Table of Contents
- Push Notification Examples to Trigger Emotions
- Building Excitement with Contingency Plans
- Spur Purchase by Backing User’s Ego
- Alarm Users with Quantitative Numbers: A Strategy for Engagement
- Building Faith by Keeping Users in the Loop
- Convert Your Engaged Subscribers into Loyal Advocates
- Creative Push Notification Ideas
- How to Make Creative Push Notifications
Introduction
Push notifications have become a powerful tool for businesses to engage users, drive sales, and build customer loyalty. When well-crafted, push notifications can stir emotions, establish connections, and prompt immediate action. In this article, we will explore the various strategies and creative ideas for crafting effective push notifications that captivate users and drive engagement.
From personalized notifications that reinforce positive behaviors to leveraging quantitative data to create a sense of urgency, we will delve into real-world examples of businesses that have successfully utilized push notifications to boost revenue and customer loyalty. We will also discuss the importance of building trust, keeping users in the loop, and converting engaged subscribers into loyal advocates through strategic push notification campaigns. Whether you’re looking to re-engage users, convert them into brand ambassadors, or simply provide valuable information, this article will provide you with the insights and strategies you need to make your push notifications stand out and drive results
1. Push Notification Examples to Trigger Emotions
Push notifications, when well-crafted, can stir emotions, re-engage users, and drive sales. Their effectiveness lies in their value, relevance, and timing. They are not just tools for promoting purchases, but means of establishing a connection with users.
Consider the language learning app Busuu. They transformed push notifications from a simple marketing tool to an intrinsic part of the user learning experience. By tailoring notifications using personal data, they prompted user actions that reinforced learning habits. For example, asking users about recently learned vocabulary items not only re-engaged users but also sparked curiosity. This strategy resulted in a 300% increase in push open rates and a significant rise in revenue on Android and iOS platforms.
On the other hand, apps like Duolingo and Memrise failed to execute a successful re-engagement strategy. Their push notifications were generic, lacked value, and led users to course navigation without initiating any valuable actions.
Ivory Ella, an ethical fashion brand, also employed a well-crafted push notification strategy. They increased customer lifetime value by making push notifications a crucial part of their remarketing strategy. They used the Firepush app to implement a variety of push notifications, such as welcome messages, power pushes for limited edition products, and abandoned cart pushes. As a result, they saw high engagement, increased sales, and a boost in customer loyalty.
Effective push notifications often create a sense of urgency. Using compelling language and time-sensitive information can motivate users to take immediate action. For instance, phrases like “Limited time offer,” “Act now,” or “Last chance” can convey urgency. A countdown or expiration date in the notification can further emphasize the need for immediate action.
Additionally, personalization makes push notifications feel more human and relatable.
Using the user’s name or referencing their recent activity helps create a personalized experience. Conversational language, avoiding generic phrases, and providing timely, relevant information can enhance the user’s experience and make notifications feel more tailored to their needs.
Limited-time offers in push notifications can also drive engagement by creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity. These offers can motivate users to interact with the content, whether it’s a discount, promotion, or special event.
Assessing the impact of push notifications on user behavior is critical. Businesses can measure the effectiveness of push notifications by analyzing user engagement metrics such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and time spent on the app or website. Gathering feedback from users can also provide valuable insights into the impact of push notifications on user engagement and connection-building
2. Building Excitement with Contingency Plans
Boosting anticipation and engagement among your users can be significantly enhanced by capitalizing on contingency plans. Take for instance a situation where a surprise sale or event is announced via a push notification, but with a twist – the event will only take place if a certain number of users log into your app within a specified timeframe. This approach not only ignites excitement and suspense but also encourages users to engage with your app more frequently.
To exemplify this, let’s delve into the story of Corvus Insurance, a company that centers on smart commercial insurance with a special focus on cyber risk. Aiming to take their product offerings a notch higher and spur engagement among their team and customers, they held a design thinking workshop, facilitated by Thoughtbot. The goal was to generate and execute new ideas while also valuing their customers.
The workshop revolved around the phases of design thinking: empathize, define, and ideate. It comprised user interviews with customers, problem identification, and solution development through sketching exercises. The outcome was remarkable, with the company gaining tactical product ideas, strategic themes, and a fortified relationship with their customers. This innovative approach to engagement not only enhanced their product roadmap but also amplified customer engagement and revenue.
As Mike Lloyd, the Head of Product and Co-founder of Corvus Insurance, put it, “Bringing together all the people who care about Corvus in a room to imagine what Corvus could be creates a lot of goodwill for our customers and association to our brand. You can’t achieve this through a 30-minute call or a one-hour visit.”
