If you’re not sending push messages yet, you should start now. Because well-crafted push messages increase app engagement by an average of 190%, according to a recent study by Urban Airship (see here).
With tchop you can schedule push messages or send them immediately, you can link to your own or other people’s content, push polls or other feedback elements, or of course just inform them about important news (more on that here in the blog).
Push notifications are one of the big app USPs! Successful app vendors develop their own strategy for sending push notifications. We also recommend this to every customer.
But what is the best way to text these short messages? We have summarized the most important tips:
1. Write text that is geared to your target group
Knowing your target group well is a prerequisite for any kind of content marketing. To do this, analyze your user base. Who downloaded the app? What types of users* are there that usually give consent for push messages? Developing a “persona” can be just as helpful as demographic details, e.g. age and gender, or previous buying behavior or interests.
Push messages are like a very direct, important message. The better you put yourself in your counterpart’s shoes, the easier it is to select the right content with the optimal tone.
2. Score with added value for the user
Push messages are often very personal messages, i.e. too often and too poorly formulated push messages can also quickly become annoying. Therefore, in order to offer added value for the user, it is called: Consider the target group! Every customer, every channel may need different messages and information.
The question should always be: what information, what messages and what added value am I delivering to the user? Is the message important enough? Is it important for me – or really from the user’s point of view? Push messages should only be used for marketing in exceptional cases.
3. Good push messages need fast but clear language
Every smartphone user classifies push messages as important and urgent. And so should be the language used. Meaning: no long words around the bush. Get to the point quickly and directly, as with headlines and subject lines. Use as few characters as possible, as many as necessary. And sprinkle in a few emojis here and there – and you’ve got the effective push message.
4. Focus on the essentials, because less is more
Push messages drive app usage. And who doesn’t want their app to be used “more”? Quickly comes the consideration to send one message after the other. But be careful here: especially too many push messages will quickly annoy your community. Unfortunately, there are no rules for sending push messages. Because it always depends on the content, the frequency of important messages and, of course, target audience and app type. When in doubt, however, the well-known texter’s rule applies: less is more.
5. Find out the optimal times of day
Your users receive dozens, if not hundreds, of push notifications from different apps every day. Depending on the topic and content, timing, i.e. the time of day, plays an important role. It is important to analyze at what times your community or workforce is particularly active in the app and generally on the smartphone. For many working adults, these are often the hours in the morning and early evening. But again, try shipping at different times. Different themes sometimes work better at certain times.
No matter how you handle your app and what role it plays in your communication and content strategy: Sending some push messages is better than not sending any at all. Always!
The trick is to send the right number of messages to your community while figuring out which relevant topics will keep them engaged or provide the most value. If you feel like digging deeper into the topic, check out this blog post: Push Notification Strategies Top Social Media Brands are using: What Digital Marketers Can Learn
And of course, if you have any questions or need inspiration, feel free to contact us anytime!