What Are Push Notifications? Push notifications come in many forms and serve many purposes. Whether you are running your business on a website or expanding it to an Android mobile app, push notifications remain an outstanding communication channel.
If the push notifications feature is not activated on the site, chances are that you will lose a considerable number of sales from both newcomers and customers with abandoned carts. Understanding the concept of push notification is thus important to sales optimization in any online business.
What are push notifications
A push notification at its very core is a way to inform users that they have opted in an app or a website. Push notifications are small messages (but not phone’s text message) popped up in the user’s device when it is connected to the Internet. They are normally not affected by the user’s location but instead scheduled to fit different time zones so that the open rates are maximized.
Another way to explain it is push notifications are messages automated by the server or publisher to display outside of the websites/ mobile applications. If deployed properly, push notifications can improve user engagement and retention rates. Otherwise, they will be annoying to the customers, leading to a higher cart abandonment rate.
There are many types of push notifications, which can be categorized either by device or by purpose. By device, there are three types – web, desktop, and mobile push notifications. By purpose, a push notification can either announce a complete transaction, app system, or user information.
Why do you need push notifications
Most users these days can’t even remember what apps they have on their phone or tablet. Push notifications thus help app owners to stay in touch with customers with relevant and action-trigger content.
Push notifications are a powerful approach to engage and re-engage customers to the business. Regardless of the product type, business owners always have to keep customers/subscribers coming back to their app/website. A push campaign can then add value to the user’s visit by informing new promotions, coupons, discounts, seasonal thank-you programs.
Some users may lose their interest over time and gradually visit less and less. And that’s the perfect time when push notifications can come into play. A proactive plan to send push notification can improve customer engagement and get customers back in store.
Not just for existing customers, rich push notifications can be targeted to new visitors. A welcome push campaign can make the first visit valuable with thank-you messages and discounts. At the end of the day, push notifications satellite around attracting more people to the business and keeping them in its user interface for a longer time.
How to send push notifications to Android devices?
In order to activate push notification, the app must be registered with a Push Notification Service Provider. The two most popular providers are Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) and Google Cloud Messaging (GCM).
After the registration is approved, the provider will grant the app with an API key. When the user installs the app from Google Play, GCM or FCM will issue a registration ID to the app-device combination so that the app can receive notifications.
Besides this registration, an app server identification is also in need. App developers will use the push API key to get the identification, and as it is approved, the push plugin will help to send the push notifications to the user’s device.
On Android devices, push notifications are enabled by default. Android users can choose to tap on the action buttons immediately or to turn them off in the setting. That’s why they are more likely to get push notifications than those using iOS devices.
What push notification plugin should you use?
There are seemingly countless push notification plugins out there, but if you want something comprehensive and easy to use, here are the best choices.
Ecomfit
Ecomfit is one of the most popular web and mobile push notification plugins. Plan to deploy a push campaign on Android devices and then expand it to iOS; it won’t be much of a challenge. Ecomfit works on both platforms, making it easier for app builders to send rich notifications and optimize the conversion rates. And the best thing is that you won’t have to change too much of its functionality.
Kumulos
Kumulos allows for easy control on push campaigns and custom data reports. It also provides enough analytics for ab testing and facilitates your mobile marketing strategy without prior experience in need.
Delite Studio
With Delite Studio paid version, you can send unlimited geo targeted push notifications and manage them all from one dashboard. It integrates with all WordPress websites and does not require any server-side backend.
Other FAQs about push notifications on Android
Can you send push notifications without an app?
Web browsers will not need an app to perform pushing messages. However, if you want to send mobile or web push notifications, it’s compulsory to have an app or a plugin to get the work done.
How much do mobile push notifications cost?
It depends on the plugin you use; for example, Ecomfit won’t charge you for push notifications sent to less than 1,500 subscribers. This means it’s totally free for small campaigns, and you will also have the option to pay for the premium plans to unlock more features.
What are the disadvantages of push notifications?
Sending too much irrelevant push notifications may annoy the app users, who may end up uninstalling the app and having negative perspectives on the business.
Conclusion
Understanding how to add push notifications to mobile devices will help improve the clickthrough rates and add more value to your online business. This guide on “What are push notifications” hopefully brings you a closer look into this powerful means of automation marketing. Thank you for passing by!
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