Push notifications are small messages that are sent to a user’s device (e.g., mobile phone or computer) to alert them of something, such as an incoming message, an upcoming event, or a reminder. They typically appear as a banner or pop-up message on the device’s screen and can also be accompanied by a sound or vibration. Push notifications are delivered via a service provider’s server to the user’s device and are typically used to increase engagement and user retention. They are commonly used to deliver promotional information, updates, reminders, and other personalized messages directly to users’ devices.
As a mobile app owner, you must be aware of what are push notifications, and how to use them to connect better with your audience. They can not only be a great marketing tool but one of the most important and effective communication channels for business app owners. Almost every successful mobile app uses push notifications and it’s not just for transactions, but also to re-engage with the customers. Push notifications have a competitive edge over traditional email marketing as they don’t get blocked by spam filters like emails. If implemented correctly, push notifications to get a higher open and click-through rate compared to emails.
In this article, we’ll talk about what are push notifications and their types, discuss multiple push notification examples, and learn how they work on iOS and Android.
In the most basic sense of the word, push notifications are small messages or alerts that are sent out to everyone who has the app installed on their device and have opted to receive such notifications.
Though businesses can send mobile push notifications to all their users whether they are using Android or iOS devices, there is a huge difference between the two.
There are many different mobile application platforms, such as iOS, Android, Windows, Fire OS, and Blackberry, and all of these platforms have their own suite of software tools used for designing, creating, and maintaining mobile applications. Most of these platforms allow push notifications to include text, images, app badges, and sounds. So, if you’ve got a mobile app for your business, then you need to understand- what are push notifications on Android and iOS.
When it comes to push notifications, not all devices are created equally. iOS push notifications follow the opt-in model, where brands or app owners can only send push notifications once the user deliberately agrees to receive them. However, on Android, push notifications are enabled automatically and the customers can manually choose to opt-out of them.
Push notifications in iPhone first appear on the lock screen. Once the users unlock their device, the push notification is immediately moved to the iOS notification center. The Apple Push Notification Service allows app developers and publishers to send push notification messages up to 5 KB to their app users. On the other hand, push notification in the android application is allowed only up to 4 KB.
A web push notification is a small notification you receive in your mobile or desktop browser. Customers can opt-in to timely updates from their favorite sites and allow businesses to re-engage them with relevant information that is customized according to their preferences.
Mobile web push notifications are less intrusive than other forms of customer engagement and can be used to effectively bring in more traffic and add value for the user by pushing out useful information. However, this information must be relevant and interesting. Otherwise push notifications can become intrusive and annoying, leading to a negative perception about your app.
Push Notifications are an efficient way to communicate effectively with your audience. Let us check out how this powerful communication channel benefits your business.
Push notifications help you keep your app users active and engaged. With push notifications, you can send out reminders and real-time product updates to your users and keep them connected to your brand.
Push notifications help you increase conversion rates as they can create a sense of urgency among the customers. Push messages help you send notifications and alerts to your customers and trigger immediate purchases.
Push notifications are great marketing channels that can be used to send deals and offers information to the customers. With push messages, you can send valuable information related to your brand and gain strong brand recognition among your users by placing brand logos in them.
With your mobile app, you can access the users’ location. This way you can check their geographic region and send them notifications as per their time zone. Additionally, you can send them alerts for special discounts, deals, and offers when they are in a specific location.
Push notifications help you analyze user behavior including click-through rates and interaction times. These analytics help you figure out which push messages are doing well and enjoy higher open rates.
Push notifications can help you improve your customer experience. Push messages provide users with useful information in a sentence or two at the most. They are less intrusive and can help boost user engagement. They help users to keep up with the latest promotions, offers, and updates from your brand.
Users must feel connected to your brand to opt-in for your push notifications. When a user downloads your app, wait for them to first feel connected to your brand before sending them the request to opt-in for push notifications. Here are a few tips that you can use to get your app users interested in receiving push notifications from you.
While asking for opt-in, convey the benefits of subscribing for push notifications and help your users understand that they are of a great value for your business and their opinion matters.
Be extra polite to your users and help them understand that they have complete control over receiving push notifications, that they can opt-in to receive and opt-out anytime to stop receiving the notifications.
