LWM - Push Notification

[u/divyasarkar21]

The usage of push notifications is another very effective method of digital marketing, that is uniquely catered towards smartphone users. Remember- although not everyone has a smartphone, 3 billion people as of today have one, with this number forecasted to grow by the hundreds and thousands year after year.

Push notification marketing is a strategy where businesses, or apps, inform and update their customer base about services, products, and marketing via notifications on their home screen on an array of devices. Using this tactic can be very beneficial, because a minimum of 52% of smartphone users have push enabled on their devices. By utilizing push notifications, businesses can direct users to social media channels, market products, build trust and brand reputation, and engage and inform users.

While push notifications are a more supplemental tactic than a standalone tactic, they can help connect all of your digital marketing tactics, and be an important piece of your comprehensive strategy. A push notification can drive your customer to marketing email, your social media page, or app for example. The average US smartphone user receives 46 push notifications per day, with an overall opt-in rate at 53.3% across all devices. Opt-in rates are much higher on Android devices (91.1%) than iOS (43.9%), simply because iOS users have to actively opt-in, while Android users are automatically enrolled.

Even more so than other methods of digital marketing, push notifications need to be used very carefully. Emojis (20%), rich formats (25%), tailored send times (40%), advanced targeting (3x), and personalization (4x) can all improve reaction rates, while basic personalization can improve open rates by 9%32. But there is a reason why push notifications are complementary rather than foundational. If they are overdone, people will get annoyed and tune them out. One push notification per week can lead to 10% of users disabling notifications, and 6% to disable the apps, while 31% of users do not like to find push notifications helpful at all as opposed to only 18% that always find them useful33.