Web push notifications are becoming more and more the most effective channel to engage customers. With the power to reach users at any time, at a personal level; web push notifications offer digital marketing strategists a direct communication highway with their customers throughout their entire shopping journey.
Like every great tool, web push notifications need a great master. These instant, spontaneous messages can be an amazing add-up to your marketing strategy when used properly. So if you’re looking to increase your conversion rate and improve your ROI, these are the
Top 7 mistakes to avoid when sending web push notifications:
1. Forgetting User Segmentation
Accurate audience segmentation is key for any marketing action, and this includes web push notifications. Forgetting to analyse, group and segment your users in order to design tailored messages that suit their behaviour and needs could mean a disastrous end to your strategy. You would face all your subscribers opting-out after a couple of bulk, not-segmented push notifications.
Take your time to know your users. One of the beautiful things about digital marketing is that it offers insights about users that we couldn’t easily get from any other channel. Details about their browsing habits, shopping history, interests and demographics are at the tip of our hands.
Use this valuable information to segment your customers and customize their experience with your web push notifications. The right message to the right person is the difference between success and failure.
2. Sending Users to Incorrect Landing Pages
Web push notifications can create interaction in a few seconds. Creating these short, direct messages is fairly simple. So much so, that we could forget a very important step on the journey: where are you sending your customers?
Let’s say you decide to communicate to your shoppers about an amazing discount available on a specific product category on your site. You prepare the message, activate the campaign and when they click on that beautiful CTA you designed, it leads them to the homepage. They can’t easily find the offer on that product you caught their attention with. Result: they leave, you lose a sale.
The landing page you send your customer to, has to provide all the information you want them to see. Make sure your users have a rich experience when interacting with your web push notifications. When they decide to click on that message, give them what they expect to get in return.
3. Failing to Track and Measure
Web push notifications offer you a vast amount of insights on customer interactions. Statistics about clicks, visits and overall engagement are valuable information to use in your favour to make your notifications the best they can be.
A/B testing is a great way to do it. Try different colours, shapes, images, and variations of the same message. Even if your web push notifications are doing great, and giving you amazing results, everything can be improved. Small tweaks on the design can mean a world of difference on the outcome and goal achievement of your campaign.
4. Sending too Many
With web push notifications, it’s definitely not about quantity: it’s about quality. The “less is more” motto applies for this marketing strategy as a golden rule. Sending too many messages to your users has a good chance of irritating them, causing them to unsubscribe and even feel a bit of annoyment towards your brand.
There’s a big chance that your customers are also subscribed to a lot more brands’ web push notification service. Imagine opening your browser and getting 15-20 notifications on your screen with sales, discounts, and purchase reminders (every day, several times a day).
Restraint is key when planning the timing and frequency of your web push notifications strategy. Send precise notifications only when you have relevant and/or attractive information to tell to your customer about. It’s about building a relationship with them, not about harassing with one-sided communication.
5. Poor Planning
Lack of planning is one of the biggest issues with failed web push notifications campaigns. Being so simple to design and activate, it’s easy to make the huge mistake of skipping the planning step in the excitement to just start sending them.
Common mistakes, like informing about a time sensitive discount when it has already expired, are made all the time. Outdated web push notifications are one of the main reasons users unsubscribe.
Take your time to strategize and plan your campaigns before activating them. Set out timings, objectives and KPIs. Think about what you want to achieve with said campaigns and work around that.
6.Sending Generic Messages
One of the main attractions of web push notifications is their personalization ability. If you have the chance to talk directly with one of your customers, take it and seize it. Sending a generic message won’t have the same impact as a tailored one.
Platforms like Frizbit offer the power to hyper-personalize the messages and really engage customers. If you know your user’s history, know their likes and preferences, you can create a captivating message with information that suits them specifically. According to the metrics based on millions of push notifications sent by Frizbit, hyper-personalised push notifications have 4 times higher CTRs compared to bulk ones.
Get out of the commonplace. Don’t push generic, tiresome messages with every-day discounts and sales. Use the information you have, let your customers know you hear them, you know them and want to give them special treatment.
7. Forgetting a CTA
Be clear about what you want your customers to do. A good call to action message is crucial for users to know what’s the next step. Let them know what they’ll gain if they click that button, what are they going to find if they engage. Web push notifications already facilitate this by adding an action button where you can utilize as a CTA and to increase your CTRs. According to Frizbit, having at least one call to action increases CTRs by 12% compared to notifications that don’t include one.
Forgetting to add a clear CTA could translate in the loss of interest. You only have a few seconds to catch their attention and urge them to click on your notification. Take your time to think what type of messages and words combination could work better using the knowledge you have on their behaviour and stats from previous campaigns.
To sum up…
When creating your web push notifications strategy, is easy to be blinded by the simplicity of the tool and hit activate with no second thoughts. However, when urgency is not a factor, it’s important you take your time to plan your campaign.
Optimize your messages to the fullest. Personalize the information, take timings into account, test, improve and test again. Avoid these common mistakes when sending web push notifications, and you’ll be amazed with the results.
Happy planning!
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