As smartphones become our new wallets and take up much of our attention, those little pop-up messages you get on your phone are becoming vital for businesses.

Research shows that if you don’t use an app for a week, you’re less likely to use it later. And did you know that one of every four apps gets deleted right after people try it once? That’s where mobile push notifications come to the rescue. Smart marketers use them in their campaigns, and you should too.

Let’s talk about those mobile push notifications on your phone. Ever wonder how they work and why they matter for businesses? Let’s find out more.

What Do We Mean by Push Notifications?

These are messages that apps send to your phone when you have them installed. They’re really good at sending you important messages at the right time.

So, what makes push notifications so great? Well, they turn your fancy phone into a helpful friend. This solves a tricky problem in marketing — how to talk to your customers exactly when you need it.

Let’s give a shout-out to push notifications for 2 reasons:

  1. They can talk to customers and give them the right info at the right time. For example, a travel app can tell you about flights and hotels if you plan a trip.
  2. This tech helps businesses make things that are super interesting and fun for users. They can see what you do and like, and then give you stuff that matches. For example, if you put a shoe in your online cart, they might say, “Hey Sarah, we noticed you liked a shoe. Get 15% off if you buy it in the next 30 mins. Just use code ADD15.”

The main idea behind ‘pushes‘ is to get people more interested, make the app more money, get more people to do what it wants, and keep the people who already use it happy. If you do it right, it can help businesses do these things.

But here’s the thing. Most folks have around 26 apps on their phone, but they only really use about 3 of them every day. Studies show that if you don’t use an app for a week, you’ll probably not use it much later. And guess what? One of every four apps gets deleted after people try it once.

So, by making exciting stuff to show, using those excellent sliding picture messages, and writing messages that grab attention, ‘pushes’ have helped businesses do incredible things on mobile devices.

Here are five examples of push message strategies that have worked well.

Push Alerts – A Basic Explanation

Right now, there are many ways people talk about push alerts. Some call them responsive notifications, some say vivid notifications, and others even call them personalized notifications. If you’re wondering which name is right — all hold validity.

If you’re unsure and need some clarification, it’s completely understandable. Push messages don’t have a universally defined way of being described like time or money does.

There are various methods of pushing, each with its unique characteristics. What if we simplify it by breaking it down into its basic components?

  • Sent from an app to your phone.
  • A way to tell you about new stuff.
  • Can have colorful things like pictures, moving pictures (GIFs), or videos (if your phone can handle it).
  • Special stuff made just for you to make you want to do something.
  • Used to quickly tell you important things right when you need to know.

Push messages are useful for marketing because they can be used in many ways. These benefits help explain why push alerts are so popular in business.

In this piece, we’ll talk about push alerts made for mobile devices.

Unveiling the Mechanics of Push Notifications

To understand how a push alert works, we need to look at the technical side and understand how push notifications are sent. This part should be easy to understand since we already know what pushing is.

Notifications on Mobile Devices

The whole process starts when you get an app on your phone. Depending on whether you have an iPhone or an Android, the app talks to Google Cloud or Firebase Cloud (an updated version of Google Cloud) for Android and Apple’s Push Alerts Services for iPhones.

Once that’s done, you get a unique ID code from Apple or Google/Firebase. This code links you to the app on your device. Your app then tells its server about this code.

Now, it’s time for the push notifications to happen. Like any other messages, they’re planned out — they can have cool things like pictures and essential info. When everything’s ready, the message goes to the app’s server.

Then, the cloud notification server (Apple or Google/Firebase) gets the message from your app’s server. They use that unique ID code from before to ensure the message goes to the right person using the app.

Do Push Alerts Matter?

Absolutely. Keep in mind that push alerts are unique, so let that uniqueness shine. These messages are quick, but they’re also personal because they go right to your phone.

Unlike texts or emails, bombarding people with too many of these messages is a bad idea. It’s a surefire way to get your app deleted.

But if you do it right, push messaging can boost your marketing. And by “doing it right,” we mean sending messages that matter, showing up at the right time, and feeling like they’re just for the person getting them.

Suppose you go the other way and send annoying messages. In that case, you’re asking people to delete your app because nobody likes a bunch of unwanted alerts filling up their phone.

This raises a question. How do you do it the right way? You can learn some smart tricks about how these messages work, get some easy tips, and see real-life examples of brands that are good at push notifications.

A great way to understand the best approach is to start with these three critical things about push messaging — what you’re saying (Substance), how often you’re saying it (Frequency), and how much people are getting involved with it (Engagement).

Frequency

Push notifications are helpful, but there are some challenges:

  • People have a lot of apps that can send them alerts.
  • Every day, how much they use their phones changes.
  • They must pay attention to when and what you say in the alerts.

This message should be something the app user wants — make it personal by looking at the person’s actions so you don’t bother them too much.

Content

Now, push messages can show pictures, buttons to click, and ways to connect with the app. Because phones are personal, ensuring these messages are also personal is important.

The words and other things you put in these messages should get people to do something and make money for your business. Make these messages really interesting if you want people to pay attention.

Engagement

The digital world links everyone. Push notifications that work well don’t just get ignored — they make people take action.

The trick is getting people involved — it has to get them interested when they interact.

Push alerts are different. Don’t treat them like they’re boring texts. Use their influence to make your business stand out.