Engaging Push Notifications—the cornerstone of effective mobile app engagement. It’s what allows businesses to connect with users in real time, offering updates, promotions, and reminders. It’s the most immediate way an app can offer services or advertisements to its users. However, up to 30% of people uninstall apps because of excessive, irrelevant, or otherwise annoying notifications. More is simply not always better. And so the goal is clear: to promote your apps, you need to deliver meaningful notifications that actually enhance the user experience. There is, after all, a fine line between regular engagement and incessant annoyance.
Below, we’ll break down strategies you need to employ in order to optimize how you utilize push notifications.
Optimize Your Timing
While the content of the notification itself is of utmost importance, so too is the timing of when to send it. The same notification, sent at different times, can yield vastly different results! The right message sent at the wrong time can still annoy a user. Here are rules of thumb when developing a notification schedule:
1. Understand User Behavior
Analyze when people use your app the most. Most notifications will be sent during the weekdays, from 6 to 8 AM and 10 PM to 12 AM. This makes sense, as these are the hours when most people are off work. But that doesn’t mean you should follow such scheduling blindly. If your app is all about entertainment—such as, say, a mobile game—your users will most likely be most active at night. However, if your app is about productivity, then prioritizing the mornings may make more sense.
2. Time Zone Awareness
Global apps must always consider different time zones. A message sent at 9 AM in one region may arrive at 3 AM elsewhere—hardly an optimal engagement opportunity. While seemingly obvious, one would be surprised at how often app developers forget to consider this.
3. Frequency Control
Avoid overloading users. A few well-timed and quality notifications every week are far, far more effective than multiple messages a day. Most people will find such frequency incessant and intrusive, and, as said above, it is one of the most common ways to make users delete your app.
Engaging Push Notifications: Personalization Techniques
Generic notifications are easy to ignore—if not even make users annoyed. The more personalized notifications are, the more likely users will actually click on those notifications.
1. User Preferences
Always allow users to customize the type and frequency of push notifications from your app. While some notifications might be essential and cannot be controlled by the user, it’s still generally a good idea to give as much control as you can to your user.
2. Dynamic Content
Use data to craft notifications based on each user’s behavior. For example, if a user frequently uses it during a specific time period, send notifications around that time. Or if they usually engage with a specific feature, send updates or tips that enhance their experience with that feature. The more useful notifications are, the more users will appreciate and click on them.
3. Segmentation
One of the most common mistakes of app developers is thinking that their user base consists of only one specific target market. However, that just isn’t the case most of the time. Even a single market, no matter how small, will consist of users of differing interests, activity levels, and demographics. Segmenting your users into different groups makes it easier to send the most appropriate notifications to each user. For example, new users might receive onboarding tips, while power users could get notifications about advanced app features or even be open to receiving them more often.
A/B Testing Methods
A good strategy is one that is consistently being fine-tuned. Performing A/B testing allows you to determine what works best for your audience—or even for each individual user.
Here are a few ways you can conduct A/B testing:
1. Test Timing
Experiment with sending the same exact notification at different times to identify when they are most effective.
2. Message Content
Test different writing styles, calls to action, and formats. For example, send “Don’t miss out—secure your data today!” to one group of users and send another group, “Enhance your security with our latest tools.”
3. Visual Elements
You don’t have to stick to mere text (or you do, if you find out that’s what works best for your users). Try using images or emojis in your push notifications to see if they’ll improve engagement. However, remember to only test one variable at a time. Testing too many things will lead to results that are hard to organize and gain insights from.
Engaging Push Notifications: Analytics Tracking
Numbers don’t lie! Data is the backbone of any marketing or business strategy. Only through thorough analysis of data can you make intelligent and informed decisions about your app’s notifications.
Here are a few data points you always need to keep tracking:
1. Engagement Metrics
Monitor open rates, click-through rates, and conversions—these help you understand how users respond to your notifications.
2. Churn Analysis
If uninstalls spike after specific notifications, it’s a sign to revisit your strategy (and stop sending those notifications).
3. Feature-Specific Insights
Track which notifications lead to what in-app activities. An ad notification may not always lead to purchases. And while that may not have been your initial goal, such data can still prove valuable moving forward.
User Retention Data
Push notifications are one of the most important aspects of user retention, but only if they add value. By analyzing retention data, you can identify which notifications lead to user retention—and which don’t.
Here are a few ways you can promote user retention through push notifications.
1. Re-engagement Campaigns
Use tailored messages for dormant users. For example, “We miss you! Here’s what’s new to explore.”
2. Loyalty Rewards
Notifications highlighting loyalty programs or exclusive discounts can entice users to return or keep using your app.
3. Long-Term Trends
Compare the retention rates of users who engage with push notifications versus those who don’t. This data can reveal how well your strategy is working.
nandbox App Builder
By providing a no-code platform for developing unique mobile apps that deliver consumers tailored, targeted messages, nandbox App Builder may assist companies in putting an engaging push notifications strategy into practice. Businesses may quickly set up push alerts with nandbox that encourage user interaction without being intrusive. Businesses can make sure their alerts are timely, beneficial, and non-intrusive by utilizing features like segmentation, scheduling optimization, and pertinent content.
Push Notifications are a Double-Edged Sword
When executed thoughtfully based on a data-driven strategy, it can lead to dividends for your app. But overuse or mismanagement can be the very reason for your app’s decline.
The most important thing is to always consider the unique context of your app and its users. As a developer, you should always put yourself in the shoes of the users.
Whether you’re advertising a limited-time promotion, promoting a free VPN trial, or even just saying, “We miss you!” to dormant users, the key is relevance and respect for the user. Always keep this in mind, and you’ll always have a sound notification strategy.
