Want to find new ways to interact with your existing customers? One of the best ways to stay in touch with customers in real time - and keep them up to date with relevant information such as events and sales - is to use push notifications. Push notifications used to be used exclusively by mobile app developers, but that has changed. You can now use them even if you don't have a mobile app by linking them to your website.
What are push notifications?
If you're not yet familiar with push notifications, let's start with a simple definition. A push notification is an automated notification sent to people who have opted in to receive notifications on your website. The notifications are sent in real time, even if the customer is not on your website.
In other words, the notification is "pushed through" even if the user appears to be unavailable. With some mobile applications, users are automatically enabled to receive push notifications. However, if you want to use push notifications on your website, you will ask your customers to opt in, just as you would ask them to opt in to your email list.
How do customers sign up for push notifications?
Signing up to receive push notifications should be relatively easy. If you've ever signed up on a website and been asked what topics you'd like to be notified about, you've signed up for push notifications. You have several options to get your customers to sign up:
- You can provide your customers with a list of possible topics when they sign up for the first time and let them choose the types of notifications they want to receive.
- You can give your customers the option to sign up for push notifications if required. The online retailer Zulily offers its customers the option to be notified when a certain brand is on sale. They receive a notification before the brand is available and can click on the URL in the notification to go directly to the sales page of the brand in question.
Both options have their advantages. The first option gives users a sense of control when they sign up. There are times when giving out your email address can feel like a leap of faith. You can't be sure what content you will receive. If you let your subscribers choose which notifications they receive, you'll most likely have a lower unsubscribe rate than if you sent everything to everyone.
The second option has slightly different benefits because it is even more targeted than the first. If you enable specific push notifications that target people who are ready to buy from you, you can be pretty sure that your investment will pay off. That's because the notifications sent with this type of opt-in are very specific. You know that your customer likes a particular brand, and you're providing them with an easy way to make sure they don't miss out on any sales or special offers from that brand.
It's important to note that some websites offer an opt-in that simply consists of a pop-up window that says, "The website would like to send you push notifications," with no further information. While this may be easier than asking users to select topics, it's also not as personalised and much more likely to result in users unsubscribing than a targeted opt-in.
Tips for using push notifications
Now that you have a clear idea of what push notifications are and how they work, let's talk about some of the specific ways you can use them to improve your marketing and increase your sales.
- Personalised shopping notifications are a very good idea for any local business that wants to attract new customers. There are many different ways you can use this type of notification. For example:
- A restaurant could give its customers the option to be notified about seasonal offers or even changes to the menu. The notification could include a URL that takes the customer to a description of the product in question - or even to the reservation page so they can make an appointment to visit and try your offer.
- A clothing shop could ask customers to select their favourite brands or items and then send push notifications based on their preferences. Do you have a customer who loves Kate Spade bags? Then you can notify her when you've received the latest styles, increasing the likelihood that she'll come into your shop to check them out - and buy one.
- Service providers such as estate agents can use push notifications to inform customers about available properties in a specific area or price range. You can even set up your push notifications so that your customers can track properties with certain features, such as built-in swimming pools or a certain square footage.
These are just a few examples. Note that these are personalised options that are tailored to the tastes and preferences of an individual customer. The most effective push notifications are those that are personalised to the people who receive them.
- Push notifications for promotional purposes are one of the best ways to announce a sale or special event. After all, if you're hosting a sale, you want to make sure it's well attended - and the same goes if you're organising a special event like a party, fashion show or seminar. Here are some ways you can use push notifications to promote your business:
- Sometimes businesses decide to make a sale at short notice. Instead of spending a lot of money on adverts that your customers might not even see, you should send a push notification instead. This way you can let your customers know when the sale is on, what's on offer and how much they can save.
- Are you taking part in a local event such as a trade fair or a fundraising campaign? You can inform your regular customers who don't normally attend such an event and thus increase the chances that your appearance will be a success.
- Do you have a new product? Push notifications are a great way to publicise a new product line or individual product - or even a new service you're offering. Personalised service is becoming increasingly important for local retailers who have to compete with Amazon and other large online shops. If you offer a personal shopping service or something else that could attract customers to your shop, send them a push notification to let them know about it.
- You can also use push notifications to send coupons and promotional codes. Everyone loves discounts, and you can give your customers the option to opt-in to receive vouchers on a regular basis.
Again, these are some basic ideas, but you can use the same technique to advertise any aspect of your business that is out of the ordinary, such as a change to your opening hours or an expansion of your services.
- Transactional push notifications are notifications that are specifically tailored to individual customers based on their purchase history with you. Here are some examples of how you can use transactional push notifications.
- You can use push notifications to automatically send customers a receipt for a purchase. You can even combine the receipt with a push notification that offers the customer a discount or coupon if they make another purchase within a certain period of time.
- You could use a push notification to suggest additional items that match an item that a customer has recently purchased. For example, let's say your customer has bought shoes from you and a matching bag is also available. You could send them a push notification to let them know that you have the bag in your shop.
Both options offer added value and convenience for your customers and are a great way to use transactional push notifications effectively. The bottom line is that push notifications are an extremely effective way to interact with customers in a way that makes them feel valued. Because personalisation is so easy, you can provide a level of customer service that isn't possible with traditional marketing - and that can increase customer loyalty and boost your repeat business.
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