Design your way

Have you ever noticed a service message on your mobile device screen that reminds you about your mobile bill payment or a latest sale flash message from one of the online store apps you have installed?

What are these pop ups are for?

These pop-ups are also called as server push notification that delivers a piece of information from a software application to computing devices.

In simple terminology, it’s a way to stay connected with users and offer them convenience and value for their downloaded apps.

Without knowing the importance of push notifications it’s not a worth to talk about it.

So here are some of the key points that highlight the focus that needs to be given to push notifications in today’s times.

• One cannot deny the fact that this is the most effective form of customer engagement which is faster than email and cost effective as compared to SMS.
• They can drive traffic, increase app engagement and promote conversions, provided they are delivered at the right time and right place with relevant content for users.
• They are like reminders to users on behalf of app providers, that your app is installed. So they help in keeping the customers updated with the ongoing deals and offers.
• They are easy to manage, user-friendly and effective – no technicalities involved.

In this mobile World, a constant touch with users is the need of the hour. With push notifications, app publishers not only get a constant connection with its customers but also get an opportunity to portray their brand image directly to end users.

As explained before push notifications need to be valuable, relevant and timely so it’s a marketer’s call to make it a point that notifications are not poorly executed.

In the above example, Crunchyroll is sending push notifications for shows that the user is hardly interested in. This generally annoys your users & compels them to opt out of notifications or in worst case scenario, uninstall your app.

Another example of badly executed notification is sending the exact same notification every day. Duolingo is creating a negative brand image by following such practices.

Now the question arises is how to make notifications that are both meaningful and valuable for your products and customer?

Without giving it a second thought lets talk about some of the elements, both from a developer & marketer’s perspective, that can be used to make notifications that are good, valuable and are enjoyed by users in order to promote engagement.

Limit the count of your notifications

From Duolingo’s example, one thing is clear that sending too many notifications doesn’t work. Make a point to send relevant and required information than sending more notifications that a user is unable to handle.

With so many notifications they either start ignoring it or opt out altogether. Try to figure out their needs, lifestyle, interest, and products they are looking for, then you can generate smart notifications that would be helpful, personal and time sensitive.

Relevant notifications are always appreciated by its users and they start relying on the app publishers for more purposeful information in near future.

Worth their Time

There is a thin line between a well-presented push notification and a useless, non relevant push notification. A user will invest their time only if they find some value for interruption with the notification.

Notifications at the wrong time are worse than anything. Getting notifications at odd hours does not fulfill the purpose; it only portrays your lack of attentiveness towards your viewers.

By getting such notifications users can surely go for DND setting on their mobiles, but this can lead to loss of your potential customers.

Always make it a point to send a notification to your viewers in their local time zones. Before starting push notification’s journey, take a closer look at the target audience & decide what type of notification are real worth of their immediate attention.

A smart example of keeping a track of your viewers need, Foursquare uses Geodata to track its viewer’s location and accordingly sends notifications with relevant offers and information at right time and place.

Know your audience and personalized with them

Before installing any app, the user provides their details plus the information they share on social networking platforms can result in decent data collection. This data can be used to study viewer’s behavior and their engagement with your brand.

Segmenting this data for personalization will result in four times increase in open rates. Let your users feel as unique viewers because push notifications are meant for individuals & not for mere devices.

A clear and precise message says it all

Using difficult and lengthy messages does not make any point when your message can be conveyed smoothly and easily in short and precise language.

Users don’t look for any sort of high-level language; they just want a simple and easy language that can convey the information of their interest. You can also look for various testing strategies to determine what works best with viewers – phrases, sentences, emojis and character length.

It is said that Push Notification with emojis opens 85% so try to mix and match to make notifications that grab viewer’s attention.

An option for easy opt out

Keep a transparency with your users for your app. Yes, it’s true that no app publisher wants their user to turn off the app notifications but to avoid the worst case scenario, app un-installation, it’s the most obliged step to be offered.

With the app remains installed, you can go for other mediums to grab user’s attention and moreover at some point of time user will look out for help while using the app.

Keep Testing for better results

Keep a track of all the factors – negative as well as positive. Do not assume that sending some promo code offer messages yields higher results; Test It. Look for a bigger picture and try to tackle all major factors.

Ask relevant questions and answer them – with which notification are users going for desired actions? Is the notification helping in achieving user’s re-engagement? What leads to user’s opt out or uninstalling the app?

A good notification strategy is the one that is user centric, which in turn, results in higher customer engagement, better brand image, and higher ROI. Using the right techniques at the right time helps in making every message count. The key lies in understanding customer’s problem and offering them the best solution possible in order to make their in-app experience a worth and keep them coming back for more.

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