Once the user has opted-in, study their behavior and send messages accordingly. Send them relevant notifications and remind them what they know well and love.
Send information for limited time offers to create a sense of urgency and encourage users to tap and check what the ‘see more’ includes.
You can increase your users’ interest in your push message by offering something that they already have in their heads. Make your push message sound like a personal text.
Ask for users’ feedback once the service has been delivered. This helps users understand that you were not there just for the business and that you care for them.
Modern online businesses use both push notifications and SMS to communicate with their customers. And a few among them know exactly when to use SMS and push notification. There are certain situations where one is better than the other. Push notifications and text messages might look similar to the end-user, but they are different from each other.
Here are some of the disadvantages of using SMS campaigns:
This is why push notifications have a competitive edge over text messages.
Push notification is an important ingredient of a successful mobile application. Hence it is imperative that your mobile app has the push notification feature to let you communicate effectively with your customers.
| Push notification | Text messages | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | App users can opt-in or opt-out, so you know for a fact that they want to receive the message | Receivers cannot choose whether they get texts or not |
| 2 | Push notifications pop up on your screen | Text messages are stored in the device |
| 3 | If the users don’t check the push message immediately, it may get buried in the multiple others that appear on the lock screen | If the receiver does not read it immediately, the text remains in the default messaging app, waiting for them to read |
| 4 | Meant to be crisp and short and used as a marketing tool to get the users to engage with the app | Text messages can be of any length and may contain promotional or informational content for the receiver |
| 5 | Push notifications are free for the app users | Receiving certain text messages can incur charges |
| 6 | Only for smartphone users | Works for both smartphone and non-smartphone users |
| 7 | High CTR and open rates (10.7% on Android) | Low CTR (7%) |
| 8 | Takes one click to reach the website or app | Takes minimum 2 clicks for the same (or more) |
Push Notifications have made a lot of buzz in the marketing world, particularly when it comes to marketing through mobile apps. However, before you get all excited and sending out a barrage of push messages, let’s try and understand what is push notification, and what benefits it can bring to your business.
Before, getting into the process of integrating this cool feature in your app, we must discuss all the advantages that come your way, when you send out push messages. Enabling push notification in the android and iPhone app offers numerous benefits especially when it comes to customer engagement and driving traffic; however, it is essential to use them in a way that gets customers interested, rather than annoyed. Here are a few benefits of sending out push notifications:
Getting marketing messages incessantly can be quite annoying. The moment users know that they have the option and the power to opt-out or opt-in at will, they automatically feel comfortable about receiving these notifications.
Push notifications are a rich and interactive medium that keeps your users engaged, thus helping you retain them for longer. A user has your app on their device because they see some value in it. However, with a mobile push message, you are reminding them of that value, thus encouraging them to engage more with your app.
Chantal Tode, the associate editor on Mobile Marketer, reported on a study from Forrester Research, push notifications should be integrated into direct marketing, CRM strategies: Forrester. The report mentions various benefits of push notifications like increasing traffic, optimizing app use, and driving conversions.
When you send out push notifications, you can garner some critical data and insights about customer behavior. Push notifications feature comes with an analytic tracking system that lets you track platforms, messages, devices, interaction times, or any other events that rustle up high engagement. This way, mobile push notifications provide sophisticated analytics with data on the delivery receipt, open rate time, and engagement.
Mobile apps, unlike mobile websites, offer qualities that other communication channels simply don’t measure up to, because of how they interact with functionality built into a device’s hardware. The biggest benefit of mobile apps is the ability to deliver notifications that are instantly seen and – unlike other marketing messages – seen on the best digital real estate possible – the user interface of a consumer’s mobile phone. This is why most mobile push notifications are opened and read by 97% of app subscribers.”
Simon U. Ford, the founder of Social Traffic inc., a social marketing agency specializing in social mobile and reputation marketing, explains what is push notification and the power of push notification service of alerting customers of last-minute deals, coupons, and special deals. These additional messages form a complementary marketing channel where you can communicate extra, value-adding information. This information can be customized as a push notification, ensuring their relevance and importance to users.
