A major challenge many businesses face today is getting customers to engage and re-engage with their brand. This can be quite difficult, especially due to the ever-increasing level of competition.
If you're hard-pressed to find an effective way to interact and engage your users, push notifications might just be the strategy you're looking for.
In this article, we will cover the following:
What are push notifications?
What are the different types of push notifications?
What are the benefits of push notifications in the eCommerce industry?
What are push notifications?
There are various definitions of push notifications, but they're essentially alerts delivered directly to the home screen of a mobile device or computer without a specific request from the client, nudging them to take some action.
For example, if you have the Facebook app installed on your mobile device, you are likely getting push notifications for friend requests, new messages, etc. The idea is to grab your attention by offering value to make you return to the app.
The good thing about them is that users don't even have to login into the app or access the site to receive these messages. Instead, when users click on the notification that pops up, they are redirected back to their apps or web browser, making them a convenient marketing strategy.
App publishers and website owners use push notifications and web push to deliver relevant and personalized content to their customers at the most appropriate time. For businesses, push notifications can be about any of the following:
New product offers
Promotions
Reminders about carts they abandoned
New content releases
Customer feedback requests etc
What are the different types of push notifications?
Push notifications are a versatile marketing strategy that can be broadly categorized into two:
1. Mobile app push
These are notifications triggered via an app installed on your mobile device. They are usually displayed on your lock screen, banner, or notification center.
2. Web or browser push
This type of notification appears on your screen when you're active in your browser.
What are the benefits of push notifications in the eCommerce industry?
Many people are unaware of the many possibilities push notifications create. Here are some of the top benefits of push notifications for eCommerce.
1. Reach both desktop and mobile
Reaching prospective customers via email can be a challenge as many people don't give out their emails these days. What's more, most promotional emails end up in spam.
You can conveniently reach your target audience provided with push notifications, whether via desktop or mobile. This means you can reach many new customers at a go regardless of the device they're using. That way, you never have to worry about not reaching any segment of users.
2. Instant communication
Another major advantage of push notifications is that they serve as a means of instant communication between businesses and customers. Unlike other types of marketing tools, push notifications don't end up as spam or remain unopened in their inbox.
Push notifications allow you to cut through the noise to reach your customers directly. You don't even need their email address to contact them. The added bonus is that they can read the message on their screen even without opening it. The messages simply can't be ignored.
3. Traffic increase
One of the goals of every marketing effort is to generate traffic. The more traffic you're able to generate, the higher the chances of acquiring new customers and retaining old customers, which also translates to better conversion rates. It all starts with an increase in traffic.
Push notifications are an effective way to send traffic to your website or app. By pushing a single, persuasive message that indicates value, you can have many users troop to your website or app.
What's more, you can achieve similar results repeatedly by doing the same thing - promising value and delivering on your promise.
4. Higher conversion rate
Push notifications do more than just bring users back to your website or app - they also help to improve your conversion rate. By clicking the notification, there's a good chance that you've successfully grabbed their attention and that they're interested in your product offers.
With a well-crafted offer and strong call to action, push notifications can help trigger instant action from the user to purchase your products. When properly used, push notifications can fetch any business more money.
5. User engagement (Retain your clients)
The average person today has different apps on their mobile devices. Put yourself in your customers' shoes for a moment and ask yourself how many times you have opened some apps on your device in the last few weeks. The answer might be a couple of times. The simple truth is that many people have mobile apps that they don't use.
Push notifications can be an effective way to grab your customers' attention and bring them back to your app or website. By engaging your customers regularly via push notifications, you will be able to provide them with value and turn them into loyal customers.
6. Lower cost
Despite being a highly effective marketing tactic, push notification is a low-cost way of boosting conversions and generating more revenue. Most marketing strategies are capital-intensive, thus placing a limit on how businesses can maximize them.
In contrast, push notification is cost-effective as you get to reach more people for less. It's a great way to decrease expenses and increase revenue.
Conclusion
Push notifications create diverse opportunities for businesses of all sizes to grow and achieve their goals.
Sending well-crafted, relevant, and timely messages can help you grow and retain your customer base at a minimal cost. Now that you know what this strategy can do for any company - go ahead and start using them!
