how to lose your audience with bad push notifications.
I just sent in this feedback to the DFW NBC app team
NBC Dallas Fort-Worth (Mobile App) Feedback
The push notification camel has scoliosis at this point.
- local murders/rapes/violence every day? (If it bleeds, it leads?)
- “dog on a roof, how did he get there”? Did I need to know that? (How fast can I unsubscribe from ‘Offbeat’? Oh wait. It’s an all or nothing fire hose.)
- the location based weather updates when I’m not in the Area. Vacationed at the Great Lakes in MICHIGAN recently and was getting local weather for there. That is not what I signed up for when downloading the NBCDFW app. It made it clear to me that the forecast wasn’t coming from a local source, just some API somewhere. Why would I want that when i have Carrot Weather and Dark Sky for that?
The NBC5 app doesn’t have to do everything. It certainly shouldn’t beat LinkedIn/Twitter/Facebook in the number of push notifications I get. But if that were the goal, they should at least be tailored. The algorithms of the social networks are terrible, thy lead to divisive angry culture; but they usually send push notifications that are relevant.
I came for “The Tornado” Rick Mitchell hijinks/weather (and actual local news) and it’s like someone got hold of the push notification button that doesn’t even have the app installed.
This is your notice. You have till the end of the week to shape up or I’m shaking the apps and hitting the X.