• ✅ Mention the reward (if applicable).
• ✅ Add urgency where appropriate (e.g. limited time, final chance, limited spaces).

Non-English Communities

⚠️ The default notification templates are not automatically translated.

If your brief is in another language, make sure you update both the Email and Mobile Push notifications with the correct translated text before launching.

Writing Effective Notifications

Good notifications are:

• ✅ Short and easy to read.
• ✅ Relevant to the activity.
• ✅ Clear about what participants need to do.
• ✅ Focused on the benefit of taking part.
• ✅ Written to encourage participants to open the app immediately.

Consider mentioning:

• Reward or incentive
• Chance to influence products or services
• Limited places available
• Time remaining to participate
• Exclusive opportunity
• Estimated completion time (if short)

Scheduling Notifications

• ✅ Send your first notification as soon as the brief goes live to maximise visibility.
• ✅ Schedule your notifications carefully. Consider when participants are most likely to engage and ensure notifications are delivered during appropriate daytime hours in their local time zone. Avoid sending notifications late at night or very early in the morning.
• ✅ Schedule reminder notifications throughout the fieldwork to encourage participation from members who haven't yet responded.
• ✅ Send a final reminder shortly before the brief closes to create urgency.

Getting the Best Response Rates

• ✅ Use both Email and Mobile Push notifications whenever possible to maximise reach.
• ✅ Refresh the wording of reminder notifications rather than sending the same message repeatedly.
• ✅ Mention the reward in both the notification and the brief introduction (where applicable).
• ✅ If responses begin to slow down, send another reminder rather than waiting until the final day.

Tailor Your Notifications

The examples below are generic templates designed to provide inspiration.

Best Practice: Always customise your notifications to match your brief topic, target audience and incentive (if applicable). Topic-specific notifications are more engaging and typically achieve higher response rates than generic messages.

For example:

❌ Generic

Mobile

📢 New activity just dropped! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

✅ Better – Topic-Specific

Mobile

🍕 Help us choose our next pizza flavour! Complete our 3-minute survey and receive a £1 PayPal reward.

✅ Better – Another Example

Mobile

✈️ Tell us about your recent travel experience and earn £2 for taking part!

Example Notification Templates

The examples below are generic templates. Use them as a starting point and tailor them to suit your brief topic, audience and incentive.

Example Mobile Push Notifications

New Brief (No Reward)

Option 1
📢 New activity just dropped! We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Option 2
👋 Your opinion matters! Open the app to take part in our latest survey.

Option 3
✨ New questions are waiting for you. Join the conversation today!

New Brief (With Reward)

Option 1
💷 Complete this brief and receive a £1 PayPal reward!

Option 2
🎉 A new paid activity is now live! Share your feedback and claim your reward.

Option 3
💰 Your next reward is waiting! Open the app and take part today.

Reminder

Option 1
⏰ Don't forget! Your survey is still waiting for you.

Option 2
👋 We'd still love your feedback! Complete the activity before it closes.

Option 3
📱 You still have time to take part—open the app now!

Final Reminder

Option 1
🚨 Final chance! This activity closes soon.

Option 2
⏳ Last opportunity to earn your reward!

Option 3
⚡ Don't miss out! Complete your survey before it disappears.

Example Email Notifications

New Brief (No Reward)

Subject: We'd love your feedback!

Hi,

We've just launched a new activity and would love to hear your thoughts.

Your feedback helps shape future products and services, and we'd really appreciate your participation.

Open the Bulbshare app to get started!

New Brief (With Reward)

Subject: 💷 New paid survey available!

Hi,

A new paid activity is now available for you.

Complete the brief and receive your £1 PayPal reward once you've successfully finished.

Open the Bulbshare app and take part today!

Reminder

Subject: Don't forget to complete your survey!

Hi,

Just a friendly reminder that your survey is still available.

We'd love to hear your thoughts before it closes.

If you're eligible, you'll also receive your reward once you've completed the activity.

Open the Bulbshare app to take part.

Final Reminder

Subject: ⏳ Final chance to take part!

Hi,

This is your last opportunity to complete this activity before it closes.

Don't miss your chance to share your feedback and, if applicable, receive your reward.

Open the Bulbshare app now to participate.

Need Help?

If your response rate is lower than expected, consider sending additional reminder notifications or updating your messaging. If you believe notifications are not being delivered correctly, please contact the Support Team, who will be happy to investigate and help maximise engagement with your brief.