In the right hands push notifications are the marketerâs new power tool

As smartphone penetration in the UK pushes over 75% of all mobile users (comScore mobiLens May 2014), push notifications are proving themselves to be right up there with email in terms of their power to deliver the right messages to people at the right time and, importantly, in the right place.

The push notification is a key part of many users’ app requirements, with seven out of 10 people enabling push notifications on their mobile devices, according to a new consumer survey by the DMA. And, used correctly, they can be an effective way to generate interest in brands, drive footfall and encourage online purchasing.

Marketers looking to use push notifications need to focus on offering enhanced content and purchasing experiences otherwise people will simply switch off to them. Four out of five people say they would disable or uninstall an app if they were unhappy with the notifications they received. On this note, it seems that “boilerplate” non-personalised messages are not popular; 79% of respondents stated a desire to be able to customise or personalise the notifications they receive.

So how should marketers approach the marketing push notification? One approach to consider is one that integrates email and social, as well as app notifications. Ideally, this should all be part of a channel and technology-agnostic comms plan that reflects the insight from your data strategy. Specifically for apps, most of the same rules and warnings apply as they do for other customer communications.

Here’s a quick checklist of the dos and don’ts of push notifications:

• Do sell the benefits of receiving your messages
• Think about whether or not to ask people to enable notifications upon install or whether you should wait until you can illustrate their benefits from within the app
• Don’t send too many
• Do make sure that they are relevant and conform to expectations.
• Do include a call to action
• Do ensure that they are in sync with your 1-to-1 marketing, email and other customer comms.

I’d be interested to hear about your experience of using push notifications in your marketing.

By DMA guest blogger Douglas McDonald, Client Services Director, Underwired Limited and DMA Mobile & Connected Marketing Council member

See the full results in the DMA push notification infographic