Engaging Online Audience with Push Notifications on iOS And Android Apps
Push notifications are the most effective means to improve customer engagement and retention when it is done appropriately. They display an interesting short message bundled with a rich image in a very attractive manner. When they are poorly executed they can be quite annoying for the customers leading to higher customer churn, lower engagement and finally abandoning the app. They are the most effective means to keep the audience engaged with the latest information, unlike a newsletter. Push notifications are the most convenient means of marketing when compared to SMS and Email. The push notifications enhance the conversion rates when done appropriately. Let’s have a look at the features and benefits of having push notifications. Before you approach an iOS/Android app development company for your project, you need to have a complete understanding about Push notifications.
Features and Benefits of having push notifications
- Push notifications are simple, short and easy to understand
- It encourages better click-through rates
- They can be used to send real-time updates in a most engaging manner
- The conversion rates tend to be on the higher side and hence converts potential visitors into customers.
- A good way to announce the audience regarding new announcements or any product launches.
- Push notifications are a great means to learn about audience behaviour and device marketing strategies accordingly.
- Push notifications help drive real-time traffic on content and website driving virality and increases the reach in no time.
Increased Sales:
e-commerce websites can use push notifications to increase sales by targeting customers with tailor-made notifications.
Trends in Push Notifications
It is very well established that the push notifications increase customer response rate, engagement. Push notifications let customers aware of all the latest trends, updates related to a product/service. With push notifications, customer response rates increase a whopping 300%. They increase app engagement by 88%. Further, 65% of the users tend to return to the app within 30 days when push notifications are enabled. There would also a visible spike in click-through rate, i.e., 10.3%.
Examples of Push Notifications
Every app has its unique user base. Therefore the push notifications have to be customised to suit the needs of the audience. Some of the famous apps employing push notifications include:
Leanplum
Localytics
Amazon SNS
Catapush
Kahuna
Kumulos
Swrve
Streethawk
One Signal
Implementation of Push Notifications in Android Platform
The Android app developers must lend due attention to some of the below mentioned conditions, before implementing push notifications on the Android platform. Push notifications in some of the Android phones belonging to top players like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung, do not function when the app is closed. The background services are required to enable push notifications. In most phones, the background services are disabled, once the user uninstalls or navigates away from the app. Autostarting of background services is disabled in phones to conserve battery and improve performance. However, there is an option in the device settings to restart the background services from the device settings. The user can disable the option anytime when needed.
Implementation of Push Notifications in iOS Platform
For implementing push notifications in iOS platform, the iOS app developers must be well aware of the process. The push notifications in iOS platform appear very much similar to the Android platform. Initially, iOS app requests a device token from Apple Push Notification services(APNS). The app receives the token and sends it to the server, which sends the push notification with a device token to APNS when prompted.
However in the iOS device, to avail push notifications in the server, there must be a provisioning profile and SSL certificate.
Which are the Best Push Notifications; Web or Mobile?
Mobile apps can send push notifications to the user if the phone is locked and the user is not using it. On the other hand, with web push, it is quite easy to send notifications via mobile and web. A huge amount of time is spent on the mobile push and it involves the higher development costs. Interaction is quite easy and the users can do it with just a few clicks. Mobile push is meant for only mobile devices, while web push can seamlessly deliver push notifications across multiple platforms. There is no need for updates in case of web push, whereas mobile apps need to be constantly updated in case of mobile push notifications.
So, by the above discussion, it is clear that web push is the most preferred tool for marketing.
Concluding Remarks:
Push notifications are an excellent means and are the best option over Email and SMS when it comes to marketing. Having the right mix of user preferences and behaviour helps one design push notifications that would increase the conversion rates. Website push notifications are preferred when there is a dire need to generate large volumes of traffic for a product/service. Mobile text notifications are the best choice if the user wants some interactive and rich text notifications. Keeping in view of the prominence of push notifications, it is imperative to approach a top Android/iOS app development company for implementing push notifications.
