Building and Optimizing a Notification System and Infrastructure

If you're reading this, you likely understand how important it is to send timely notifications to boost user interaction and grow your business. Whether you're notifying users about new messages, upcoming events, or status updates, having a reliable notification system is crucial.

Creating a notification system in-house is challenging. It requires detailed planning, development, and ongoing maintenance. This article will break down the main parts of a notification system. By the end, you'll understand what’s needed to build one in-house, the challenges you might face, and what approach suits your company best.

Key Components of a Notification System

A well-functioning notification system has several key parts that work together. Here’s a look at each part:

1. Delivery Channels & Vendor Integrations:

Delivery channels are how notifications reach users. To maximize engagement, you need to support multiple channels like email, SMS, in-app messages, push notifications, WhatsApp, Slack/Teams, and automated calls. Integrating with these channels can be complex, requiring vendor evaluation, API integration, service quality checks, and fallback strategies.

1. Templating Engine:

A notification system must create messages that fit each channel. Emails might include detailed information, while SMS should be brief. Push notifications can include multimedia and interactive elements. Managing templates involves handling copywriting, personalization, branding, dynamic content, multilingual support, and testing. A visual editor for non-engineers can help manage these templates.

1. User Preferences:

Proper targeting helps avoid notification fatigue and keeps users happy. Users should have control over what notifications they receive, how often, and through which channels. You need an easy-to-use interface for users to set their preferences, including types of notifications, channels, frequency, and timing. Allowing users to opt in or out of notifications helps prevent them from blocking all communications.

1. Batching & Digest:

For some notifications, grouping several alerts into one message can be better than sending multiple separate alerts. For example, if there are several comments, it’s better to batch them and send them together. Summary digests can also be sent at user-preferred intervals (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly) to keep users updated without overwhelming them.

1. Multi-Tenancy Support:

If your system serves multiple customers, it needs to handle multi-tenancy. This means isolating data, customizing notifications for each customer, and supporting branding and preferences for each tenant. For example, a SaaS platform sending invoices needs to use the customer’s branding and preferences in notifications.

1. Notification Analytics:

To improve notifications, you need to track their performance. Metrics like delivery rates, open rates, and user engagement are crucial. Different channels have different tracking methods, so standardizing how you measure user actions is important for effective analysis.

Non-Functional Aspects of Notification Systems

Reliable and efficient notification services also depend on several non-functional components:

1. Scalability & Load Balancing:

Notification services must handle varying levels of traffic. Ensuring scalability helps manage increased loads without performance issues. Load balancing across servers and regions keeps the service available and responsive.

1. Fault Tolerance, Redundancy, & Failure Retries:

To avoid downtime, the system must have redundancy and failover plans. This includes managing state, using fallback vendors, controlling request rates, and retrying failed notifications when appropriate.

1. High Deliverability:

Ensuring notifications are delivered successfully involves managing multiple channels, choosing reliable vendors, and handling bounce rates. Keeping channels clean and active improves deliverability.

1. Low Latency:

Notifications should arrive quickly. Minimizing delay involves optimizing delivery routes, reducing network trips, and improving database queries. Continuous efforts are needed to maintain low latency as the system grows.

1. Observability & Diagnosis:

Monitoring and diagnosing issues are essential for smooth operation. Implementing detailed logging, error tracking, and performance monitoring helps identify and resolve problems quickly.

1. Message Queue Prioritization:

Not all notifications are equally important. High-priority notifications, like authentication alerts, should be sent immediately, while less urgent notifications, like newsletters, can be delayed. Prioritizing messages helps manage queue efficiency and control costs.

Deciding to Build or Buy

After understanding the components, you need to decide whether to build a notification system in-house or use an existing solution:

When to Build:

• Simplicity: If your notification needs are minimal and infrequent, a simple integration or a basic central service might work.
• Custom Needs: For highly specific requirements that third-party solutions can't meet, building a custom system is better.
• Core Product: If notifications are central to your product, having full control through an in-house system may be necessary.

When to Consider Alternatives:

• Resource Constraints: Limited engineering resources might make it more efficient to use existing services.
• Time to Market: Using third-party solutions can speed up development and launch.
• Complex Features: Established platforms often offer advanced features like workflows and cross-channel communication.
• Focus on Core Competencies: Using external services allows you to focus on your main business rather than the complexities of notification management.

SuprSend is designed to handle the complexities of notification orchestration for you.

As an engineering leader, consider your company's needs, resources, and long-term goals when deciding whether to build a notification system in-house or use a third-party solution. The goal is to create a seamless and engaging user experience.

Check out more of our engineering insights here:

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