Drive action with in-app and mobile push notifications
Did you know that over 60% of US adults consider mobile shopping a necessary convenience (Source: eMarketer )? Beyond that, those who shop on your mobile app are often a brand’s most loyal shoppers.
That’s why app-based notifications are so powerful. They unlock a new opportunity for you to engage high-value shoppers with messaging that drives habit and impulse.
Push notifications are particularly beneficial when sending time-sensitive reminders and promotions unique to your app. Let’s explore how to seamlessly weave push notifications into your marketing strategy.
Determine when to use standard push, rich push, and in-app forms
You should predominantly send push notifications to alert customers of updates, deals, or time-sensitive offers in your mobile app. There are 3 core types of app-based messages in Klaviyo that can spur conversions.
Standard push
A standard push notification is your baseline. It’s text-based and appears on a mobile device's lock screen or notification center.
Use for quick reminders and alerts that drive someone to your app; for example:
- Shop a sale
- Complete your profile
- Use your loyalty points
- Get free shipping
- Unlock a special gift or set of loyalty points upon shopping in a set timeframe
Example:
SWAK’s team sends a mobile push alert to anyone who has viewed, started a checkout, or bought their SWAK Simply Sweet Chapstick. Their team is discontinuing this item in a week, so they offer an exclusive, app-specific sale to sell remaining inventory and ensure a positive customer experience for those who showed interest before it’s too late.
Quick tip: Non-text elements, such as emojis or push alert sounds, can quickly spur a click while reducing the amount of text needed in your copy.
Rich push
Rich push notifications include 1 added multimedia element, such as an image, GIF, or video. These elements can drive further engagement, catching the eye of a push subscriber and enticing them to click.
Use to drive someone to your app for promotions that benefit from a visual aid; for example:
- Buy a new product
- Shop our recommendations for you
- Get extra points when you shop a specific collection
- Price drop or back in stock for a specific item
Example:
SWAK’s team adds an image of a new product that they plan to launch early for mobile app users. In this case, they test rich push to see if a visual boosts sales. When they send the wider text announcement the following week, their rich push performance will help them decide whether adding an image to their text (and thus paying for an MMS) is worth the cost.
Note: While images are available for both iOS and Android apps, GIFs and videos can only be sent to iOS apps. If you send a GIF to an Android device, it will appear as a static image of the first frame of that GIF.
In-app forms
Mobile in-app forms capture users' attention at opportune moments within your mobile app. They can be visible to all app users, or you can adjust the form's targeting and display settings to show messages to specific user groups or to users who completed a particular app-based action.
Use to reinforce a push notification or spur a specific action; for example:
- Deliver incentives to reduce in-app cart abandonment.
- Power recommendations for specific products.
- Remind someone of points, discounts, etc., that haven’t been applied in the app.
Example:
SWAK successfully drove a user to the in-app launch of their new product. After users spend a set amount of time in the app, a form appears offering a deeper discount to encourage them to complete their purchase if they’re still undecided.
Create a seamless omnichannel experience
Omnichannel marketing is all about playing to the strengths of each channel and leveraging the right one at the right time to stand out from your competition. Your ultimate goal is to build a communication cadence that feels relevant and helpful.
As you expand your omnichannel strategy, follow these best practices for mobile push and beyond:
Keep messaging consistent
Different channels allow you to tailor messages to meet your customers in ways that leverage each channel’s potential. That said, don’t stray too far from your central marketing goals. Create a cohesive experience across email, text, WhatsApp, and push, maintaining your unique brand voice throughout.
How can you use push in coordination with other mobile channels?
- Align deals and promotions.
Ensure your incentives are aligned (unless intentionally different for certain segments) so you avoid sending mixed messages. - Use as a follow-up or complementary alert.
For instance, if you send a text about a New Year's calendar launch, send a push to anyone who viewed but didn't buy one during the last week, so the calendar will ship in time for January 1. - Lead with push for product drops.
This can be done more easily than updating product pages, as you can change what's listed in your app separately from your website. You can also send product images without the added cost of an MMS, and push notifications can be sent later in the evening, unlike text. While you still shouldn't send too late in the day, this could be a plus for push.
Be mindful of the timing of your messages
Think about your customers' experience and what messages they have recently received. For instance, you don’t want them to receive a text message and then a push notification 30 minutes later with the exact same content.
Push alerts should either be sent for:
- Timely, relevant alerts that someone has not yet received through another channel.
- Follow-up reminders for promotions sent via another channel as a nudge to act now.
- Alerts that build a habit of consistent in-app engagement.
This is particularly important for text and push, since the same customer may see these alerts back-to-back on their phone if you aren’t careful to exclude text subscribers from receiving the push alert (or vice versa). Consider all the content someone will encounter during their customer journey and how it motivates them to take the desired action.
Get right to the point
Use active voice and have 1, clear and compelling call-to-action per message (e.g., shop now, learn more, upgrade, etc.). This holds true for email, text, and push notifications.
That said, push notifications have specific character limits that can vary between iOS and Android. As a rule of thumb, we recommend keeping your content under 178 characters long.
With minimal copy, ensure the content is direct and intentional, leads with value, and clearly states where the user will be sent upon clicking. The trick is to be as specific as possible in only a few words.
For example, some clear and concise alerts may include:
- Free shipping for purchases before 4pm EST
- Tickets to {{ name of favorite artist }}: available now.
- {{ promoted_item }} is trending this week, check it out!
- It’s bake-off week, celebrate with our aprons, 15% off through Friday.
Encourage brand loyalty
While all subscribers are valuable, your push subscribers are often your most engaged audience. Treat them as such.
When you send push alerts that deviate from a time-sensitive announcement, ensure the deal, discount, or promotion is worthwhile for them and emphasize the exclusivity of each offer.
For example, you may offer a higher discount via push than via email or text; alternatively, you may open a sale early for push subscribers so they’re the first to know and shop while supplies last.
Build habits using push notifications
Consistency is key, not only for your push notification planning but also for customers to build habits around your brand. Find the right cadence for your product and audience so people build a habit of engaging with your app, whether that means making a purchase or completing actions that reinforce your brand’s value.
What does this look like in action? Think of a fitness-related app. While you may not purchase every time you head to the app, you may still navigate there to track fitness data, set a healthy habit, share an achievement with your community, reward yourself for hitting a personal milestone, etc.
Regardless of which notifications actually earn revenue, the act of habit-building and driving someone to your app can become lucrative over time.
Gather deeper customer insights
This advice is twofold since you should:
- Gather customer input in the form of properties about someone.
- Uncover data through A/B testing your push notifications in flows.
First, a major reason brands have apps is to gather detailed information about their users, in a way that's easy and personal for their audience. Ask for and encourage the sharing of information that can add to your customer experience and power your business offerings. For example, you may seek information about someone’s location, taste or style preferences, yearly goals, daily routines, upcoming life milestones, etc., so that you can better engage with them on your app.
Since push is so short and snappy, you should constantly test your content to see what drives action. This is not only beneficial for your brand's growth but also a quick way to generate multiple push variations at once. Take time to A/B test push messages within Klaviyo flows to further enhance the content you send via this channel.