Understanding Push Message Delivery and Audience Management in Salesforce MobileConnect

In mobile marketing, ensuring that your push messages reach the intended audience is crucial. However, sometimes the numbers can be confusing, especially when the failed message count exceeds the total audience size. Let's dive into a scenario to understand this better and explore how to manage these challenges effectively.

The Mystery of the High Failure Rate

Imagine you’ve launched a campaign targeting less than 4 million contacts. After the campaign, you notice the following statistics: 

• Delivered: 734,935 
• Failed: 5,759,239 

At first glance, it seems perplexing that the number of failed messages is significantly higher than the total audience size. Here’s why this happens:

Understanding Device IDs and Contact Records 

In Salesforce MobileConnect, the total number of delivered and failed messages is based on Device IDs, not individual contact records. A single contact can have multiple devices associated with them, each receiving or attempting to receive the push message. Therefore, the sum of delivered and failed messages can exceed the total number of contacts targeted.

Common Reasons for Delivery Failures

1) Disabled Push Notifications or Inactivity 

Many of the failed sends can be attributed to Android devices where Firebase returned the response "Requested entity was not found." This typically indicates that the user has either disabled push notifications on their device or has not engaged with the app in over 30 days.

If the app is installed but push notifications are disabled, the next registration payload from the app registers the opt-out when the user opens the app. If you send push notifications to the device before the user opens the app, the notifications will bounce, and Salesforce will opt the device out after three bounced messages.

2) Stale or Expired Tokens 

Google has implemented changes in how Firebase tokens are handled. Users who do not interact with your app for over a month are considered unlikely to use the app again, and their tokens are marked as "stale." After 270 days, these stale tokens are automatically expired by Google, and the device is opted out, rejecting any future sends targeting that Android device.

Salesforce attempts to send to stale or expired tokens three times before changing the status to opted out. If you attempt to send push notifications to these devices, the status "Not Found" and the service response "Requested entity was not found" will be returned in your tracking.

Super Messages and Failed Deliveries 

A common concern is whether failed push messages consume Super Messages. The good news is that Salesforce only consumes a Super Message for push notifications that are successfully sent to Apple or Google. Failed messages do not consume Super Messages, ensuring that your message credits are used efficiently. 

Building an Effective Push Audience List 

When creating a push audience list, it’s essential to understand the different status options available:

• Active: The device is currently active and can receive messages. 
• Inactive: The device is not currently active and cannot receive messages. 
• Deleted: The device has been removed and cannot receive messages. 

To ensure your push messages are sent to valid and active devices, you should filter your audience based on the Active status and ensure the Device ID is not null. This helps in targeting only those devices that are capable of receiving your messages. 

For more detailed guidance on creating successful MobilePush lists, refer to the Salesforce documentation.

Troubleshooting Failed Messages 

Push messages can fail for various reasons, including: 

• Expired APNS certificates
• Network failures 
• Incorrect audience targeting 
• Invalid AMPscript 

To troubleshoot these issues, ensure your APNS certificates are valid, refresh your audience, and validate your AMPscript with a smaller test audience. For more detailed troubleshooting steps, refer to the Salesforce troubleshooting guide. 

By understanding these aspects of push message delivery and audience management, you can optimize your mobile marketing campaigns and ensure your messages reach the right audience effectively. If you have any further questions or need more detailed guidance, feel free to reach out!

Useful Reading:

MobilePush FAQs: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=sf.mc_mp_FAQ_product.htm&type=5

Requested entity was not found' error - MobilePush Sends not received by Android devices: https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=002277934&type=1

Best practices for FCM registration token management: https://firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging/manage-tokens#stale-and-expired-tokens