It saves you a whole lot of money that you may have to spend on sending out communication. More importantly, it saves your customers money as well. Not everyone has an unlimited text plan, hence they may not want to pay for the incoming text. In this case, they are likely to opt-out quickly. Push notifications cost you less and are free for your customers!
In terms of customer interface and ease of use, push notifications are far better than emails. Push notification services are easy to handle and manage. They are simple, uncomplicated messages that provide only the essential information, making them user friendly and effective. On the developer side, they are simpler to produce and are cheaper than SMS.
All these benefits do sound brilliant, but it is important to understand what are push notifications and how they work to help your marketing goals. To put it all quite simply, as soon as the app user taps on a mobile push notification, they are automatically redirected to the relevant page. Hence, the consumer’s attention would be entirely on the desired call to action, without any distraction.
Let’s take a deeper look at the basic factors of sending a push notification and how they work from the push notification server end.
Every mobile system works on a different OS or operating system e.g. Apple and Android. You, as an app owner, will have to choose the one that you want to use.
The app publishers work with the OSPNS before uploading the app to the app stores.
The client app is the one that your app users have installed on their device where they will receive the push notifications. The client apps are dependent on the operating system in the device.
To make the best use of these factors and better connect with their users, various businesses use mobile push technology to send out push messages. The first push notification server was launched by Apple called APNS (Apple Push Notifications Service) in 2009. And, then Google launched its own mobile push technology service called GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) to enable sending push notifications to both Android and iOS users.
You need to set up a push notification server first, to send out push notifications to your users. This server then sends a notification to GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) or Apple’s Push Notification Service (APNS), to send the server push notification to your targeted device.
Many app owners make the mistake of presuming that their inactive users are gone forever and by doing so they lose a huge sale opportunity. Your inactive users have already shown interest in your product or service, so you simply need to re-engage them. Send those inactive app users a push notification about new features, updates in services or products, and tell them what they are missing out on, by not opening the app.
Hey there! It’s been a while since your last purchase. We’d like to offer a special 20% discount on your next order.
Your customer may get distracted mid-checkout or decide to save some items in the cart for more discount. Nearly 70% of e-commerce shoppers abandon their carts before checking out. A customer leaves items in the cart due to multiple reasons. You can’t do much about your customers’ thought process, but you can encourage them to complete their purchase by sending a relevant push notification.
““Hey there! You’ve left a few items in your cart. Complete your shopping while stock lasts!”
If your customers leave anything incomplete in your app, either abandon the cart, incomplete profile information, or something else, you can remind them that they were doing something. Send them a personalized push message mentioning in-completed action and tell them how completing that action will benefit them in the future. You can personalize them as per your requirements.
Hey there! Update your contact information to make sure you never miss our latest offerings and events.
Launching a new product is the most exciting- and nerve-wracking- things to do in business. As a business owner, you’ve invested a lot of money, time, and sleepless nights in developing or planning to show the world your newest product. Apart from creating email campaigns and organizing events, you must send catchy promotional push notifications about your new product to your existing app users.
We’re excited to introduce our newest products. Check it out right here
The holiday season gives you a chance to remind app users about their culture by associating it with your products or services. Festivities provide you a very good opportunity to reconnect with your existing and prospective customers. So, stay connected with your customers by sending them promotional notifications to upcoming holidays, like Christmas or Easter sales.
Get festive!
Our Christmas collection is stocked!
You can make your promotions interesting by creating personalized push notification messages using segmentation. It will help the user connect with you more easily resulting in an action.
Let your users decide for themselves. Create push notification giving your users a range of choices to choose from. This will give them a feeling of being authoritative and decisive therefore resulting in a boost of their confidence. And, when your users are confident about the product they’re have chosen, they’re more likely to purchase.
Shoes or Sneakers: Choose What You Love!
40% Off on entire footwear range.
The best marketing strategy aims to engage your existing customers is to send a notification that gives customers benefits and tips on how they can best use your products or service. You can also create and send a separate push notification for your app update.
10 Tips on Taxi App
New post on taxi app. Check out now!
Don’t forget to include a link in your push notification. It will help your customers to find it easily.