Another intriguing case study is the experiment conducted by the Common Cents Lab Financial Wellbeing Design Guide. They aimed to encourage individuals to contact credit card companies and negotiate for lower interest rates, thereby reducing their debt. The experiment utilized Google Ad messaging, emphasizing secrecy and mystery around the act of calling, which proved to be significantly effective in boosting call rates. The task of calling was framed as a “secret money hack” or “the APR trick,” which led to a 38% surge in call rates compared to the control condition.
These instances underline how strategic use of contingency plans and inventive messaging can fuel user engagement and build anticipation effectively. Whether it’s a surprise sale activated by user login rates or a secret money hack to reduce debt, these strategies can significantly increase user interaction and engagement with your app.
But there’s more to it. Another strategy to stoke excitement among app users is to create an engaging and captivating user interface. This can be actualized by incorporating visually appealing designs, seamless animations, and intuitive navigation. Regularly updating the app with new features, functionalities, and content can help keep users thrilled and eager to discover what’s new. Implementing a reward system or loyalty program, where users are rewarded for their engagement and usage of the app, can also be effective. This could involve offering exclusive discounts, special promotions, or unlocking extra features or content. Lastly, actively engaging with users through push notifications, personalized messages, and social media can help foster a sense of community and anticipation among app users.
To track user logins within a specific timeframe, a variety of methods such as tracking user interactions, analyzing server logs, or implementing event tracking can be employed. All these strategies combined will provide a powerful boost to user interaction and engagement with your app
3. Spur Purchase by Backing User’s Ego
Rewards and recognition play a pivotal role in retaining and motivating your top-tier users, often leading to substantial business growth. A strategy worth considering involves the creation of a VIP user group, a select segment that receives rewards for their loyalty and ongoing engagement. This group could include high-spending customers, regular shoppers, or those consistently making purchases. It may also encompass those who have chosen to receive SMS updates, thus providing a more direct communication channel.
VIP users could receive perks such as early access to new products or exclusive sales, fostering a sense of exclusivity and value. However, monetary rewards are not the only way to engage these users. Engaging in dialogue with them, soliciting their thoughts on discounts, product preferences, or gift ideas, can help craft a personalized experience that makes them feel valued and appreciated.
Among the businesses that have successfully adopted this strategy is Varagesale, a hyper-local buy-sell community. This platform introduced a “Top Members” feature to recognize and highlight the community’s best sellers. To qualify as a Top Member, sellers had to meet certain criteria, like receiving a minimum of 5 praises, conducting 5 transactions per month, receiving 1 new praise per month, and avoiding inactive weeks. These Top Members were rewarded with a badge on their profile, a symbol of their credibility to other users.
The implementation of this strategy resulted in several positive outcomes for Varagesale. It not only boosted user engagement but also led to an increase in inventory and a decrease in complaints. An investor in Varagesale noted that the user engagement was reminiscent of the engagement seen with WhatsApp, a testament to the effectiveness of rewarding top users.
The “Superhost” feature of Airbnb, which served as an inspiration for Varagesale’s “Top Members” feature, is another successful example. This feature is designed to acknowledge and reward hosts who consistently deliver exceptional experiences for their guests. Airbnb’s Product Manager for the Superhost feature, Lenny Rachitsky, observed that the greatest benefit was the happiness of the hosts and the motivation it provided to other hosts to strive for excellence.
These strategies can significantly impact your business’s success. Research has shown that 57% of consumers tend to spend more on brands to which they are loyal, emphasizing the importance of rewarding your loyal customers. Additionally, transforming your VIPs into brand ambassadors can enhance brand awareness and engagement. This transformation can be achieved by gathering user-generated content from VIPs and encouraging them to express their affection for the brand, possibly incentivized with the opportunity to win a gift card or another prize.
In essence, acknowledging and appreciating your VIP users through personalized messages and promotions is a potent strategy. It not only enhances user engagement but also nurtures a sense of community and loyalty towards your brand. For instance, using services from websites like www.appsgeyser.com, you can create mobile apps and promotions that send push notifications offering exclusive discounts to your VIP users. This further amplifies the sense of exclusivity and value for these users, making them feel more connected and loyal to your brand
4. Alarm Users with Quantitative Numbers: A Strategy for Engagement
Quantitative data plays a vital role in push notification strategies, driving user engagement and revenue growth. Let’s delve into real-world instances where businesses have successfully implemented these strategies.
