Push notifications are those short, timely messages that pop up on your phone or browser – sometimes a friendly nudge, sometimes an irresistible offer. They’re direct to your users, cutting through email and social media noise.
However, not all push notifications are created equal. The best ones feel personal, helpful, and well-timed – not annoying spam.
Alternatives?
- SMS marketing – Best for time-sensitive information but may be perceived as intrusive.
- Email marketing – More detailed, but typically lost among cluttered inboxes.
- In-app messaging – Works great for active users but doesn’t deliver to those who don’t open the app.
What makes push notifications special
- Push notifications have a typical open rate of 40%, while that for email is 20%.
- Apps that use push notifications achieve a 190% retention increase in 90 days.
- 50% of users open push notifications within one hour of receiving them.
- Customized push notifications can increase conversions by as much as 9x.
It’s all about timing
A well-timed push notification resembles a friend tapping you with great news. But get it wrong, and you’re just another annoyance.
Push notifications need to provide value, not annoyance. If your message won’t help, alert, or charm the user, it’s not worth sending.
How brands are keeping their users hooked
Starbucks wanted to drive traffic on off-peak days and treat customers like royalty. They took a hyper-personalized push notification campaign to the next level, using customer preferences and location information to push targeted offers. For example: “Hi Alex, it’s a chilly morning! Treat yourself to a Pumpkin Spice Latte on us. Valid in your local store until noon.”
This resulted in a 16% increase in off-peak customer visits, a 12% boost in average order value, and increased customer loyalty and retention.
On the other hand, Duolingo aimed to reduce app churn and get users to complete their language lessons. They introduced streak-based push reminders, reminding users to complete their daily lessons. For example: “Don’t break your 5-day streak! Your Spanish lesson awaits.”
This resulted in a 50% daily active users increase, a 40% increase in users repeatedly completing lessons, and improved app store ratings with improved engagement.
Avoiding mistakes
Challenge: Notify too often? People get angry and opt-out. Notify too rarely? People forget about you.
Resolution: Use behavior triggers – alerts based on the user’s activity instead of a predefined schedule.
- Test different times: Find out when your audience is most active.
- Allow users to control preferences: Let them decide how often they want to be alerted.
Check you’re doing it right
- Personalize messages using names, past behavior, and location data.
- Don’t send at weird hours; send when users are most likely to reply.
- A bit of personality can make notifications stand out.
- Keep it brief. Less than 50 characters is ideal.
- Test various messages to determine what works best.
