Push notifications key to user engagement

Editor's Corner
Dan Kobialka

 

 

Does your mobile app feature push notifications? If not, you may be missing out on an opportunity to foster long-lasting partnerships with end users.

A recent Small Business Trends infographic revealed 46 percent of consumers use push notifications because they like receiving personalized alerts. In addition, the infographic indicated 65 percent of consumers will open a push notification if they are interested.

Image credit: Small Business
Trends
Furthermore, mobile engagement platform provider Localytics found end users who enabled push notifications launched an app an average of 14.7 times per month in 2015. In contrast, users who did not enable push notifications only launched an app 5.4 times per month, which means users who opted in to receive push messages averaged 3x more app launches than those who opted out.

Push notifications are becoming increasingly important for mobile developers, and this trend appears likely to continue into the foreseeable future.

So what does it take to deploy engaging push notifications, i.e. messages that will capture end users' attention and can help boost an app's user engagement levels? Here are three tips to help you implement successful push notifications:

1. Built trust with your audience.

Localytics noted users who complete between one to three sessions in an app have an average push notification opt in rate of 35 percent, but this rate doubles to 70 percent when users complete between four and six sessions in an app.

Thus, if you give end users plenty of time to explore your app and become comfortable with it, they may be more likely to opt in for push notifications down the line.

2. Provide relevant information to your end users.

Push messages give you a chance to deliver relevant information to end users. And if you embrace the opportunity to deliver pertinent information to end users, you can deploy successful push notifications.

Keep your end users in mind with your push notifications. By doing so, you'll be better equipped to offer concise notifications that inform end users and minimize the risk of alienating them.

3. Evaluate end user feedback.

Are your push notifications annoying end users? You can find out if you track your app's user engagement levels and utilize this information to improve your push messages.

End user feedback provides immediate and long-lasting value for developers. With end user insights at your disposal, you should have no trouble creating push notifications that will help your app become exceedingly popular with end users across the globe.

Use these tips to launch push notifications, and ultimately, developers could reap the benefits of successful push messages for years to come. - Dan@FierceDeveloper