Though the past few years have seen an increase in the popularity and the use of mobile apps but this doesn’t mean that the web usage has declined. The time spent on desktop is 37% higher since 2011. The fact that Apps have an additional advantage to communicate directly with users using push notifications and in-app messages has changed with the introduction of web push notifications. Yes, web messaging is now a reality that has made it easier for brands to reach the customers via in-browser messages and push notifications. This if utilized properly, allows websites to engage, retain, monetize and support long-term relationships with customers in the manner in which mobile Apps already do. In the past, most of the web messaging was through email, in-browser messages and social media. With the flood of emails the customers receive each day, reaching them through this channel has become difficult. Though, you cannot neglect the fact that email marketing is still very effective. When it comes to in-browser messaging, the customers have to actually be present on your website to receive the messages. For social media, breaking through the clutter always poses a big problem. Web push notifications resolve all these issues by allowing you to reach your customers without them being actively engaged on your website, although they do have to opt-in first. For example – Whenever a user visits your site, you can show them a small message, seeking their permission to send them notifications.
So in order for you to attain maximum customer engagement and increase in sales, we have today highlighted six type of web push notifications for user engagement, that can help you achieve the best results.
Promotional notifications
If you have an e-commerce website that is about to run a promotional sale for 2 days then how will you notify your customers? A few customers may come to your site and gain knowledge about the on-going sale, others you can notify through email and the rest through social media marketing. But how will you notify your target customers? Well, web push notifications can help you address this issue. With this channel you can send catchy messages to people who have visited your website in the past, even if they are viewing some other website at that particular moment. Naturally the visitors who came to your site in the past have an interest in your product. Hence, you can easily improve sales with web push notifications.
Re-engagement notifications
The success of any business is dependent upon long term customer engagement. Web push notifications enable you to re-engage customers that have started visiting your website less frequently. You can send push notifications that incorporate various discounts and incentives to disengaging customers. This will help you in getting their attention right away and encourage them to establish a relation with your brand.
Preference driven notifications
Preference driven notifications shall work out great for you if your website has a wishlist where people can add the products of their choice. This will help you know the preferences of a particular customer. With push notifications you can send personalized notifications to these customers, which they will find relevant also. So if a particular product that the customer has saved in his wishlist goes on sale, you can send a notification about it to that customer. Similarly, an event website can send a notification to his customer about some event happening near his area or a news website can send him notifications about the latest info on his subject of interest.
Abandoned cart notifications
If you have an e-commerce website then you know that many a time customers browse through your website, add a product to the cart but do not complete the purchase. In such a case, sending an in-browser message is not an option because the customer will see it only when he happens to visit your website again. In such a case you can always resort to web push notifications in order to nudge the customer to complete the purchase. To increase the odds of the customer completing the purchase, send the notification at a time that they are most likely to engage in the purchase.
Arrival notifications
In today’s time convenience is the top priority for every person. We can get everything from clothes to grocery, delivered to our doorstep. You can use web push notification too in order to drive convenience. For example – If you run a food delivery website then via push notifications you can notify your customers that their order is going to reach them in the next ten minutes. Similarly, you can notify the customers about the availability of a new product. Such notifications will catch the user’s attention even if they are browsing through some other website. Notifications shall also help your swift services and customer engagement techniques register your brand’s name in the customer’s mind.
Social messaging notifications
If your brand’s website has a social component then web push messaging is a great way to encourage web visitors to keep on coming back on a regular basis. Social messaging keeps the user informed whenever the person they are following publishes a new post or shares a photo. This gives a compelling reason to the users to come back to your website and read that particular post or comment on the particular photograph. By encouraging customers to engage with your brand’s digital presence regularly, this sort of campaign has the potential to increase audience retention significantly.
While web push notification is a very powerful tool to achieve customer engagement and an increase in sales, however, one should know how to use it properly. Many customers disable mobile push notifications or uninstall the App if they aren’t happy with the type of messages they receive. And there is no reason why they won’t do the same to web push notifications. Restraint the number of notifications that your customers receive or allow them to choose their own type with the help of preference centres. Putting a restraint on the number of notifications and allowing your customer to weigh in their opinion shall help the customers in embracing effective push notifications as a form of communication between them and your brand.