According to top marketers, customers react to emotions than anything else that you throw at them. Craft your notification in such a way that it reflects your care for them. For example- if there is a rainy season or scorching summers, you suggest to them how an umbrella can help them take care of themselves. Again, you need not mention discounts or other products in the notification. This marketing strategy is to stir the right emotion at the right time to encourage the desired response.
It’s Going to Rain Cats and Dogs!
Stay Dry! Choose from a variety of Umbrellas.
If you’re like many small business owners, you should explore any ways to stay connected with your customer. One way is to use push to wish them on special events, like Birthday, Wedding Anniversary, New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, Independence Day, etc. This will help you in building a long-term relationship with them.
Happy Women’s Day
You have got everything to make this world on.
You can also craft push notification with some great deals that complement the occasion.
No matter which way you use it, the referral is one of the most effective customer conversion channels available today. Create push notification offering your customers a discount by inviting their family or friends to shop. It works in both ways – your customers get to avail of the offer and you get a new customer.
Get 10 Off on Your Cart!
Refer a friend to avail of this.
The pre-sale reminders are one of the best marketing strategies to make your sale a big success. Ecommerce giants, like Amazon, Flipkart, etc. send pre-sale push notification to their app users to boost sales. Create compelling push notification and send it to all your app users while keeping them remind that something big is coming soon.
It’s almost here!
Are you ready? Only a few hours left for the biggest sale of the season!
This approach can the best option for e-commerce marketers to create a sense of hope amongst their users. Put some products on a special offer or offer some limited-edition items on your store and ask your users to register at first to grab them. Since users have nothing to lose, lucky draws instill hope and push them to take action every time. Notifications like these maintain a high level of engagement throughout the process and help app owners to build trust among their users.
Special Christmas Gift Hampers for Grab!
Register to be one of the 50 lucky winners.
Every app owner should aim for creating the first touchpoint by sending out a welcome push notification to their users as soon as they become a part of the user base. As per your marketing plan, you should offer them a discount on their first purchase. This way they will feel special and valued.
Welcome to Amazon
Get 20% Off on your first purchase!
Sometimes your hot selling items get out-of-stock and you customer keep searching for the same. As a professional marketer, you can turn your out-of-stock items into a promotion opportunity. Send a simple notification to your customer that your hot selling products are out-of-stock and products will be back in stock soon.
Your favorite item is out-of-stock now and it will be back in stock soon.
Send notifications when a product viewed by the user is back in stock. With Back in Store Alerts, you can let those customers know that they viewed or requested products in now back in stock so they can purchase whenever they want.
You asked we answered!
Your favorite item is now back in stock!
Notify users when product prices drop. Send alerts to users who have visited products but haven’t bought them. Let them know whenever those products are available at the lowest prices. As an app owner, you can select which products you want to give a special discount to all your subscribers.
Cause you deserve a gift
Your favorite item is now available at a 15% discount.
Send notifications about your flash sale to make your app users grab your discounts instantly. Easily run time-sensitive offers on your store and send notifications about it for a specific amount of time. It will add more value to your sale.
Flash sale: 30 off!
on all our collection
This type of push notification is suitable for businesses of all types, including e-commerce stores, food delivery, taxi, and many more.
Just like the promotional email campaigns, you send about your popular products; you need to create compelling push notifications that highlight a particular product to directly reach your subscribers and increase its sales. Phrase your push like an add with catchy words. You should also point out the reasons why this product is worth a buy.
Spice up these gloomy days with our Lunch Special running all week!
Don’t miss to insert an attractive picture of your promotional product.
Holding an old customer has more returns than acquiring new ones. Use this opportunity by sending them personalized push notification who have purchased from your store at least once. Craft push notification with exclusive promotions that compel them to revisit your store.
Printed rectangular bath rug from our collection!
Curated just for you, our loyal customer.
Deal of the day is one of the most used promotional ideas that every online business uses. Promote a single deal or create a deal of the day page and promote multiple products like Amazon and send push notification mentioning deals along with product image.
Deal of the Day
Flat 50% off on wall décor items. Valid for today only
According to the best available data, 44% of customers abandon their cart due to high shipping costs. One of the best ways to convert those into sales is by providing free shipping. Surprise your customers by sending them a free shipping notification.
