It’s safe to say we’re now subject to a sort of digital onslaught when it comes to advertising these days – between email, social media, text messages and banner ads, we’re certainly bombarded with content from all over the place. With all these methods of communication, it can be tough to cut through all that noise to provide people with meaningful information.

That said, push notifications are a relatively untapped (no pun intended) communication channel that offers a lot of potential to reach your target audience. But what is push notification marketing, and how can you use it effectively?

Let’s start with push notifications themselves. Most commonly used for mobile devices (though they are used for desktop as well), they’re those little banners you see on your phone’s lock screen from a particular app that deliver information such as a text message alert, a reminder about an upcoming appointment or a breaking headline from your news app. To read the notification, you simply tap your phone and the appropriate app will open. Push notification marketing is simply using those push notifications to, well, market to your target audience (as opposed to email marketing, which uses email, or SMS marketing, which uses text messages).

Push notifications are an extremely effective communication tool – 85 percent of Americans own a smartphone and a recent study found 70 percent are likely to check their phone within five minutes of receiving a notification. Apple found that iPhone users unlock their phones six to seven times per hour and have about 80 phone sessions per day. That’s a lot of opportunity to reach your audience.

How to use push notifications effectively

Here are three things to keep in mind when using push notifications to communicate with your users:

1.     Keep it short: No one wants to read your novel on their lock screen. Push notifications should be like Tweets -- short and to the point.

2.     Keep it timely: Most people (though certainly not all) check their account balance during dinner or at 3 AM. Send your notifications when your audience is most likely to interact with their phone. If you decide to send push notifications that are location-based, don't send one about HELOC loans when your audience is at the car dealership.

3.     Keep it relevant: It’s only too easy to turn off app notifications. Be sure you’re delivering information that’s not only relevant but valuable to your audience's interests and needs.

Other push notification marketing best practices

You’ll also want to keep in mind message capping limits. Nothing is more annoying than seeing six notifications pop up on your phone from the same app in a day (except maybe opening your phone and discovering 23 texts from that group chat you’re in). When you poke people too many times, they’re more likely to dismiss you entirely. Setting message capping limits ensures your audience won’t tune you out.

Push notification marketing is simply using push notifications to deliver information to an audience, whether it’s a product, service, or simple reminder. It can be a more effective tool than traditional marketing methods such as email because it takes advantage of a channel users are already on – their phones. Given the number of times people check their phones, push notification marketing is a great opportunity to communicate with your audience the value of your product or service.

Ready to get started with push notification marketing? Larky can help. We enable financial institutions to make meaningful connections with their account holders using tailored, customized push notification campaigns sent directly through their mobile banking app. Contact us today to learn more or check out our blog to read up on more tips.

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