Telepizza, a Mediterranean pizza delivery mogul, leverages push notifications to bolster their sales and revenue. They use geo-targeted and broadcast notifications to notify customers about special offers and events at their nearest pizza outlets. With a subscriber base of over 23 million app users, each push notification results in 300-450 orders, translating to a revenue of $2,400-$3,600.
Their notifications are crafted to create a sense of urgency. When a customer enters a certain geozone, typically 300-500 meters away from a restaurant, a push notification is activated, informing them about the latest deals and offers. This approach has led to high click-through rates (CTRs) and a 4-7% conversion rate, contributing significantly to their overall sales.
Javier Bosque, the Head of E-commerce Media at Telepizza, has praised the efficacy of this approach. He stated: “Pushwoosh’s targeting is precise and effective, and it’s as easy as sending broadcast and simple scheduled pushes. All messages came relevant to our international audience.”
Ivory Ella, an ethical fashion brand, is another company that has effectively employed push notifications. They turned to push notifications to address the issue of low engagement with their predominantly Gen Z audience. Implementing a strategy that included welcome pushes, power pushes, promo pushes, and abandoned cart pushes, they succeeded in engaging almost 170,000 subscribers and generated over $1 million in revenue.
Their strategy is particularly effective due to the use of quantitative data. For example, their abandoned cart pushes have a conversion rate of 19%, which has significantly improved their sales. During the Black Friday sales, their push notification strategy added over $28,000 in additional revenue.
Incorporating quantitative data into your push notifications can notably increase user engagement and sales. For instance, displaying the number of items left in stock, the number of people who have already bought a product, or the amount of money users can save by making a purchase, can create a sense of urgency resulting in higher conversion rates.
To determine the number of people who have already bought a product in push notifications, analytics tools can be used to track user behavior and collect data on purchases. By analyzing this data, you can identify the number of users who have made a purchase and use this information to create targeted push notifications. This approach can help you tailor your messages to specific audience segments, enhancing the effectiveness of your push notification campaigns.
Creating a sense of urgency with quantitative numbers in push notifications can be achieved using techniques such as countdown timers or limited-time offers. By incorporating specific numbers, such as the remaining time or the limited quantity available, you can effectively communicate the urgency and prompt immediate action from the recipients. This can be an impactful way to boost engagement and conversions for your app or website
5. Building Faith by Keeping Users in the Loop
Building a rapport with your user base is an essential component of any successful business strategy. By ensuring that your users are always up-to-date with the latest developments, alterations, and issues that could potentially impact them, you’re not only demonstrating your commitment to their needs but also mitigating any possible misunderstandings or dissatisfaction.
In the realm of software platform rollouts, it’s not uncommon to encounter resistance due to the inherent fear of change and the potential for obsolescence. Dale Carnegie’s seminal work, “How to Win Friends and Influence People”, provides valuable insights on navigating such challenges. A key takeaway from Carnegie’s teachings is the importance of avoiding a grandiose launch. Instead, it’s more beneficial to release a functional, albeit incomplete, version of the software to users as early as possible.
Involving users in the process, addressing their concerns, and transforming them into early adopters of your platform is a proven strategy for creating advocates. By giving stakeholders and users advance notice of upcoming changes and illustrating the benefits of each modification, you can manage change more effectively. Establishing channels for feedback and actively engaging with user sentiments and concerns allows you to understand their perspectives, which is critical to the success of your software platform.
Trust and consistency are two pillars in building a robust relationship between users and your product. Ensuring a uniform experience across all touchpoints is crucial. Conducting a consistency audit can help verify that design features, functionalities, labels, tone, and branding remain consistent throughout the product.
Strive to make third-party elements appear native to your product to create a seamless user experience. Clear and straightforward messaging, devoid of complex language and industry-specific jargon, aids in building trust. Enhancing legibility and readability, for instance, by employing large text, high contrast, and easy-to-read fonts, can bolster user understanding and trust.
Providing a glimpse of the people behind the product, such as through a “meet the team” page, can foster a more profound connection and trust. Trust-building is a long-term endeavor and should be a consideration throughout the entire user experience, from onboarding to engagement. An early investment in trust can aid in managing future growth and cultivating a loyal user base
6. Convert Your Engaged Subscribers into Loyal Advocates
Transforming engaged subscribers into staunch brand advocates is a crucial facet of your marketing approach. A tried-and-true way to nurture this loyalty is the consistent delivery of valuable information through push notifications. This tactic not only keeps your audience engaged but also encourages them to become brand ambassadors.