Free shipping!
Enjoy free shipping on all products for the next 24 hours.
A daily or hourly countdown to the end of an offer or sale will remind users and create an urgency for them to make a purchase. It is one of the most effective marketing strategies to improve your bottom line. Send a last-minute reminder before the sale ends.
Last Day!
Just a couple of hours left to get 30% flat off!
When you plan to host a webinar, you should send push notification to your existing app users to increase your webinar traffic. This way, your customers will also get a chance to interact with you. And a good product demonstration can make your business more successful.
Free Demo
Check the free demo before you purchase.
Tempt your customer to make a purchase complimenting the product in their cart or their recently purchased items with another product. Create personalized push notification for each customer based on their product purchase. This type of push notification will help you increase the sale of the product for which the notification is sent.
Headphone For Mobile
See the matching headphones for mobile you recently purchased. Best price guaranteed.
This kind of push notification is often used to promote electronic items, apparel, and fashion accessories.
In this age of the digital world, every customer looks for a good number of reviews before making the final purchase. High-quality, positive reviews from your customers will improve your business’s visibility and likely increase your overall sales. Create a push notification for a review campaign to collect reviews from customers and increase the chance of a conversion
Did You Like Your Headphone
Share review about headphones to get a 10% off coupon.
Send a notification to your customer asking to share product experience on social media with their friends and families. This increases the social proof of your product in turn which can help to increase conversions.
Let Your Friend Know!
Share your recent ride experience on FB and get 10% off on the next ride.
Push Notifications are one of the most basic elements of a good mobile app. An app that does not include push notifications will most likely fail in the long run.
Once your customer makes a purchase using your mobile app, ask them about their experience. This helps in improving your application performance and usability. Also, this will make your customer feel that you care about them.
How Was Your Shopping Experience
Share your shopping experience on your recent purchase to get a 10% off coupon.
When running a contest, giveaway, or other interactive marketing campaigns, you must notify your app users. Attract a high number of customers by offering them an attractive offer. This way you can achieve your marketing goals.
Chance to Get 100% OFF
Participate now to get a chance to win 100% on the next ride.
Establish your credibility by sending push-notifications with a quote from a review left by any of your customers. This kind of notification can show how your products or services have helped them. You should always pick generic reviews that reflect how your products are services are useful.
Every Ride is Perfect and Safe
Mike Loves our taxi service.
Let your users know how they can better use the features within your app by highlighting ones they haven’t used yet. You need to need to include a tutorial link describing how they can easily and efficiently use your app.
New Feature in Our App
Check out now!
Don’t forget to put a link in your push notification. It will help your customers to find it easily.
Give your customers confidence that their money has been deposited or processed to prove your commitment to security and transparency with their money by sending them an alert notification. As soon your customer made payment for their purchase send them a notification that you’ve received a payment.
Thank you for your payment.
Your order has been placed successfully.
If you’re a fitness app owner, you must send a notification as soon as your users hit a goal within the app. This could include unlocking a new level, status, or loyalty points checkpoint. This kind of push notification encourages your users to hit the next goal.
5 days exercise goal reached – you crushed it!
You’ve reached your daily goals.
Customer review and suggestion about the experience they have with your service is useful data that you can use to optimize your business to meet their demands more efficiently. So, you need to send notification to send thank you emails to those who share their feedback with you.
Hey there!
Thank you for sharing your thought! We really appreciate it since we’re always looking for ways to improve our customer service.
Newsletter marketing is an advertising strategy whereby marketers inform their target audience about services and products through email. Send push notification to users on the latest newsletter you send out.
Read our latest newsletter and get insights on the latest trends.
Send a notification confirming your users when their purchase has been completed, processed, shipped, or delivered. It is one of the best marketing strategies to win your customer confidence while keeping your customer updated with their order progress.
Thank you for your order!
We will begin processing it soon.
This type of push notification is suitable for businesses of all types, including e-commerce stores, food delivery, taxi, and many more.
Surprise your customers! Make them curious with a catchy headline. Give a little discount if you have to and make them visit your website and convert them into a sale.
Look What Fell!
