Web Push Notifications – What You Need to Know for 2019
What are Push Notifications, and why you should incorporate them on Your Website In 2019?
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Today’s internet users are bombarded with more content than ever before. This has resulted in shorter user attention spans. What this means is that digital marketing has become a lot more complex.
Over the past few years, the use of push notifications has come out strong as a confident and fully-fledged marketing medium. Push notifications are among the easiest channels to engage with your audience directly. Herein is a comprehensive look at what you need to know about push notifications and how your website can benefit from them.
What Are Push Notifications?
Push notifications are notifications sent to a product user via short messages that direct the user to a web page, specific screen or other location. The notifications are real-time messages designed to promote user engagement. The main purpose of these notifications is to make the user aware of important (possibly time-sensitive) information via a call to action (CTA).
The notifications appear on the notification center or lock screen of the user’s device. This will depend on the settings that the user has enabled. There are two types of push notifications: mobile app and web. Mobile app push notifications are the most widely used type.
Apple device users have the option of opting in to push notifications while Android device apps enable them automatically. Web push notifications are different from mobile ones in that they are not limited to smartphones and tablets, and they also cover the desktop platform.
How Web Push Notifications Work…
By default (for Android), whenever a mobile user installs an app, they give permission to the app to send them push notifications on their device. However, a desktop user has to explicitly grant permission to a website to send them push notifications. Therefore, the first step is to get an opt-in from a visitor. When a user arrives on your website, they trigger an opt-in box.
Once the user clicks on allow,’ he or she is added to the subscriber list. When a user becomes a subscriber, you can now send them push notifications from your site. You can customize the title and text message within a range of character limits as well as include visual media.
You also have to specify a URL. These push notifications will be sent in real-time even if the user has not opened their browser at the time. Your subscriber will be directed to the specified URL once he/she clicks on the notification.
The Benefits of Incorporating Push Notifications on Your Website
1.Instant Delivery– Your audience is going to see the push notifications you send to them immediately. In a very competitive online domain, it is crucial to send out alerts to your target audience instantly.
With push notifications, you do not have to wait for users to check emails or be logged into your website. They will be delivered right on their desktops, mobile phones, and tablet whenever they are online.
2. You do not require a Mobile App – Website push notifications eliminate the need for having a dedicated mobile app. They work exactly the same way as native notifications sent by apps on mobile devices. This means that you do not need to have a separate mobile app.
Building a great mobile app can be very costly. For some of you, having a mobile app may not make business sense depending on your specific industry and operations. Web push notifications allow you to enjoy the marketing benefits of a mobile app without the development and maintenance costs.
3. Higher Opt-in Rates – Push notifications enable you to continue with your marketing activities without asking for any personal details. Internet users today are reluctant to give out their personal information such as names, contacts and email addresses.
They are more open to channels where handing out personal information is not required. You offer your visitors a chance to subscribe to a service with only a single click. For this reason, opt-ins are higher than SMS and email subscriptions.
4. Suitable for All Industries – While e-commerce platforms are the dominant users of most push notifications, they are a highly versatile medium. They are not just for sending promotional content. For instance, if you are a travel agency you can use push notifications to send out urgent messages or alerts regarding your services such as traffic/weather information or pending bills.
If you operate a news-publishing site or blog, you can use them to send relevant content. If you are in the entertainment business, you can push interesting media content( videos, images). Any party from any industry can find a smart way to implement web push notifications into their operations.
5. They Stimulate User Engagement and Re-engagement – With, web push notifications you can attract more consumers at certain touch points. You can use them to send real-time reminders and updates which get your audience to engage regularly with your brand.
You can keep in touch with users in a non-intrusive manner through timely relevant information. Web push notifications are also a great way to re-engage inactive users. Sending more high-value push notification can help with subscriber retention.
6.Personalization – One of the reasons why push notifications have undergone a resurgence in recent years is personalization. They outperform generic spray-and-pray marketing tactics like email newsletters due to this aspect.
Consumers today seek a superior user experience through personalization. With the various components that you can include in your push notifications, they are the perfect tool for giving the consumers what they want.
7. Offer Traceable and Actionable Metrics – You can use the key performance indicators (KPIs) of web push notifications to help you track user behavior and plan accordingly. They provide sophisticated analytics with data on the open rates, delivery receipts, open times and engagement.
The notifications can offer you valuable insight into user patterns including click-through rates and interaction times to see the effective marketing messages. You can launch campaigns that connect with your audience better based on this data.
How to Implement a Push Notification Strategy
Depending on your specific industry or niche, your web push notifications will fall into one or more of four main types. These are informational, new features and content, social actions and take action push messages.
The ones that perform well tend to follow the basic rules of any market strategy. They must provide an incentive to be opened, arrive at the right time and respect the user. Below are some tips on how to go about using them:
• Emphasize Notification Content Quality – The push message copy, call to action and linked information should be as specific and personalized to the user as possible. Always use first names and visual media if possible and utilize dynamic deep linking. An example of dynamic deep linking is directing a user to a specific screen about a product/service they may be interested in. It is much more direct/personal than simply directing them to your homepage.
• Employ User Segmentation – You can be able to achieve tailored messages by segmenting the audience according to characteristics of interest including demographics, product-use behavior patterns, and geographical location. Use this information to create appropriate CTAs for different targets.
• Know the Average User Schedule – Understanding when your audience wants to receive push notifications is critical. For instance, if you are targeting a working-class demographic, sending push notifications during normal working hours will be irritating.
• Frequency is Important– Frequency will play a vital part in push message success. Send too many, and your subscribers will unsubscribe. Send too less, and your audience might forget about you.
Free and Paid Options for Push Notification Services
Today, there is a myriad of web push notification services that can help with your digital marketing campaign. Below is a list some of the most recommendable services and tools, both paid and free.
Adrack
Adrack is supported by all major browsers and is among the best all-round web push notification services. It offers a web-based platform where you can create and send push notifications.
Adrack offers two plans: Professional, starting at $16 per month and Enterprise (for those with 500,000+ subscribers). The most notable features include HTTP and HTTPS support, statistics reports, options for larger images, notification scheduler and lifetime analytics.
Wigzo
Wigzo is a complete digital marketing tool designed for professional bloggers. It has both free and paid options.
The free push notification service offers messages for 5000 subscribers, but you cannot access some functions. Some of the Wigzo’s key features include ROI Tracking, Contact Management, Campaign Segmentation, Content Platform, Website Visitor Tracking, and Multi-Channel Management.
OneSignal
OneSignal has a free option with generous usage limits. It is the best service if you are a beginner. You can send push notifications to PCs as well as mobile devices through the Web Push API. It supports nearly all the major platforms. The notable features include Easy Setup, A/B Testing, Segmentation Targeting, and Real-Time Tracking.
Subscribers.com
Subscribers.com is the most accessible and simplest push message service. It has a free option up to 200 subscribers, and just $29 per month up to 10,000 subscribers. Between 10,000 and 100,000 is just $99 per month.
Overall, website push notifications fit into a unique space in the digital marketing spectrum. They deliver the ability to reach out to a very large and highly targeted audience. If you have not yet integrated web push notifications into your website in 2019, what’s stopping you?
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About the Author Ben Clemons
I'm a husband, father, and full-time digital marketer whose been working 100% online since 2008. I love leveraging the power of outsourcing to create online businesses in multiple niche markets. From developing software, to creating niche blogs, and even selling physical products through Shopify stores, I really love what I do. DreamHustleProfit.com is my new blog where I can share what I'm working on currently, as well as what I've learned along the way.
