/cs-notification-strategy

name: "\"cs-notification-strategy\""
description: "\"Design push notification and messaging strategies including channel selection, timing optimization, personalization, and fatigue management. Use this skill when the user needs to improve notification engagement, reduce opt-out rates, plan multi-channel messaging, or A/B test notification content — even if they say 'our push open rates are low', 'users are unsubscribing', 'when should we send notifications', or 'which channel to use for alerts'.\"."
allowed-tools: Read, Glob, Grep

Notification Strategy

Framework

IRON LAW: Every Notification Must Earn Its Send

Each notification interrupts the user. If it doesn't deliver clear value
to the RECIPIENT (not to your business), it erodes trust and drives
opt-outs. Before sending: "Would the user thank me for this notification?"
If no → don't send.

Channel Comparison

| Channel | Open Rate | Speed | Cost | Best For | Limitations | |---------|----------|-------|------|----------|-------------| | **Push notification** | 5-15% | Instant | Free | Time-sensitive, action-needed | Easy to opt out, limited text | | **Email** | 15-25% | Minutes | Low | Detailed content, receipts, newsletters | Spam filters, slow | | **SMS** | 90%+ open | Instant | $$$ | Critical alerts, OTP, urgent | Expensive, intrusive, regulatory | | **In-app** | 25-40% | Next session | Free | Feature announcements, tips | Only reaches active users | | **LINE/Messenger** | 40-60% | Instant | Free-$ | Conversational, Taiwan/Asia | Platform dependency |

Timing Optimization

| Audience | Best Time | Worst Time | |----------|----------|-----------| | B2C general | 10-12 AM, 7-9 PM | 12-6 AM, during commute | | B2B | Tue-Thu 9-11 AM | Weekends, Friday PM | | E-commerce | Thu-Sat (pre-weekend shopping) | Monday AM | | Breaking/urgent | Immediately | N/A |

**Timezone rule**: Send in the RECIPIENT's timezone, not yours.

Personalization Tiers

| Tier | What | Example | Lift vs Generic | |------|------|---------|----------------| | **None** | Same message to all | "Check out our sale!" | Baseline | | **Segment** | By user group | "As a premium member, you get early access" | +20-30% | | **Behavioral** | Based on past actions | "The item in your cart is almost sold out" | +40-60% | | **Individual** | 1:1 personalized | "Hi [Name], your favorite [Product] is back in stock" | +60-80% |

Fatigue Management

| Signal | What It Means | Action | |--------|-------------|--------| | Open rate declining | Content losing relevance | Improve targeting/content | | Opt-out rate > 0.5%/send | Sending too much or wrong content | Reduce frequency, segment better | | Uninstall spike after push | Notifications are driving users away | Immediately reduce volume | | Click rate declining but open rate stable | Subject lines good, content disappointing | Improve content/offer quality |

**Frequency caps**: Set maximum notifications per user per time period:

• Push: max 3-5/week
• Email: max 2-3/week (marketing), unlimited for transactional
• SMS: max 2-4/month

A/B Testing for Notifications

| Element | What to Test | Example | |---------|-------------|---------| | **Subject/title** | Length, tone, emoji, personalization | "Your order shipped 📦" vs "Order #1234 is on its way" | | **Timing** | Hour of day, day of week | 10 AM vs 7 PM | | **Content** | Short vs detailed, image vs text-only | 20 words vs 50 words | | **CTA** | Button text, action type | "View" vs "Track Now" | | **Channel** | Push vs email vs in-app for same message | Same content, different channel |

Output Format

# Notification Strategy: {Product/Campaign}

## Channel Mix
| Message Type | Primary Channel | Fallback | Frequency |
|-------------|----------------|----------|-----------|
| {type} | {channel} | {backup} | {max/period} |

## Segmentation
| Segment | Notification | Personalization Tier |
|---------|-------------|---------------------|
| {segment} | {content} | None/Segment/Behavioral/Individual |

## Timing
| Segment | Send Time | Day | Timezone |
|---------|----------|-----|---------|
| {segment} | {HH:MM} | {day(s)} | {user's TZ} |

## Fatigue Rules
- Max push: {N}/week
- Max email: {N}/week
- Opt-out threshold: {%} → action: {reduce/pause}

## A/B Test Plan
| Test | Variant A | Variant B | Metric | Sample |
|------|----------|----------|--------|--------|
| {test} | {A} | {B} | {open rate / CTR} | {N users} |

Gotchas

• **Permission is a privilege**: iOS requires explicit opt-in for push. Ask at the RIGHT moment (after the user sees value), not at first launch. First-launch permission requests get 40-60% opt-in; contextual requests get 70-80%.
• **Transactional vs marketing**: Order confirmations, shipping updates, and security alerts are transactional (expected, high open rate). Marketing promotions are interruptive (optional, lower open rate). Never mix them in user perception.
• **LINE in Taiwan is unique**: LINE has 95% penetration in Taiwan. LINE Official Account messages have 60%+ open rates — significantly higher than email or push. Prioritize LINE for Taiwan audiences.
• **Rich push is underused**: Push notifications can include images, action buttons, and deep links. A rich push with "View Order" button converts 3-5x better than a text-only push.

References

• For LINE notification setup, see `references/line-notification.md`
• For email deliverability optimization, see `references/email-deliverability.md`