Book ride today and get 10% Off.
Take your push notification marketing strategy to the next level by targeting your users with a geofenced message. It’s easy and simple, just set geo fencing areas and whenever your app users enter into those areas, it automatically triggers push notifications to promote special offers and drive more traffic. For example- an app for a restaurant could alert users within the defined area that there is a special offer going on food.
Get 10% off on your next order at Domino’s Pizza (Palm Coast). Grab it since you’re so close to the store.
Geo-targeting helps businesses to target audiences in a particular geographic area. In geo-targeting, instead of delivering messages to every app user, app owners choose to target audiences in an area where their sales are relatively high or low, as per their liking. This kind of push notification helps app owners to drive more conversions.
Get Free Shipping!
Offer is only for customers across California.
Send your users a push notification if they show behaviors of risk of churning. Encourage them to get back into the app with special discounts or promotions that are happening right now.
Hey there!
We’ve noticed you left a few in your cart. come back and complete your purchase now to get 30% off.
Always get your users to keep their information up to date by sending gentle reminders for address update, or that their credit card is expiring soon or that their annual renewal is coming up.
Please update your contact information. Help us to help you.
Your app teams work hard to add new functionality and new features in your app to delight users. So, as an app owner, you need to create a strategy to communicate improvements successfully, and push notification is one of the best ways to do it. Create effective push notification for new feature announcements and send it to your users from across all platforms. Don’t forget to add a link giving detailed information about new updates.
Greetings!
Our new, updated version of [product] is finally live!
Praise your customer choice and make them feel special. Tell them not everyone has good taste. Create an image in their mind on how they would look a product in their cart. This kind of push notification is suitable for online fashion stores across the world.
You Have An Amazing Choice!
You will look stunning with these shorts and sneakers.
‘Buy More, Save More’ is one of the best promotional activities to attract your app users to purchase from your store. However, this marketing strategy works well with giant online stores like Amazon and Flipkart, but it is effective in driving sales for your store.
Buy 3 For Half the Price!
Selected collection only!
Everyone loves the feeling of winning something. You can tap this opportunity in building a long-lasting relationship with your customers. Whenever your customers achieve a milestone send them a push notification appreciating that they’ve achieved a milestone. In return, you can reward them for their achievement as per your marketing strategy.
You’ve unlocked our gold membership!
500 pts will be credited to your account!
One of the key methods to increase the open rates of your push notification is to build curiosity. Holding back some information drives users to take that one step – to click on it. Your push notification must be crafted in such a way that compels them to participate in your campaigns.
30% Off on Every Order!
A special surprise for the first 50 orders.
Amuse users with group offers and drive more sales. It is one of the best marketing strategies practiced by food businesses across the world. When you feel your sale is declining adopt this strategy to hold it back. You push notification for this offer must be effective with some discount and well-crafted to attract potential customers.
Something for Your Whole Gang
Enjoy special on a meal for 5!
Push notifications are the greatest way to retain users in the modern scenario of smartphone-based marketing.
The more customers that you can keep and continue to sell to, the more likely you are to achieve your business goals. Customer retention should the prime of every e-commerce business to ensure its success in the long run. This way, you should send a notification to your existing customer every now and then.
Want to earn every time you spend?
$5 Cashback, on a purchase of $50.
Creating a sense of urgency can produce the most staggering results. If you’re running sales on your store for a short time, you should send push notification to all of the app users. Your notification must present a real urgency by using words like ‘Shop Now’, ‘Buy Today’ etc. According to market experts, it has been observed that real urgency converts users faster than other marketing strategies as it makes users anxious.
30% Off on All Backpacks
Valid only for the next 30 minutes!
Create push notification that evokes fear to create pressure on your app users. when their reward points are about to expire you must send them notification encouraging them to take prompt action.
Reward Points About to Expire!
Redeem your points before it’s too late!
According to the best available data, every year abandon carts make e-commerce marketers lose around 64.45% of sales. Some users add their favorite items to their cart and forget about them. A gentle reminder can work like a charm here. Send a push notification reminding them that they’ve left something awesome in their cart. Notification like this encourages users to complete their purchase while helping app owners to reduce their loss to a great extent.
