Today, push notifications are an important tool for interacting with users, but how effective are they actually? This year, our team conducted research to answer key questions related to this instrument and presented the results at the G GATE meetup.
Today we will tell you:
- Is it necessary to use push notifications, and do they really annoy users?
- Which push notifications work best?
- What is the right time to send push notifications?
- Is it possible to use the same push journeys for all countries?
Who are we?
We are the Push Express team. Our platform helps automate work with push notifications. For our research we analyzed data from various user cohorts — from 25 thousand to 5 million — over the past few years. Based on the results, we identified key approaches that will help increase user engagement and reduce churn.
Make hay while the sun shines
Push notifications are definitely necessary, especially in the first few days after app installation. We conducted a test with our partner EasyLinks: for 6 days after installation, users did not receive push notifications — the journeys were launched only on the 7th day. The results showed that the absence of push notifications in the early days brings fewer FTDs (First Time Deposits) than if they had been sent:
Moreover, as a part of the study, we tested different frequencies for sending push notifications — once, twice, and three times a day. Despite the belief that too high frequency would lead to app deletion, in reality, the difference between uninstalls with and without push notifications is less than 1%. At the same time, push notifications drive registrations and deposits.
How to make push notifications as effective as possible?
The most popular question is – «Which push will be the most effective?» It’s a difficult one — the effectiveness of a push depends not only on its content but also on the sequence and timing of sending. For example, the same push will have different CTRs depending on whether you send it 5 minutes after installation or 5 days later.
The order of push notifications will also have an impact. As an experiment, we divided the audience into two groups and sent identical push notifications but in different sequences. The graph shows that the CTR for these funnels differed, even though the overall content was identical:
Another important factor is frequency. It is a common belief that too frequent push notifications would lead to app uninstalls. However, our data suggests the opposite: sending three push notifications a day resulted in the highest click and registration rates.
Thus, the optimal time for sending push notifications varies depending on the user’s lifecycle stage. Here are some recommendations based on our research:
- Immediately after installation: send push notifications within 0-5 minutes after installation;
- After registration: sending a notification within the first 2 minutes after registration increases engagement;
- A few days later: for such push notifications, it’s important to consider the time of the user’s first activity. Sending within the same time frame (+/- 1 hour) increases the chances of success.
Recommendations for days of the week:
- From Monday to Thursday and on Sunday: the best time – morning (from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM) and evening (from 7:00 PM to 11:30 PM);
- On Friday and Saturday: later morning (from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM) and evening (from 6:00 PM to 1:30 AM).
One country – one funnel
It seems that if a funnel is good, it will have high metrics regardless of the region. However, our research showed that each funnel will have different FTD (First Time Deposit) values depending on the country. It’s important to test and adapt push notification chains for each country.
Thus, push notifications are a powerful tool that, when used correctly, can significantly increase user engagement and retention. However, success depends on many factors: timing, frequency, order, and regional characteristics.
In the next part, we will share answers to such questions as “Which approach works better – positive or negative?”, “Should we add emojis and images to push notifications?” and “How to properly translate push notifications?”. Stay tuned!
And for everyone who read the article to the end, we have prepared a special promo code CPARIPEN. With it, you can receive a $50 deposit for push notifications for your first successfully added app in the PUSH EXPRESS service.
We look forward to seeing you!
