Selecting your audience

You can send messages to your total audience or just a section of users.

When you create a message, you select your audience, which is both:

  1. The ChannelsA communication medium supported by the Airship service. Supported channels include app, web, email, SMS, and Open Channels. Within some channels there may be specific platforms with individual characteristics. Example platforms include Chrome for the web channel and Android for the mobile app channel. you want to send your message to.
  2. The users on those channels who you want to receive your message.

Your options for selecting channels and users varies based on the composer used to create the message.

ComposerAPI endpointChannel selectionUser selection
Message/pushRequiredRequired
A/B TestUsed to send variants of a message to cross-sections of your audience. Each variant in the test returns data to help you determine the most effective ways to engage your audience. A/B tests support up to 26 variants and a control group per test./experimentsRequiredRequired
AutomationA set of conditions that your audience must meet before they receive a message./pipelinesRequiredDetermined by its TriggerAn event that initiates an automation, sequence, scene, or survey. and conditions.
SequenceA series of messages that is initiated by a trigger. Airship sends messages in the series based on your timing settings, and you can also set conditions that determine its audience and continuation. Sequences can be connected to each other and to other messaging components to create continuous user experiences in a Journey.Not supportedRequiredDetermined by its TriggerAn event that initiates an automation, sequence, scene, or survey. and conditions.
In-App AutomationMessages that are cached on users’ devices and displayed when your users meet certain conditions within your app, such as viewing a particular screen or opening the app a certain number of times. ,
SurveyQuestion-and-answer experiences used to collect and aggregate feedback or generate a net promoter score. They are cached on users’ devices and displayed when your users meet certain conditions within your app, such as viewing a particular screen or opening the app a certain number of times. , SceneMulti-screen experiences that are cached on users’ devices and displayed when your users meet certain conditions within your app, such as viewing a particular screen or opening the app a certain number of times. Scenes can include survey questions or be presented as a story.
Not supportedApp channel only, so there is no channel selectorRequired. Determined by the selected users and its TriggerAn event that causes an in-app automation, scene, or survey to appear to your audience. and conditions.
Apple NewsA news aggregator for iOS and MacOS. An Apple News notification is a push notification that links to an Apple News story. Apple News notifications are available to select publishers. If you are interested in sending Apple News notifications, please contact your Airship Account Manager.Not supportedApple News channel only, so there is no channel selectorN/A. Apple News messages are delivered through the Apple News app. This audience is defined by Apple.

In the Message, A/B Test, Automation, In-App Automation, Survey, and Scene ComposersA tool for creating messages using the dashboard. Composers are defined by what you can include and control: message types, delivery, and automation. , you select channels and/or triggers in the Setup and Audience steps. For Sequences, you make these selections when configuring the trigger or when you create each message in the sequence.

Automation example:

User selection is represented as:

Selecting an audience in the API

In the API, you select the channels you want to send your message to with the device_types array, and the users you want to send your message to using the audience selector object.

Basic audience selection
{
    "device_types": [ "ios", "android", "sms" ],
    "audience": {
      "tag": "needs_a_greeting",
      "group": "new_customer"
    },
    "notification": {
        "alert": "Hello!"
    }
}