Your Favorite Handbag is Now on Sale
Only 10 pieces left! Hurry!
Push notifications are the most successful marketing tool for a business app. However, it is necessary that push notifications that you send follow an optimal length. It is not uncommon for push notifications to be cut off from the viewer. This can hurt your prospects of converting your viewers into leads.
The character limit and length for your push notifications will differ. To make it easier for you to understand, this section has been split into four parts:
Each platform has its unique rules when it comes to push notifications. However, most platforms are nearly similar in character limit and push notification length.
We begin with push notifications that you can send over the web. The length of a push notification depends on the browser too. Here’s how it works.
For Chrome: Chrome is the best browser for sending web app push notifications. Any push notification can have a title length of upto 128 characters out of which 63 characters are visible all the time.
The remaining characters are visible when a user hovers over the notification. Push notifications on Chrome can have a hero image(push notification images) attached to them. The character length remains the same despite adding an image. This trend is followed by most chromium-based browsers.
For Firefox: Firefox, on the other hand, supports around 200 characters per push notification out of which 49 can be shown as the title. Firefox does not support hero images.
Web app push notifications on MacOS supports different character length depending upon the browser used. Hero images cannot be added on MacOS on any browser.
However, the different lengths for push notifications are within similar ranges. As a rule of thumb, your push notification title should be between 40-50 characters and the body of your notification should be under 100 characters.
App push notifications will open on the default browser of the phone a viewer uses. The optimal length for app push notifications on Android platforms is around 47 characters. These 47 characters account for the title of the push notifications.
If you add a hero image in your push notifications, this title is the only content you can include in your push notification. Without a hero image, you can increase the length of your push notifications and include text of upto 441 characters.
Just like MacOS, iOS has a similar character limit for your push notifications. The title length of your push notification should be around 40-50 characters and body length is preferable under hundred characters. This comes around to about 4 lines of text on the notification dropdown.
Here is a table that can help you understand push notification lengths more clearly.
2009 – it was in June 2009 that Apple launched Apple Push Notification Service or APNs. This was the first push service.
2010 – less than a year later in May 2010, Google followed suit and launched Google Cloud to Device Messaging or C2DM.
2013 – exactly 3 years later, in May 2013, Google introduced ‘rich notifications’ which included images and action buttons. This was revolutionary as it allowed the app users to directly play media, open the app, or get relevant details.
2014 – more than a year later, in September 2014, Apple added interactive buttons in their push notifications which allowed iOS users to send their responses directly to the app publisher.
Push notifications are a powerful marketing tool, however, with great power comes great responsibility. Hence, you must be responsible while wielding this tool.
Flash a well-worded permission message before you show them the device’s permission. In this message tell the user about the value of subscribing to push notifications. Empower the user with the choice to enable or disable the push notification. Simply bombarding device requests may put your app users off and they will be more inclined to disable it, closing off a valuable marketing channel for you.
They may be called push notifications, but if you try and force your way in, chances are you would be shunned. Write smart copies that have a human touch. In the limited space that you have, it may become challenging.
Through audience segmentation, you can send geofencing notifications that reflect user preferences. This not only personalizes the notification you are sending out but also helps you bring back visitors who may have gotten distracted before they could convert. Another great way to send targeted notifications is through geofencing and sending out location-based push notifications.
Getting the right message at the right time can help you get positive attention and increase the chances of conversion. For example, social media apps are better off sending their push notifications immediately, but any promotional messaging must be sent when the app user is more likely to be open to receiving them.
Sending push notifications just for the heck of it will do you more damage than good. There is already a lot of noise in the field of marketing and if you only add to it without any value, your app users are going to press the mute button, or even worse, simply uninstall your app! Make sure that each notification you send out, has a purpose and delivers discernible value to the customer.
In this era of mobile technology, entrepreneurs are always looking for more personalized mediums to communicate with their customers, and push notifications are a great marketing tool for businesses with a mobile app because they help them stay connected to their users in the most cost-effective way.
The key to success is to make sure all messages are relevant, personalized, and timely. With the right messaging strategy in place, push notifications can be a powerful tool to boost profits and drive higher growth.