The Power of Push Notifications

Every business has the same problem: I want to get more customers to interact, but I can't find a way to increase their activity. You have probably had someone write a custom email for you that guaranteed a click-through rate higher than the standard 2% that most emails get. Which, by the way, let's stop here and say a 2% return is not a good return on the investment at all. So your other options are to pay for marketing on social media or run an ad on your site and hope that people find it. Both can be very successful, but can also produce little return.

Enter the push notification. This is a proven way to get people to interact. It's a little nudge that people have to address and that usually is enough to make people act. Estimates start around 40% activity initially with incremental growth expected over time. A perfect example is on this blog- we just added them to the top of your page so you can click the subscribe button and know exactly when I write a post. A push notification is a time saver for your end users that tells them to only act when the business is ready, and it helps separate your business from the clutter of emails they get in their inbox daily.

Email or Push Notification? Which To Send?

While there may not be a definite answer to this question I think this simple rule of thumb will help out a lot of growing businesses and entrepreneurs. If you want immediate engagement, then send out a push notification, but if you are looking to get a larger audience in the door over time an email will do better. The simple reason being a push notification is designed to be handled immediately by the end-user, where an email can be stored and read at a time when it's convenient for the user. Again, the difference is a notification has to be addressed where an email can be snoozed. I would recommend you limit your push notifications to big events, a weekly update, or a flash sale that is limited where you would want that immediate interaction. Anything outside of that scope can wait as an email.

How To Get Push Notifications

I use OneSignal which is a marketing platform that lets me do everything in one place. You have to add their manifest files and a few routes in your application in the headers where you want the pop-up to show, but after that, it's very easy and intuitive. If you have an iOS app or Android app it has the power to let you send full push notifications to iPhones or other mobile devices as well.

There are a lot of companies that specialize in setting up web push notifications, so do your homework before signing up blindly. I am always glad to help set them up for you if it gets above your coding level, so don't hesitate to book a consultation if you need help. We would love it if you decided to receive notifications from us!

What Not To Do

Don't abuse your user signups- These are not to be treated like emails! If you oversend your push notifications, users will unsubscribe and you have lost that immediate action from the user. Remember, your push notification is designed to get immediate action and not passive action, so you have to take into account you might be disrupting your user's day getting the notification.