Consider the case of Ivory Ella, a sustainable fashion brand. Faced with a low customer lifetime value and an audience indifferent to email marketing, Ivory Ella pivoted to push notifications as a viable alternative. Their strategy was multi-pronged, involving welcome pushes, power pushes, promo pushes, and abandoned cart pushes. This approach enabled them to effectively engage their Gen Z audience and maintain open communication lines with the parents, the actual purchasers.
This strategy resulted in a notable increase in customer loyalty and repeat sales. Ivory Ella’s push notifications became a pivotal component in their retargeting strategy. They witnessed a revenue increase exceeding $1 million from push notifications alone, with an average income of $6 per push subscriber. Welcome pushes had a high engagement rate, power and promo pushes spurred a considerable order volume, and abandoned cart pushes had a high conversion rate.
Another notable example is Bladestorm, which experienced a staggering 458% revenue boost using Pushwoosh’s customer journey builder. Bladestorm developed a consistent workflow to engage and monetize its GCSkins app audience. They sent regular push notifications with daily offers and event-triggered scenarios based on user behavior. This strategy helped them expand their app community to several countries and increase their monthly active users by 1662 in just eight months.
The success stories of both Ivory Ella and Bladestorm underscore the effectiveness of a well-implemented push notification strategy. They demonstrate how push notifications can be used to increase customer lifetime value, boost sales, and convert engaged subscribers into loyal advocates.
To further enhance user engagement, an effective strategy could involve incentivizing users to share content through push notifications. This could be achieved by offering exclusive access to premium content, discounts, or special promotions to users who share the content with their network. Creating a sense of urgency or FOMO (fear of missing out) by highlighting limited-time offers or time-sensitive information can significantly boost engagement. Personalizing push notifications to each user’s preferences and interests can also increase the perceived value of the content, motivating users to share it. Simplifying the sharing process by including social sharing buttons within the push notification or a one-click sharing option can streamline user experience and promote content sharing.
To measure the effectiveness of these incentives, event tracking can be implemented in the push notification system. This allows for monitoring user engagement with the incentives, assessing conversion rates, and understanding the overall impact on user behavior. By analyzing this data, valuable insights can be gained about the effectiveness of your push notification incentives, leading to performance optimization
7. Creative Push Notification Ideas
Crafting effective push notifications is an art that requires a harmonious blend of creativity and strategy. The aim is not just to prompt an app user to open the notification; it should also offer an enriching and memorable user experience that triggers frequent app visits.
Consider the case of Busuu, a self-improvement language learning app. As with many apps in this category, user engagement tends to wane once the initial motivation subsides. Busuu decided to tackle this challenge through push notifications for re-engaging users and reinforcing positive behaviors. However, they quickly discovered that their efforts, like many other re-engagement campaigns, were falling short due to their generic and irrelevant nature.
Busuu then pivoted towards personalizing their notifications by asking users questions and linking them to beneficial actions. They even introduced rewards to incentivize engagement further. The outcome was a noteworthy 300% increase in push open rates and a significant boost in revenue.
This success highlights the critical role of understanding your audience and tailoring your notifications to offer value and relevance. A poorly executed push notification can feel like a disjointed message leading nowhere. However, a thoughtfully crafted one, such as those employed by Busuu, can be a potent tool for user engagement and retention.
This success isn’t exclusive to Busuu. Other apps, like Timehop, have also achieved success with push notifications. Timehop sends out captivating notifications that pique curiosity, prompting users to open the app to discover more. Their messaging is light-hearted and unexpected, setting them apart from the generic notifications many other apps send out.
The crux of the matter is that push notifications, if crafted with attention and consideration, can be a highly effective tool for re-engaging users and driving app re-engagement. They should be valuable, relevant, and timely, providing a meaningful connection to the app and its offerings. By doing this, you can boost user engagement and create a memorable experience that keeps users returning.
To devise creative push notification ideas, it’s crucial to comprehend your target audience and their interests. Personalizing notifications based on user behavior or preferences can be effective. Incorporating emojis or GIFs can make your notifications more engaging. Creating a sense of urgency or exclusivity with limited-time promotions or discounts through push notifications can also be beneficial. Using user-generated content or sending notifications related to popular trends can help capture your audience’s attention.
Interactive push notifications can be implemented using various techniques like custom actions, dynamic content, and deep linking. Custom actions allow users to perform specific actions directly from the notification, such as replying to a message or completing a task. Dynamic content enables personalization of the notification based on user preferences or behavior. Deep linking enables redirection of users to a specific page or section within your app when they interact with the notification. These techniques combined can create engaging and interactive push notifications that enhance the user experience.
