Smartwatches enable users to take immediate action, eliminating the need to pull out a smartphone, enter a passcode and open an app. While smartwatch notifications offer the benefit of being interactive, savvy marketers will need to make sure they create succinct, contextual experiences to guide users as the screen size is so small and the devices are still new. 

?At first glance, it seems reasonable to assume that the take up of the smartwatch and the usage would be attractive to marketers for notifications, as the selling point for consumers at the moment is all around functionality ? particularly the ability to show notifications from your phone,? said Emma Crowe, chief of client strategy at agency Somo. ?No need to take your phone out of our pocket because your tweets are right there, leave your mobile in your desk drawer because your emails come straight to your wrist.  

?Taking notifications as a function on its own, the early usage drivers will mainly be applicable to brands where wearable technology breaks down barriers to the overall customer journey, or where gathering information is key through wear e.g. payment, health and travel,? she said. 

?To extend beyond this, brands need to understand their usage within app and current use of push notifications on the mobile phone before they look at smartwatch and its impact into the overall ecosystem.?

A number of marketers have already jumped on to the notifications opportunity with Apple Watch, including Target, Fandango, Expedia (see story). 

Many of these brands are already mobile marketing leaders who are hoping to build a relationship with early adopters. 

In contrast, most marketers continue to struggle with building an effective notification strategy given the proliferation of devices and tactics, including SMS, email, push notifications, in-app messages and beacon-triggered outreach. 

With smartwatch adoption still on the low side, many marketers are taking a wait-and-see approach. 

However, with the introduction of the Apple Watch, adoption is likely to begin to take off. 

?Now that Apple loyalists have an option to bring their favorite brand to their wrists, it?s almost certain that smartwatch adoption is about to take off,? Ms. Crowe said. 

?However, although Apple Watch will drive the wearables market in 2015, to drive this mass adoption it will need a killer app,? she said. "This could be around a utility function for instance payment (Apple Pay), or one that breaks down barriers and frustrations for the consumer such as the ability to check-in from your whilst you?re travelling.

?There is no avoiding the fact that the smartwatch will have an impact into the overall mobile landscape, as it is expected to be one of the biggest drivers of the wearables sector with Apple Watch accounting for 40 percent of the wearables market in 2015.? 

Per Ms. Crowe, the top five takeaway for marketers looking notifications on smartwatches are: Create an integrated, 360-degree contact strategy; do not recreate a phone notification strategy as use cases can be very different; Use insights about how an audience is engaging with current push notifications on phones as a base; create seamless journeys, and make sure notifications are relevant, add value and reduce barriers. 

Urban Airship, which already offers support for Android Wear notifications, claims to be the first third-party support for Apple Watch notifications. 

Recently, the company introduced a smartwatch notifications inspiration guide highlighting some of the ways marketers can use smart watch notifications to engage consumers 

One strategy is to spur a user into action in the real world. For example, an airline could send a message with the gate information for a passenger's upcoming flight.

Another way to use notifications is to enable users to consume a piece of content such as breaking news. 

Still another way is to enable users to take an action on mobile, such as by informing someone that their wish list items are on sale.  

 

By integrating a customer own shopping list with in-store beacons, big retailers can use notifications to guide customers through the aisles to help them find what they are looking for. 

 

When preordering is available, watch notifications can alert users when their order is ready, and inform store associates via beacons when a customer is in range.

 

One of the unique features of the Apple Watch is the Taptic Engine that produces haptic feedback. This means the watch will ?tap? users on the wrist whenever they receive an alert or notification. 

The result is that notifications are more subtle to the outside world but more clear to users because they will feel the notification versus having to hear a ping on their phone. 

?We think notifications and more specifically smartwatches will be a game changer for brands,? said Bill Schneider, director of product marketing at Urban Airship. ?In the words of Tim Cook, ?it?s not with you, it?s on you,? indicating that the relationship we have to our devices and by definition our digital access to the brands we care about will change forever.

?Now brands will have the ability to reach out to their customers? with a subtle taptic tickle to the wrist,? he said. 

?One thing is clear: because of how personal and immediate the watch is, the bar to provide messages that truly matter has been raised. This can manifest as real-time alerts on a news story, frictionless check-in to a hotel room, or getting shipping updates on a product they just bought.?