Notifications are how you communicate with learners about their training assignments. Plan the timing of your notifications strategically to keep learners engaged and on track—and do so before creating your campaign notifications. Use this article to think through how many messages to set up, and how to time them.
Notification Frequency
When deciding on how frequently to send notifications, consider your learners’ schedules, your organization’s communication patterns, and the urgency of your training content.
Some admins find it helpful to first map out their notification schedule in a document—prior to finalizing timing in the campaign interface.
Understanding Days Before and After
Notifications operate on calendar days, with campaign start date as Day Zero (0).
- Days before start is the number of days before the campaign start date.
- Days after start is the number of days after the campaign start date.
- Days before due is the number of days before the assignment due date.
- Days after due is the number of days after assignment due date.
Scheduled notifications are delivered early morning Pacific Time, so factor time zones into your planning if your organization spans multiple regions. For example, if you set a notification for “0 Days before start” for a campaign beginning January 1st, learners will receive it early in the morning on January 1st.
Recommended Notification Schedule
Each campaign needs a Welcome notification to get learners started and a Completion notification to wrap things up. Your main tools for keeping learners engaged are Reminder and Past Due notifications.
Depending on the duration of your campaign, we suggest that you set up a number of notifications to keep learners aware of their training assignments:
- Welcome notification: Set up one notification for 0 days before the start.
- Reminder notifications: Set up individual reminder notifications to go out weekly throughout the campaign, with one or two additional notifications at the end.
- Past Due notifications: Set up individual past due notifications to go out weekly after the due date passes. These notifications should cover a time period at least twice the length of the campaign. For example, for a one-week campaign, set up two past due notifications, one per week for two weeks.
- Completion notification: Set up one completion notification to be sent upon campaign completion.
For sample notification schedules that cover a variety of campaign durations, from 5-day campaigns to 60-day campaigns, read how to Plan a Campaign Notification Schedule.
If you need to change notifications in a campaign after you’ve deployed it, read about Adding, Modifying, or Deleting Notifications in an Active Campaign.