5 Benefits of iOS Push Notifications

If your marketing strategy isn't utilizing iOS push notifications, you’re missing out on a critical customer engagement resource. Data shows that roughly 43% of iOS users opt-in to receive push notifications, which means you’re failing to engage with nearly half your customer base. Not only that, push notification success rates are promising. Approximately 10.3% of users will click on a push notification, leading to a number of growth opportunities for your business. We explain iOS push notifications below and list the top five benefits of using them to help your business.

What Are iOS Push Notifications?

iOS push notifications are short, concise messages that pop up on a user’s Apple device (iPhone, iPad, web browser, or desktop operating on iPhone Operating System), alerting them to a reminder, promotion, or call-to-action. Push messages are an excellent tool for a multi-channel communication strategy. They allow for a more robust way to engage with your customers and build on the experience journey. The main iOS push notification categories are:

iOS Mobile Push Notifications

Mobile push notifications (also known as mobile push messages, In-App, or app push notifications) are produced after a customer downloads your app onto their iPhone, iPad, or Mac and opt-in to receive notifications.

iOS Web Push Notifications

Web push notifications — also known as browser push messages, are generated through scripts called service workers that allow messages to pop up onto a user’s open browser (via an Apple device), even if they are not on your website or using your web app.

iOS Wearable Push Notifications

iOS Wearable push notifications are generated when a wearable device such as an Apple Watch is synced with the notifications on a user’s iOS mobile device.

Top 5 Benefits of iOS Push Notifications

Strengthen User Retention

There’s no value in having an app if no one uses it. The goal is to convince users to download your app and continuously interact with it after the download. The first part is the easy part. Getting them to use it is a whole different ball game.

Data shows that one in four apps will get used just once within the first six months of downloading. Reports suggest that sending an onboarding push notification to a newly acquired customer within the first week can lead to a 71% increase in retention rates.

Gently nudging new or inactive users with thoughtful reminders, important news, and personalized discounts and offerings will keep them returning to your app or website. If strategically implemented, this method can strengthen your customer retention rate.

Real-Time Alerts

With real-time alerts, you have the freedom and flexibility to automate push messages based on user activity. There are plenty of SaaS and marketing tools to help you learn what time of day your users are most active, how often they are active, and their behaviors when interacting on your app or site. Utilizing this data to segment your audiences will ensure that the content you’re sending is relevant, timely, and personalized.

iOS push messages allow you to provide your users instant information with an immediate response. There’s no waiting for them to open an email or scroll by an ad. The push messages can also go directly to their device during their most active timeframes. How much easier can it get?

Build Brand Loyalty

Over the last decade, many businesses have carved out large portions of their marketing budget to create an experience that can live in the hands of their desired audience. It’s not enough to have a great product or service, and with saturated markets, companies must go beyond excellent customer service to create a positive user experience. There are millions of iOS apps to choose from, with an app in just about every industry. Without brand loyalty, your app will be seeing very little screen time.

Enhance the user experience by dishing out engaging content. Share recent company news or app updates, new sales or offers, friendly reminders, or personalized messages such as wishing them a happy birthday. Not only do these alerts grab the user’s attention, but with the right strategy, push notifications can have a positive impact on how users view your brand.

When consumers feel loyal to a brand, they will spread the love! Ultimately, fans of your brand help you grow your business through longer customer lifecycles, positive reviews, and spreading positive word-of-mouth—and there’s no better marketing than word-of-mouth.

When your customers recommend your business to a friend, family member or business associate, they’re essentially placing their trust in you. Their own reputation and standing can be impacted by the quality of service you provide to the new customer. Treat them badly and you could lose both your new and your existing customer. You could also lose potential customers due to negative word-of-mouth.

Treat the new customer well and you’ll keep their business. In turn, they could also refer you to their own friends, family and business associates, allowing you to grow your business exponentially. And the best part? Word-of-mouth marketing doesn’t cost a penny.

Boost Engagement

In addition to increasing user retention and brand loyalty, a solid iOS push marketing strategy can boost user engagement up to 88%. The power behind push notifications is that users don't have to be operating within the app for companies to interact and engage with their consumers. It’s a way of communicating directly with them.

While push marketing strategy may be a bit complex on the business side, it’s pretty straightforward on the users’ end. When a notification appears on their screen, they just tap the message. It’s a direct line back to your app or website where they can browse, shop, and learn more about your brand.

iOS push messages offer users an easy way to receive different forms of information that have a clear call to action. Promotional deals, events, discounts, and other relevant news about your company can boost user engagement rates.

Increase Conversions

Conversion refers to a consumer going from a non-customer to a customer. They move from never having purchased from your company to then purchasing goods or services. Converting can be challenging for businesses, especially when so many potential customers will simply browse through a store or add items to their online carts, only to abandon them later. Deciding to purchase can sometimes be stressful, especially when there are plenty of other brands to consider.

Once you have an interested consumer on the line, you’ll need to slowly but surely reel them in. Push notifications help keep users on the line by reminding them, “Hey! We’re still here. We have these products/services that you’ll love and here’s a coupon!” Well-crafted, personalized iOS push notifications have proven to increase conversion rates by four times compared to other similar marketing tools.

Conclusion

Overall, push notifications are an excellent way to grow your business, but they shouldn’t be your only strategy. It's essential to understand your audience first so that you can find the right balance between grabbing their attention and spamming them with intrusive messages.

With the right omnichannel marketing plan in place and the right tools, push notifications can engage your audience in ways that provide real value, elevate brand loyalty, and boost retention. With MagicBell’s complete notification system, you can launch a cross-channel notification strategy in just days, without breaking a sweat.