We are very happy to introduce BLOX Notifier, an application that helps streamline, manage and automate social and push notifications within the BLOX CMS platform.
BLOX Notifier was made for local media organizations
Organizations can reach out with their content and place it in front of users who are looking for news on other platforms.
Readers gain a feeling of personalization by signing up for the topics and categories they want.
Although some platforms may have associated fees (such as Email Reach and SMS List), TownNews is offering the BLOX Notifier application for free, to help media sites be more successful with audience retention and engagement.
Six target platforms are supported
Currently, there are six different target services or platforms that can be used to create a Notifier channel.
Twitter: Allow Notifier to promote on a variety of Twitter accounts.
Facebook: Post content through Notifier on connected Facebook pages.
Email Reach: This application keeps lists and can send scheduled emails, or automated bulletins from within BLOX Notifier.
SMS List: SMS List is a tool much like Email Reach, except with SMS texts. SMS messages can be used to reach iOS users who don't have a native app and who use Safari mobile (which doesn't support web push notifications). There is a fee associated with a private SMS number and a per-text fee to send SMS messages.
Web push notifications: These are small overlay messages which appear on the end users' browser, as long as they have given permission.
BLOX Now App app push notifications: These are notifications that are delivered to the end user's phone, as long as they have your BLOX Now App installed.
Webhooks: Webhooks are custom endpoints which update with Notifier push notifications. They can be used to create integrations with external services.
Manage notifications within the BLOX CMS Editorial interface
With BLOX Notifier, you can create, edit and manage messages associated with an asset by viewing its "Notifier" tab. Here, all pending scheduled messages are available along with messages that have already been sent.
In order to read and send notifications, non-site administrators will need to have BLOX Notifier permissions. It is recommended that reporters have "read notifications" and possibly "send notifications." Site administrators would have "change settings."Â
Create trigger rule sets to automate workflow
In BLOX Notifier, channels can be created which contain one or more target platforms. Each channel can have its own rule set for sending out notifications or social pushes automatically, using a web service API that is extremely fast (compared to RSS or other technologies).
Automatic rule sets can be created to send out breaking news automatically, sports updates or even updates for a specific reporter or columnist.
