10 Creative ways to use mobile push notifications for your business
Mobile push notifications have become an increasingly popular tool for businesses to engage with their customers and drive conversions.
Not sure exactly where to start? Here are our top 10 creative ways (and copy ideas from our favourite copywriter) to use app push notifications to drive engagement, conversions, and growth.
How to make push notifications interesting
1. Announce sales and promotions
Push notifications are a great way to announce sales, promotions, and other special offers to your customers.
By sending timely notifications about discounts or limited-time offers, you create a sense of urgency and encourage customers to make a purchase. For example, a clothing retailer could send a notification announcing a 24-hour flash sale on a particular category of products. Or a fitness app could release a weekend challenge to hit a new step record.
2. Share new content or products
Are you constantly creating new content and introducing new products to your customers? Let push notifications help.
For example, a blog or subscription-based media outlet could send a notification when a new article or video is published, or a retailer could send a notification when a new product line is released.
By keeping customers up to date on new offerings, you build excitement and encourage repeat visits to your app or website.
3. Provide personalised recommendations
Armed with data on customer behaviour and preferences, your brand can create personalised push notifications that recommend products, content, or services that the customer is likely to be interested in.
For example, a music streaming service could send a notification recommending new releases from an artist the customer has previously listened to.
This is in stark contrast to sending a country music playlist to a fan of Neo Soul. Without personalisation (backed by data), you’ll end up sending app push notifications with no reaction.
4. Send location-based notifications
With geolocation data, you can send push notifications specific to the customer’s location. Location-based push notifications help to drive foot traffic and increase conversions for brick-and-mortar businesses.
For example, a coffee shop could send a notification offering a discount to customers who are within a certain radius of the shop.
5. Offer exclusive access or rewards
Push notifications are a powerful tool for building loyalty and rewarding customers for their engagement.
By offering exclusive access to content, products, or promotions, your brand can create a sense of exclusivity and make customers feel valued. For example, a fitness app could send a notification offering early access to a new group class or a discount on a premium subscription.
6. Provide helpful reminders
Push notifications can also be used as helpful reminders to customers.
For example, a travel app could send a notification reminding customers of their upcoming flight or hotel reservation, or a productivity app could send a notification reminding customers of an upcoming deadline or meeting.
To do this right, you need an omnichannel marketing automation platform and first-party data to truly personalise. That way, you’ll send the right message at the right time — instead of pushing out generic messages you hope will land.
7. Encourage user-generated content
Here’s one you might not have thought of. Your brand can use app push notifications to encourage customers to generate content or engage with your brand on social media.
If you’re a retailer, send a notification inviting customers to share photos of themselves using a product on social media, with the promise of a reward or feature on the brand’s social channels.
Not only does this improve brand awareness and loyalty, but it also gives you free content you can share on social media.
8. Provide customer service and product support
Push notifications are also a valuable tool for providing customer service and addressing customer concerns.
Banking apps can send notifications notifying customers of potential security issues or fraud alerts, and provide instructions for how to resolve the issue. E-commerce sites (and brick-and-mortar retailers) can let customers know about shipping and delivery times, too.
And this type of push notification doesn’t have to be bland. Instead of writing ‘contact us with any concerns’, write ‘our team of headset-wearing heroes is here for you’ and include an image of your team.
9. Celebrate milestones and events
Want a guaranteed way to build stronger relationships with your customers and create a sense of community? Send app pushes on special occasions or milestones. It’s that easy.
A fitness app could send a notification congratulating a customer on achieving a new personal best, or a retailer or restaurant could send a notification offering a discount on a customer’s birthday.
You can also send push notifications when someone has purchased a certain amount of a product. Take shampoo for example. The app push could read ‘Here’s a special discount for having the best-washed hair in all of (city)’.
10. Ask for feedback or reviews
Push notifications can also be used to start a conversation. Try using them to ask your customers for feedback or reviews, which helps improve products or services and builds credibility with potential customers.
If you’re an e-commerce retailer, send a notification asking customers to review a recent purchase, with the promise of a discount on their next purchase as a thank you.
Incorporating these 10 creative ways to use mobile push notifications can help your business or brand boost engagement and retain customers.
But it’s also important to keep in mind some best practices when creating and sending push notifications to avoid overwhelming or annoying your customers.
- Keep notifications relevant and timely — Avoid sending notifications too frequently or at inconvenient times, such as early in the morning or late at night.
- Use personalisation and segmentation — Use customer data and behaviour to create personalised recommendations and segment your customer base to send notifications that are most relevant to their interests and needs.
- Keep messages short and actionable — Push notifications should be short and to the point, with a clear call to action that encourages customers to engage with your brand. Avoid using too much text or including irrelevant information in your notifications.
- Test and optimise all notifications — Test different messaging, timing, and segmentation strategies to see what works best for your audience, and use data and analytics to optimise your notifications over time.
- Provide opt-out options — Just like with email, make sure to provide opt-out options for customers who no longer wish to receive push notifications.
