5 Things the Best Push Notifications Have in Common

Have you ever opened an email, read a social media post, watched a commercial, or consumed any other type of marketing material and just been blown away? Maybe the headline really caught your attention, the visuals were really breathtaking, or the CTA buttons really inspired you to click. Clearly that company did an excellent job creating that campaign. From the content itself, to the targeting, delivery, and more, it really landed with you and was memorable.

We want that for you too! When crafting your web push campaigns, there are several elements that you need to keep in mind if you really want to wow your subscribers. While there is no denying how great web push is and how much potential it has, you have to develop the proper campaigns to really make it work.

Our awesome web push customers (that’s you!) have sent over 50 billion web push notifications using our platform. Plenty of these notifications have done an incredible job of connecting with subscribers and have resulted in millions of clicks and taps that have resulted in boosted traffic and sales for thousands of brands.

So, what are the things the best push notifications have in common? We are sharing that with you today! In particular, here are 5 areas to focus on as you build your web push notification strategy.

1. They’re personalized/targeted

Personalization may be the most important thing to focus on as you build your web push campaigns. We have spoken about personalization many times before, as has a majority of other marketing blogs. Why do we keep stressing it? Because it works! Nearly 90% of U.S. marketers have seen measurable improvement due to personalization.

When it comes to your web push campaigns, you can tackle personalization in a variety of ways. Custom attributes are a great and easy way to pass hyper-personal info into a push notification, such as a user’s first name. A subscriber seeing their name in your push notification is a quick and easy way to make them feel more connected to the notification itself.

Additionally, the best push notification marketers will personalize or otherwise target their campaigns to various segments of users. In other words, they don’t decide to send one broad push notification to their entire audience.

Instead, create a variety of smart segments that logically group people together based on their interests, location, or website activity (just to name a few). With those segments created, you can then create campaigns that have those specific individuals in mind.

2. They feature a strong CTA

You don’t just want your subscribers to see your push notification- you want them to click on it and complete a certain action! That may be reading your new blog post, following you on social media, shopping your latest sale, or retrieving their abandoned cart.

The first step towards getting your subscribers to act is to first determine what your goal is. Next, make sure your campaign contains the right language that will help inspire that particular action. A great CTA can work wonders at encouraging subscribers to click back to your website and complete the intended goal you have.

The above example has a great, strong CTA that encourages a user to shop by instilling a sense of urgency and a bit of FOMO. After all, who wants to miss out on a great sale or lose out on purchasing an awesome item because it is out of stock? We don’t!

Be clear about what you want your subscribers to do. Now is not the time for being vague. The more direct you are, the better results you are sure to experience. And don’t forget to incorporate action buttons!

3. They’re relevant

Your subscribers are no different from you- they are just as overwhelmed by content every day as you are. From social media posts, to marketing emails, ads, and more, there is a lot to sift through every day. The average American adult spends over 11 hours a day interacting with various forms of media. If you want your web push notifications to connect with your audience, they need to be relevant.

For example, you might think it is a good idea to target all users who look at your blog with a campaign whenever you post a new blog. Sounds good, right? While you are on the right track, you can still fall short of success by not digging deeper and sending notifications based on various topics you cover on your blog.

The above push notification is a great example of a lead magnet that has the potential to result in a lot of new qualified leads- but only if the content is considered relevant to the audience that sees it! The same goes for any other type of campaign you may want to send. Will it be relevant to your audience? If not, you’re in trouble.

4. They’re timed correctly

We hate seeing poorly timed push notifications. We really do! This is a fairly simple detail, but it can make a huge difference. The thing to keep in mind here is that your subscribers are coming to you from all over. You might craft a perfect campaign and set it up to deliver at 9 a.m. your time, but that will not be 9 a.m. for all of your subscribers. In some cases a few hours difference may not be a huge deal, but in plenty of instances, it really does matter.

This is especially true if you are running a short time sale or special offer (such as free shipping for 24 hours). Your subscribers should all get the notification at the proper time so that they can take advantage of the sale. Who wants to get a 24-hour sale notification, only to realize that the sale is nearly over? Thankfully, you can easily solve this problem by optimizing your notifications by user timezone.

Additionally, you can even choose to have your notifications expire at a certain point in order to avoid any potential confusion. Have that 12 hour flash sale notification expire once the 12 hours are up so that a user checking their computer or phone after the sale is over doesn’t get annoyed at seeing something that is no longer an option.

These small details are what can help your good web push campaigns turn into great web push campaigns. Don’t overlook them!

5. They incorporate unique visuals

Finally, you should spend as much effort planning your visual content with web push campaigns as you do with any other type of marketing you engage in. Visuals make a huge difference in the effectiveness of campaigns, and are a great way to establish your brand identity and increase brand recognition.

With web push, you’ve got two main areas to focus on when it comes to your visuals- your icon and large images. Keep in mind that large images do not work on all devices and browsers, so we recommend segmenting users that subscribe via large image supported browsers/devices so that you can target them with large images in their campaigns.

Utilize unique custom icons with different campaigns in order to increase their effectiveness. By always using the same icon, your notifications can start to easily run together and become forgettable. New icons help draw attention and can help support the content of the individual campaign. It’s a great, easy way to set your notifications apart from all others and will further improve the campaign overall.

Pro tip: Bookmark these guides that show you how web push notifications looks on mobile devices, Windows desktop devices, and Mac devices.

Wrapping Up

After analyzing tons of notifications, we have come to the conclusion that these are the things the best push notifications have in common. By targeting and personalizing messages, utilizing strong copy and CTAs, and ensuring all campaigns are relevant, timed correctly, and with custom visuals, you are sure to have major success with your campaigns. Don’t forget to check in with your analytics to see how you are doing!

What do you feel is the most important aspect of a successful web push notification? Let us know by sending us a message!

Are you new to the world of web push? Get started for free with Aimtell, or learn more about web push by reading our Beginner’s Guide.

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