5 Examples of Push Notification Actions Done Right [Updated]

If you are thinking because you have built a mobile app, people will start using it; then you may be in for a rude surprise! In 2017, users accessed 30 apps per month and 10 per day. But the apps on the ‘home screen’ tend to consume a majority of the time by the user, leaving the other installed apps in the fray.

While consumers do spend 92% of their mobile time in apps, mobile apps lose 80% of their audience within the first 3 months. In fact, according to recent data, if an app is not opened for 7 days, then there is a high chance that it will never be opened again!

In conclusion, just being there on a consumer’s device is not the end game.

Additionally, marketers need to look for innovative ways that drive app ‘usage’ in a highly competitive app ecosystem where limited user attention is spread across a multitude of apps.

While push notifications have been successful to an extent in driving ‘app opens’, driving app ‘usage’ still remains a challenge.

Push notification actions

We are all familiar with push notifications and how they have helped apps drive opens in the past. A natural progression in the push notification journey is ‘push notification actions.’ Push notification actions, allow users the freedom to perform ‘app actions’ or complete ‘tasks’ directly from the notification, without opening the app. With push notification actions, app marketers have the levee to solve two major problems: drive app usage through notification actions and app retention – by repeatedly reminding the users of the value the app delivers.

Keeping the above in mind, in this blog post, we look at some examples of push notification action campaigns that helped drive engagement and app usage.

1. Provide clear call-to-action that drives revenue

One of the primary objectives of building a mobile app is to drive revenue through the app. Building mobile apps is an expensive affair, and every transaction completed on the app is one step closer to recovering the investment. We all know that discount coupons, sign-up vouchers are significant in driving sales. Push notification actions not only help you inform your users about your latest offers but also gives them a clear call to action which can trigger a purchase. No, of course adding a call to action button may not cause a 10X increase in engagement or conversions. However, it calls out the users to take a well-defined ‘action’ that adds value to your overall messaging. In the above example, Berrybenka and Hijabenka accompany their notifications with push notification action buttons to achieve results.

2. Accomplish tasks without opening the app

Sometimes, people may not remember your app, as most smartphone users don’t peek beyond the home screen, remember? So, it becomes a marketers’ responsibility to not just remind users of the app but the functions/ tasks it can accomplish as well. Chillr, a multi-bank mobile banking/ payment app uses push notification actions in a way that drives users towards completing app-related tasks like a mobile recharge for example. Sometimes, by adding options to ‘remind later’ and ‘explore now’ Chillr is helping deliver a better overall app experience to users as they are now free to do things in their own free time.

3. Steer clear of the swipe trap!

Many-a-times push notifications can catch your users off guard. Your users may not be clear on how to act on it at-the-moment leading to the swipe trap. As a marketer, using push notification actions you can help guide your users take the necessary action. In this example, YouTube app notifies app users about new uploads from channels they are subscribed to. The push action buttons allow users to control when they want to watch these videos by adding options such as ‘Watch Later’ and ‘Others’.

4. Defer tasks for a later time

Sometimes you are forced to send push notifications to users even during their busy hours. However willing your users are to act on your notifications, they may just not find the time required to complete all the actions after opening the notification, like complete a booking or a purchase for example. Push notification actions can come in very handy at such times. As seen, in the case of Grofers, a leading on-demand online grocery delivery service, push notification actions were used to promote a 24-hour sale. Instead of just reminding the users about the sale with regular push notification (which would have been annoying and just swiped upon at the moment) Grofers added a push notification action that provided an option to ‘remind’ users about the sale in an hour’s time. In another example, a mobile app by a leading telecom service provider allows its customers to perform transactions such as recharge, money transfer, bill payment and such actions through the mobile app. Adding an element of personalization with push notification actions can also help increase the response rate for notifications.

5. Improve your overall app experience

Push notification actions are great for driving action-oriented tasks such as ‘update an app’, ‘give us a rating’ and such. This may seem not very important but users on an older version of an app pose serious challenges to app companies. The newer version of the app is usually lighter, faster, and with a lot fewer bugs that help app companies deliver an overall better experience to users. Indiamart sends push notification actions that explain the benefits of why users need to update their app, along with a clear call to action. Similarly Ticketgoose, an online travel agency used push notification actions to drive ratings for their app.

Push notification actions when done right are a great tool for marketers to channelize and drive their users towards taking the desired actions. They are effective in driving app-related tasks and delivering an overall better experience for app users.

[Check out the push notification action infographic here]

Want to know how brands like Bigbasket, Travelz, and Oyo Rooms use MoEngage Push Amplification to improve their push notification delivery rates? Learn more about push amplification here.