6 Tips For A Smart Push Notification Strategy
It’s a big, big world out there; and people want that world within their own hands, having it right under their thumbs. In fact, Deloitte’s recent research on global consumer trends shows that more than 33% of people check their phone within 5 minutes of waking up.
And about 20% continue to check their phones once about every 20 minutes. It may sound perfect but there are millions of apps competing with each other for such attention when users actually spend their time mostly on just 5 favourite apps. When it’s already challenging enough to get people download and launch your app, keeping them active and engaged turns out to be the real battle. This is where the push notifications comes into play. But again, you have to play it smart.
Here are 6 rules for a Smart Push Notification Strategy:
1. Make them personal
Getting attention from your audience with mass communications has lost its potency. Push notification is now one of the most effective tools for actively engaging your customers. But you have to tailor notifications to meet users’ needs and interests. The very first step to nail personalized push notification delivery is to start with your data. Collect profile data and in-app behaviors, and segments your users accordingly. Such segmentation will enable you to connect with your audiences in a powerful way. Then you can come up with customized, relevant and timely notifications that matter the most to a certain user segment.
2. Go beyond the usual suspects
This second step to your Smart Push Notification Strategy can create a real difference. Now that you know your users, you can craft your push notifications in the form of storytelling. Users are already bombarded with messages and alerts from a number of channels. You cannot afford the luxury of adding to that noise by just pushing out plain deals and sales messages. You have to separate yourself from the pack. With Rich Push Notifications, you can reach out to your audiences with rich notifications that include images, GIFs, maps, videos or interactive forms. At this point, ensure that you provide relevant, useful and compelling content that entertains and engages. And of course, deliver that content through right and preferred delivery method, which again you can figure out via your in-app analytics.
3. After all, timing is everything
Just because people are glued to their phones, it doesn’t mean that your app is to welcome to send push notifications 24 hours a day. In order to avoid angry users, you should deliver notifications to the ones in relevant time zones. After working that one out, you can narrow your focus to find micro moments. You can analyze when users are active or not and how they interact with your app. Reaching customers in right micro moments will lead to higher open rates and increased conversions.
When it comes to timing, finding the right balance is also as critical as time of day. The ideal frequency of notifications varies from one sector to another. But a few times a week or a month may be suitable. Just be aware that it’s no good sending too many alerts. But then, there are times that you certainly cannot miss the chance of engaging with your audience: holiday seasons and special days like Valentine Days, and Black Friday etc. On such days, you better add user data to the mix in order to leverage the effect of push notifications.
4. Always test!
Now that you get through this far, you have to measure the effectiveness of your push campaigns. With A/B testing, you can analyze how notifications perform. First, create a hypothesis: what type of push notifications your audience is more likely to respond. Then take different push notifications and run multiple tests. When you find the best variant that works, you can act on that data so that your future push notifications produce better results. You can formulate and execute a Smart Push Notification Strategy. It will make a significant impact on user engagement and increase conversion rates.
5. Take advantage of geofencing and beacons
Being at the right place at the right time is the name of the game. And it’s easier than ever with location-based technologies like geofencing and beacon management. These technologies allow you to target users in a certain area in timely manner. All you have to do is to designate a specific zone. And you’ll be notified when your users step in that zone. It will not only help you reach out to them in invaluable micro moments but also engage with them in a more effective ways. However, just because they enter a certain area, don’t bombard them with irrelevant pushes and unrelated promotions. But rather pair users’ data with their location in the real world. If your notification fits in that picture and makes a meaningful contribution, then deliver it. Then your customers will highly appreciate it.
6. Easy come, easy go
It’s better to ask users whether they would like to receive push notifications a couple of days later after they install the app. If you do it right away and they opt for a “no”, you may miss your chance once and for all. First salute your audience and show the greatness in your app with engaging automated push notification strategy in the first days. And then, highlight your intention to keep them in the loop with promotions and useful information etc. and increase the chance to keep your users.
What’s equally important is to make easy for users to turn off push notifications. Because if they cannot find a way to opt out of alerts, they will otherwise get frustrated and get rid of your app all together. So let them go and disable push notifications. You can catch them with in-app pop ups when they are already engaged and considering to take an action. And chances of success will be higher.
Congratulations! Now you know 6 tips for a Smart Push Notification Strategy and you are ready to go.
Original Article