In terms of best practices for crafting engaging push notifications, it’s essential to keep the message concise and to the point. Users generally prefer shorter notifications that can be quickly read and understood. Personalization can significantly enhance engagement, making the notification more relevant and appealing by tailoring the message to individual users based on their preferences and behaviors. Incorporating a level of urgency or exclusivity can create a sense of importance and encourage users to take action.
To boost user engagement with creative push notifications, it is vital to create compelling and attention-grabbing messages. Personalized and targeted notifications can increase user engagement. Utilizing rich media such as images, videos, and interactive elements in push notifications can make them more engaging and appealing to users. Regular analysis and optimization of the timing and frequency of push notifications based on user behavior and preferences can also enhance user engagement
8. How to Make Creative Push Notifications
Crafting effective push notifications is a simple yet strategic process. It begins with understanding the user’s needs and preferences, which is vital for creating notifications that are tailored, relevant, and engaging. Exploring various approaches and evaluating their success is also key to fine-tuning your strategy and producing notifications that truly resonate with your users.
Consider, for instance, the integration between PubNub and OpenAI GPT which enhances real-time communication and messaging experiences. This integration allows the deployment of remote push notifications for both iOS and Android within a React Native app. It is exemplified through a PubNub-powered IoT smart button and a smart doorbell app developed in React Native.
The procedure requires an iOS developer account and paid membership in the Apple Developer Program for iOS development. For Android, integration with Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) is necessary. A PubNub account is also needed to obtain unique PubNub keys and establish React Native push notifications.
The guide outlines the process of setting up push notifications for both iOS and Android in detail. Once configured, these notifications can be tested on physical devices or via simulators/emulators. The guide also elaborates on how to send push notifications using PubNub by publishing messages with push notification keys to the correct channels.
Web push notifications are another effective tool for user engagement. These are messages sent from a website to a user’s web browser, even when the user is not actively using the website. They appear as small pop-up notifications on the user’s screen and can carry a range of information, like news updates, reminders, or promotional offers.
Web push notifications are excellent for re-engaging users and keeping them informed about pertinent content or events, thereby enhancing user retention and engagement on a website. Enabling web push notifications on a website involves setting up a service worker, prompting users for subscription, managing subscriptions, integrating with a push server, and creating and sending notifications.
When creating effective push notifications, consider personalization and segmentation. By understanding your audience and tailoring notifications to their needs, you can increase engagement. Segmenting your audience based on demographics, behavior, or preferences allows for targeted messages that resonate with each group. Regular analysis and optimization of your push notifications based on user feedback and data can also enhance their relevance and effectiveness.
Testing and measuring the efficacy of push notifications involve tracking open rates to gauge recipient engagement, monitoring click-through rates for insights into content and call-to-action effectiveness, and conducting A/B testing to identify the most successful messaging, timing, and targeting strategies.
Analyzing user behavior post-notification, such as app usage or conversion rates, offers valuable data on the notification’s impact. Collecting user feedback through surveys or in-app feedback forms provides qualitative insights into the overall user experience and perception of the push notifications.
Push notifications have wide-ranging applications, such as delivering news updates, notifying e-commerce users of sales or abandoned shopping carts, informing social media users about friend requests or messages, promoting blog articles or newsletters, and sending travel updates or recommendations. These examples illustrate how push notifications can be utilized across various industries to engage users and keep them informed about relevant content or events
Conclusion
In conclusion, push notifications have proven to be a powerful tool for businesses in engaging users, driving sales, and building customer loyalty. This article explored various strategies and creative ideas for crafting effective push notifications that captivate users and drive engagement. It highlighted the importance of personalization, creating a sense of urgency, and leveraging quantitative data to enhance the effectiveness of push notifications.
The main takeaway from this article is that well-crafted push notifications can stir emotions, establish connections with users, and prompt immediate action. By tailoring notifications to individual users’ preferences, using compelling language and time-sensitive information, and incorporating quantitative data, businesses can create push notifications that stand out and drive results. Additionally, building trust, keeping users in the loop, and converting engaged subscribers into loyal advocates are essential components of a successful push notification campaign.
To make your push notifications more effective, it is crucial to understand your target audience and their needs. Personalize the messages based on user preferences and behaviors to increase relevance. Utilize techniques such as creating a sense of urgency or exclusivity with limited-time offers or time-sensitive information. Measure the impact of push notifications through user engagement metrics and gather feedback to continuously optimize your strategy.
Start now to make your push notifications stand out and drive results by implementing these strategies in your business’s marketing efforts
