We are witnessing a drastic revolution in mobile Internet usage and it has surpassed desktop Internet usage. This sudden rise has soared the concept of online businesses in recent years. Starting as an online retailer or service provider is easy but scaling the business comes with many challenges. When running an online business, the deal closure is considerably harder when compared to a brick-and-mortar store. With more opportunities and exposure to a worldwide audience, the only challenge is how to keep your visitors engaged?
Research says that almost 94% of the shoppers visiting an online store are just there to explore the options, brands and do a price comparison. When a person visits your site for the first time, it depends on you how to convert them into a customer. After investing enough money in marketing a website and getting visitors, the engagement model decides whether you will get back the same visitors or lose out on them. So a communication channel is important to draw customers’ attention towards your online store.
Wondering how to keep your visitors engaged?
A sure answer to this question is- Push Notifications.
Have you ever noticed the messages popping up on your mobile screen as reminders? Yes, they are called push notifications that are generated from the apps you have installed. Push Notifications work the same as an email subscription method i.e. user must allow the notifications from the app. In Android apps, they are enabled by default. In iOS apps, the user is asked the first time they open the app. They create more chances of getting back the interested customers and also promote sales. Hence, chances are that a great part of users can be converted into subscribers and then to customers.
Push Notification is a great engagement channel to keep the audience interested and engaged. Push notification can bring beneficial business conversions to boost your sales. Some of the use-cases are-
- To lead users to your social media platforms
- For brand promotion with discounts & offers
- Keeping the audience interested in a brand through valuable content
- Attracting more users, hooking them and building trust
- Notifying them about latest inventory additions
To maintain your audience base, try not to be a spam sender but consider delivering short, creative and valuable content to create a brand reputation in the long run.
Push Notification Strategies to Boost the Sales
Push notification builds a great way of generating sales through mobile marketing. These strategies can be used by all kinds of online service providers.
It creates more engagement with the audience compared to other marketing tools. Push notifications are acing the app market because of these two reasons-
- Increased smartphone usage
- They are generated by the publisher which makes users curious about it.
Let us understand how push notifications can be strategized to boost sales:
- Get Potential Users to Opt-in
Firstly, push notifications can only be shared or sent if your app has been installed by a user and notification option is enabled. To get people to opt-in your app, you need to create a curious and engaging representation of the app so that they become interested in your products and services. Make sure to be authentic and creative when asking for user’s permission to send messages. Please note that a user has the ultimate ability to switch them off at any time. So, don’t uplift a risk of angering the users by unnecessary spamming. People are more likely to opt-in if they find your brand interesting and your products hold value for them. If you catch-up the user’s interest in your products within a few seconds then it is worth it, else they may never come back.
Know how to get people to opt-in for your push notifications:
- Offer the benefits of opt-in
- Allow them to set their preference
- Give options for different notifications types
- Notify About Limited Period Deals
To generate immediate actions on your application, offer limited time discount deals to grab the attention. People have subscribed to your notifications because they don’t want to miss out on any great deal. So, don’t squander their trust. Tremendous conversions can be generated by offering time-sensitive deals that are only valid for a few days and users will be encouraged to take immediate action.
- Always display your offers as surprise gifts to the users not just as a reminder or an update.
- Create a push message for the flash sale only lasting for a day, with a discount code and a direct link.
- Include a countdown watch in your message to create urgency concerns
With research and analytic tools like Firebase analytics, find out about your subscriber’s interest and what they are searching for. Share discounted deals on the same product to gain higher engagement rates.
- Launch & Promote New Products
The possibilities of customers visiting your site to check new product updates are quite low. It is hard to determine that a customer who was visiting your site previously will come back again. So, announce a new product or service via push notification and get a higher rate of subscribers visiting your site.
A push notification can be made more engaging by introducing the latest arrivals in the message. Create an interactive news feed and disclose new launches, item discounts, upcoming sales, and updates, etc. Note that the pop-ups can be made more fun with photos, videos, CTA tabs for direct product access, etc. Sending a notification regarding the launch of new products encourages great actions.
- Offer Exclusive Discount Codes
A customer is more likely to click on a push notification if it looks uniquely curated for him. Customers expect more than discount offers, they respond better if the deal is only made available for them. Therefore, sending unique discount codes is more likely to attain a customer’s interest in the deal. Prepare your push notifications according to customers’ relevance. Try reaching the right customer with the right product offer to get a higher conversion rate.
- Shopping Cart Abandonment Reminders
While shopping, people select & add items to the bag and then left the products unordered. The reasons behind the cart abandonment are many but the usual one is user distraction. It might be possible that the shopper was distracted by something while completing the order and skipped it. A better way to get them back to finish their orders is by sending a reminder about their waiting shopping cart and what they have left behind.
According to a survey, around 78% of shoppers left their orders unfinished and over half of the orders can be retrieved via sending push notification. Adding a direct link of the shopping cart in the push notification allows your customers to complete the order in a click.
- Share Personalized Messages
The personalized marketing tactic gives more results when compared to generic mass marketing tactics. A study says that customers are more attracted to the brands which share personalized messages with them. Through creative push notifications, remind your customers that you miss them at your site. It is not always about sharing offers, new products, and sales but a pleasant message, interesting tip, the latest news or something that might grab their attention.
Share pleasant morning messages or wish them on their birthday with an exclusive birthday discount. Gift them a deal on their special day, and they will come back to you more often.
Applications that have in-built marketing features like push notification have better chances of gaining customers. Opt for leading Web and Mobile App Development Company which can build such marketing features to help your business growth.