Web push notifications can present an enormous opportunity for marketers to connect with their target audience — if they are used effectively. Statistics show that they have an 80% market reach, based on the number of browsers supporting web push, with click-through rates typically seven times higher than email marketing, and opening rates 50% higher than email too.
However, the use of web push notification still has people divided. Some users like receiving useful, informative updates about a company they subscribe to; others find that it ends up negatively impacting their overall user experience if a company fails to use them correctly.
So, how can you navigate this fine line as a webmaster and effectively communicate with users who visit your site? In this guide, we are going to take an in-depth look at web push notifications, and look at the most effective ways you can optimize them to increase customer engagement with your brand.
It is important to remember that there are different types of notifications users can receive. For example, ‘web push notifications’ and ‘push notifications’ are not referring to the exact same thing. Let’s quickly go over defining them:
- Web notifications: are notifications that the user only receives if they have that web page open in their browser
- Web push notifications: users subscribe to receive notification updates in real-time on their browser via desktop or mobile with no need to download and install an application. A web push code is installed on your website without needing an app.
- Mobile app push notifications: sends notifications through a mobile app to users, which appears on a user’s mobile via the lock screen, banner, or status bar. It is possible to send these to users if they have installed your mobile app and chosen to opt-in to receive messages. These are sent to users via code that has been installed on your app.
- In-app push notifications: these notifications appear while a person is using the app, typically providing advice to help improve the user’s experience.
Types of Web Push Notifications
Broadly speaking, web push notifications will fit into one of the following kinds of web push notifications:
- Trigger-based web push notifications: These are notifications that are sent to the user and are based on the previous actions performed by the user on any site. For example, these are commonly used for abandoned shopping carts.
- Alert-based web push notifications: Aims to inform the user of a specific event or update
- Segment based web push notifications: These are messages sent based on a subscriber’s certain characteristics, such as their purchasing behavior or geographical location.
Looking further into web push notifications, these messages typically fall into one of these categories:
- Promotional: These notifications aim to promote special offers or price drops to drive conversions, such as, “Our biggest ever sales start this weekend.”
- Educational: The aim is to educate users about your products or services such as, “Don’t miss out on the conference of a lifetime.”
- Transactional: Transactions related to the company, such as purchase, shipping, and delivery. For example, “Your order is on its way.”
- Lifecycle: This may be to welcome new or returning users to the site. For example, “Our welcome gift to you – free delivery.”
The Elements of a Successful Web Push Notification Strategy
Simply creating web push notifications does not automatically make them an excellent marketing tool. To create a successful web push notification strategy, you need to carefully craft the message you want to send out beforehand. Here are some of the most common factors that make a web push notification strategy great.
Timing is Important
Don’t make the common error of sending web push notifications that do not take into consideration your subscriber’s timezone. Make sure you understand where your subscribers are located and schedule notifications based on the time zones they reside in, to ensure you reach them when they are active on their devices.
Equally, consider that some types of notifications will work better at certain times of the day. For example, in research carried out by VWO Engage, the time people prefer receiving them is in the morning (38.66%) or at the weekend (38.38%). Test out the best times for your audience segment to see what works best.
Compelling Content is Key
Always keep in mind your target audience when crafting your web push notification content. Keep it clear and concise, and avoid using jargon at all costs. The message should be persuasive and clearly indicate what the message is about and why users would benefit from clicking on it.
Use Personalized Suggestions
The personalized approach is vitally important, as it can help to foster brand loyalty amongst subscribers and boost reaction rates by four times as much (source: Accengage). This approach works well amongst your less engaged subscribers, too, as you can send personalized follow-up messages to them.
Do make sure the message is relevant to the user, and be sure to make the most of customization and segmentation features available through web push notifications providers.
Segmentation allows you to send specific notifications to the right segment, and with average click-through rates of those targeted campaigns being 1.5 to 2 times higher than results without them (source: Gravitec) it is definitely worth it.
Create a Sense of Urgency
Do create action-oriented content, as this will increase the likelihood of conversions, but create a sense of scarcity or urgency when doing so. For example, you should give subscribers a limited amount of time for action to be taken — you would rather have them visit site the site now and invest rather than put it off until later and forget.
Don’t forget that CTA buttons improve campaign results by approximately 40% (source: Gravitec).
Do Not Inundate Subscribers with Messages
Don’t send too many web push notifications to your users, as this can lead them to start tuning out of notifications you send, or even worse, it will cause them to opt-out entirely. 62.75% of subscribers and 73.47% of users polled by VWO Engage said that too many notifications would be crossing the line into spam.
Avoid Sending Too Few Notifications
While the exact frequency will depend on your audience and industry, make sure your subscribers are adequately engaging with your brand. If you send too few notifications, subscribers may forget why they subscribed to you in the first place and may opt-out.
To avoid this, make sure you fully understand your buyer persona, their lifestyles, and their needs so you can determine how often notifications should be sent for maximum levels of engagement.
Use Rich Push Notifications
Rich push notifications allow marketers to convey their message through images, emojis, audio, GIFs, or video and can be successful in incentivizing users to engage with content. Data collected by Forrester reveals that only 8% of marketers use rich push notifications, yet research by Airship shows the huge opportunity for driving engagement to your site — they can increase direct open rates by 56%.
Use Emojis with Caution
Emojis can be effective in increasing CTR for web push notifications, but your industry will largely determine how successful these will be, so think carefully as to how you use them.
Data carried out by Clever Tap revealed that recreational industries are those who saw the biggest decline in CTR by adding emojis were entertainment and events (54%), travel and hospitality (12%), and health and fitness (4%).
Conversely, and perhaps surprisingly, the top 3 industries that saw an increase in CTR when using emojis were business and finance (128%) retail (111%), and the utilities and services sectors (115%).
Conclusion
Web push notifications still remain a largely untapped marketing channel, but this may present an excellent opportunity for your brand to use them to stand out from competitors if you use them in an efficient manner.