There are always going to be new ways to reach your target audience. Facebook has come up with a new app to do just that.
A new app was launched a standalone iOS today that allows a selected group of publishers access to people’s lock screens, and it’s called “Notify.” The new app will push alerts to people’s mobile phones and serving headlines through the day. Users will be able to customize their selections by subscribing to media sources, also called “stations,” of specific content from those sources. The content that users will receive are all independent of Facebook, and when they swipe or tap, they will be taken to the link in the app’s mobile browser.
Users will be able to sign into the app with their Facebook credentials, and are given suggestions about sources to follow based on the interests found within their Facebook profiles.
“People have different ways they want to consume information,” Facebook product director Michael Cerda told Re/code. “Search is one way. Social is another way. And we think push notifications might be yet another. We see that as an evolving medium and want to be a part of that.”
There at least 70 media organizations, which includes BuzzFeed, the New York Times, Entertainment Tonight and People magazine, who are all on board to experiment with this new app. Publishers will be able to served their notifications either manually through a Facebook-built portal, or automatically by tying into an API.
If you’re a publisher and you’re interested in getting access to Notify, you can check out this sign-up form.
“We are starting with a set of partners while we learn more about how people interact with the product,” a Facebook spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “We also plan to work closely with our partners to gather their feedback and make improvements, with a goal to open up to more partners in the future.”
The app is available today from the Apple app store for US users.