Let’s say you have developed a mobile app, resolved all of the system bugs, and launched it on AppStore or Google Play. Your optimistic guesses are that it should boost your sales in two-three months at the most. This story could be concluded with a happy end, but it would be too unrealistic. Push Notifications can help you give a boost to your mobile app marketing.

The realistic end of this scenario would be similar to this: if you had done nothing to promote the app after launching it, it would fail sufficient downloads and meet little to no engagement. So, why do some apps succeed in the market, and some fail miserably? The reason is simple: they lack proper marketing.

Mobile app marketing is the most critical factor in the app’s success. Many companies have designed great apps that were not even close to success, either because of insufficient marketing or marketing through irrelevant channels.

The good old social media marketing or email marketing is indeed great promotional channels. However, as far as mobile apps are concerned, they have not shown to be worth the whole marketing budget.

Instead, mobile push notifications are what drive up download and engagement rates for apps. Now let’s dive into what they are and why every app needs to rely on them.

What are Mobile Push Notifications?

Mobile push notifications are alerts that applications periodically send to mobile devices. The nature of the sent message can vary from promotional texts to reminders incentivizing users to check the app.

Mobile push notifications started to gain popularity from the beginning of 2010 when more advanced mobile applications (especially videogames) started to bombard Android and iOS devices. Back then, mobile marketers realized they could connect with their users through the app itself, even if it were not active at the moment.

Right after mobile push notifications became prevalent in the industry, they started to show their high effectiveness and practicality. Today, push messages are one of the best mobile marketing channels to increase app engagement.

Having said this, let’s get to what the key to success for this promotional channel is and why every app must have it.

Why are Push Notifications Necessary for Apps?

Marketing a mobile app requires a more specific approach. Many promotional tactics that companies have adopted and used for decades may be totally inapplicable for mobile app marketing.

In this sense, push notifications are one of the few tools that perfectly match the requirements of promoting a mobile app. There are five main reasons why push notifications are an absolute necessity for mobile app marketing.

1. Increase Retention Rate

Let’s talk facts first, narratives second. According to a study, mobile apps that send push notifications within 90 days after being downloaded have around 190% more retention rates. The following chart shows how app engagement declines with the frequency of sending push notifications. The study is conducted among Android and iOS users.

Now that there is actual evidence that push notifications can impact retention, it is logical to assume that they can also increase engagement rates. Needless to say how critical engagement rate is for the app to bring profit.

Mobile push messages are also a great tool to re-engage the users that are about to quit. They are the best way to send offers that the users would otherwise not get a chance to see. Those offers can incentivize the user to reconsider deleting your app.

2. Highly Noticeable Notifications

One of the key objectives for any marketing campaign is the percentage of the target audience that sees the promotional message. Push notifications are the right tool here since they will ensure high open rates.

Push messages alert the user through vibration or a sound notification, thus imitating an important message that might have come to their WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, or default SMS app. The notifications create a sense of urgency to check what is on the phone. This means that the vast majority of your notifications at least will be seen.

There is no statistics for push notifications open rate. However, considering that they alert users the same way SMS marketing messages do, we can infer that they have similar open rates. Statistically speaking, text messages have around 98% open rates. This number is so high, mostly due to the notification type. Therefore, we can assert that push notifications may have similar open and click-through rates.

3. Have No Complicated Restrictions

This may sound a little too broad and vague but bear with me. You may have never thought of this, but all of the mobile marketing channels have some sort of restrictions.

For example, text message marketing needs a database of numbers to send promotional texts. This database is hard to collect, not to mention the number of recipients who may be out of reach or have technical problems for receiving the message. Moreover, some countries have restrictions that prohibit sending promotional text messages to recipients. In case of push notifications, there are no legal restrictions and no database needed since the apps come with this feature built-in.

Another example of a mobile app marketing channel that has certain restrictions is social media marketing. Although it is one of the best channels to stimulate user engagement, the scope of its outreach is still not as large as that of push notifications. Push messages literally reach to every single user of the app.

4. Have Precise Targeting

Push notifications have the most precise targeting out of all mobile app marketing channels. They directly send messages to the people who already use your app. Even if your mobile app marketing strategy requires more advanced targeting, push messages can still help you there.

Not only do push notifications target your users, but also they can pick certain demographic information like age, gender, preferences, location, etc. Hence, if you want to advertise your product through another similar app of yours, you are definitely not on the wrong track.

All of the other mobile app marketing channels that target a specific audience are still somehow effective. Yet their chances of missing potential leads are much higher than that of push notifications. This does not necessarily mean that each push notifications campaign will get you an endless number of leads, but it guarantees more than any other promotional channel can.

5. Advanced Analytics of Campaigns

Advanced analytics is critical for every campaign. They are the most reliable source for understanding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the marketing strategy. Push notifications provide a detailed analytical review after every campaign, which can enhance your future campaigns and make them more useful.

Push messages can track data such as behavioral patterns, engagement rates, click-through rates, and delivery reports. These data can help you measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Additionally, they track the open rates of the messages, so you’ll have an exact number of the open rate percentage in your hand.

All of those stats can come in handy for any business to review their expenses and understand whether push notifications benefit them or not.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that push notifications are an absolute necessity for every app. The proof of this is the five key benefits that they have. In addition to those features, push notifications’ cost combined with all of the features that they provide and the importance they are for every mobile app, not using them is a huge pitfall.