So, you’ve developed a great app that has been getting consistent downloads and good reviews. Your next hurdle? Keeping those users interested and coming back for more. Sometimes that requires reminding users that they downloaded your app for a reason in the first place. This is where strategically written and sent push notifications come in.
Urban Airship recently conducted a study that followed app users six months after their initial app download. The study found that over 30% of users that received push notifications were still using the app, compared to less than 20% of users who were not receiving push notifications. The company also found that push notifications can lead to a 540% increase in daily app opens.
Before you start implementing push notifications left and right, there are definitely some tactics that are more successful than others. Keep these in mind before crafting your own strategy.
Allow users to control push notifications.
Users are more likely to stay connected with your brand (via apps or via email) if you give them the freedom to determine how often they receive your messages and what they pertain to. If you can give them the ability to customize your app to fit their needs, they are less likely to get annoyed and delete the app in a fit of frustration.
Use interesting/engaging copy.
The purpose of push notifications is to get users to re-engage with your app. In order to do that, your push notification copy needs to be enticing and interesting. Give them a reason to tap your icon, but keep it from sounding like ad copy. Get them into your app first, and then you can focus on winning them over with your products or services.
Time the notifications well.
Timing is everything. It doesn’t matter if your copy is great; if your message is timed poorly, it won’t be seen. When are your users most likely to be using their smartphones or tablets? Time your notifications to be sent around those times. Both of these push notifications from Rue La La were sent on Sunday evenings — a time when mobile users are likely to be relaxing, but also getting ready for the work week ahead.
Provide relevant notifications for users.
What are your users downloading your app for? To buy your products easily? To watch their favorite video content? To get updates on sports events? Keep that in mind and then use this to inform the kind of notifications you send and ensure that they’re relevant to users’ interests. This could involve allowing users to customize their notifications even further.
Brush up on more mobile marketing tactics with our helpful guides.
