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

The default templates are generic, so we recommend updating them before sending.

Customise each notification to:

• ✅ Match the topic of your brief.
• ✅ Make the activity engaging and relevant to participants.
• ✅ Clearly explain why participants should take part.
• ✅ Mention the reward, if applicable.
• ✅ Include the estimated completion time, particularly if the activity is short.
• ✅ Add urgency where appropriate, such as limited spaces, limited time or a final deadline.

For example, instead of a generic message such as:

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

Use a message that relates directly to your brief:

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

Topic-specific notifications are usually more engaging than generic messages.

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

Effective notifications should be:

• ✅ 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 and participate.

Depending on the activity, consider mentioning:

• The reward or incentive.
• The opportunity to influence products or services.
• Limited places available.
• The time remaining to participate.
• An exclusive opportunity.
• The estimated completion time.

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 your reach.
• ✅ Change the wording of your reminders instead of repeatedly sending the same message.
• ✅ Mention the reward in both the notification and the brief introduction, where applicable.
• ✅ If responses begin to slow down, consider sending another reminder rather than waiting until the final day.
• ✅ Make each message relevant to the brief topic whenever possible.

Example Notification Templates

The following templates are starting points only. Always customise them to match your brief topic, audience, completion time and incentive, where applicable.

Mobile Push Notifications

New Brief - No Reward

Option 1: 📢 A new activity is now live! Open the app and share 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 take part and receive your reward!

Option 3: ⚡ Don’t miss out! Complete the survey before it closes.

Email Notification Templates

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.

Complete the brief and receive a £1 PayPal reward once you have successfully finished.

Open the Bulbshare app and take part today!

Reminder

Subject: Don’t forget to complete your survey!

Hi,

This is a friendly reminder that your survey is still available.

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

If a reward is available, you will receive it after successfully completing the activity and meeting the reward requirements.

Open the Bulbshare app to take part.

Final Reminder

Subject: ⏳ Final chance to take part!

Hi,

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

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

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.