Push Notification Copywriting: How to Engage and Convert?

It’s a well-known fact that customer retention is the lifeblood of any successful business activity. Businesses are actively focusing on user-centric web designs and many other  user-engagement magnets, just to ensure that customers always get what they are looking for. 

In all this, data analysis remains an irreplaceable ingredient, and it has actually become a chore for the marketers. Ditching the game of guessing, marketers are utilizing real-life analytics to leverage their ways into the customers’ minds. Relying on gut feeling is no more an option today. 

Now, enter the world of push notifications. These clickable messages are not only accurate and seamless, but also make a perfect marketing tool to translate data into boosted customer engagements. You will be amazed to know that push notifications can receive a click-through of about 10%, while the same stays at maximum 3%-4% for emails.  

In fact, Localytics found out that people haven’t yet gone languished of the push notifications. There are still more than 50% of users who willingly opt-in and find push notifications useful

What about other half of the population? 

Why other half don’t like push notifications? It’s amazing that push notifications let marketers boost customer engagements, but there are still the people who find them annoying and intrusive.

What could be the possible reason for this vast disparity in the perspectives of some people among the same population?

One of the major reasons is your notification copy. It doesn’t matter if you rely on one of the best push notification services in the market, if your notifications are not user-centric, they will always fail to build retention. Consequently, you would also notice an escalation in the opt-out rate. 

Let me ask you this. Are you confident about your push copies? Do you think they bring value to your subscribers, or offer anything relevant? Don’t you feel they are just one-way, irrelevant, and everything you have been writing is centered on conversions rather than boosting the user engagements?

Keep reading, because this article will offer some amazing insights into simple keys to successful push notifications marketing. These push notification ideas are based on manifold aspects that anyone can consider while creating their notification copies. 

How to write engaging push notification copies?

Push marketing is not very different from content marketing strategies. As they say, “Content is king,” you can’t expect your notifications to perform without bearing a similar strategy in your push marketing. You need a Strategy, Scheduling, Content, objective, branding, Audience persona, Variety, and Authenticity in your push copies as well. Top of it all remains the right time to send notifications. Even the most relevant notifications become obsolete if sent without considering the time factor. 

Here are some push notification ideas that I find remarkably useful, and I have seen marketers achieving easy success leveraging them:

1. Relevance in the message

Everyone says you have to stay relevant, but what exactly is a relevant push notification?

You can’t just pick it from somewhere and put it in your push copy. Relevance means the right kind of stuff for the right kind of audience. However, it’s not just that. A relevant marketing communication goes both ways. It shouldn’t be just relevant to the audience but also to your business and objectives. 

For example, a notification aimed at introducing a new product would stay relevant even if you write about how good it is. Your objective here is to inform the relevant prospects about your new line-up, so be it. Talking about its pros will introduce the product and excite the subscribers at the same time. 

Relevant push notifications
Relevance is the key to induce excitement in push notifications

It’s not tough to maintain relevance. You just need a proper comprehension of your products and services, and also what’s exciting about them. That’s it.  

2. It’s all about them; not you

How can you serve them better unless you know them well? You can’t know them from a far distance sitting on your chair in the office. You must grasp your products and services, understand a customer’s perspective towards them, and also the tendencies that trigger a buying decision. 

For example, if you sell dog food, you must comprehend the psychology of the dog lovers. How they care for their dogs, and what kind of food they feed to them? Apart from them, a little research about the dog food habits will equip you with push notifications ideas to provoke them. 

Know your audience
Knowing your customers lets you leverage their pain points

Understanding your customers will help deal well with the prospects. The comprehension will come handy while promoting your business as a solution to their problems. Sometimes, you can even help them identify the problems they might otherwise be uninformed of. Like the one in the example above. 

3. Avoid Bluffing and be honest

No one wants to deal with a dishonest business. In this manipulating world where everyone is aiming at gains by crook or hook, coming up with bluffing comments is more than obvious.  

But if you are copy writing your business communications, just be clear: Never make a commitment you can’t fulfill. It’s not just about gaining a sale, it’s about gaining a loyal customer. Click To Tweet You may fool a customer and acquire a sale, but this would just result in losing a lot of promising sales from the future. 

Keep in mind that you are solving a customer’s problem. Being transparent with your pros and cons is extremely advisable. Just avoid overrating yourself and use your words carefully to communicate the exact message. 

4. Aim for Conviction; not scaring them

Businesses often try to scare customers to sell their stuff. They just try to overload the fear so that customers ignore their cons and make a quick decision. But this is not how you write push notifications. If you try to scare or discourage them, they will simply op-out from your list. 

Instead, aim for conviction. Encourage them and induce a belief that there is no need to worry, you are there to help. You should use intriguing words. 

For example, you are selling online courses and want to sell an advanced Java course to a customer who has taken core java already. Now, you may scare the hell out of him/her by sending the following notification to upsell your advanced course:

Aim for Conviction
Scaring is the worst you can do with your push notifications

Instead, you can encourage the learner to complete the existing course and consider the advance course for more prospects. 

Engaging notifications
Engaging notifications sound helpful and encouraging

5. Add excitement even in simple things 

Relevance, interest, excitement, and engagement, all go hand-in hand if you are looking for innovative push notification ideas. If you want to engage your users, send relevant push notifications that are not just useful but also make them happy and excited. 

What could be a perfect way to evoke excitement in push notifications? 

Well, I found this notification quite interesting when it popped-out on my browser while I was calling it a day in the office. 

Rich push Notificaitons
Unconventional way to make boring notifications interesting

I can clearly see three things this weather website used to make a boring weather alert interesting. One, it used my name; two, had my real-time location; three, it reminded me to take my raincoat instead of simply putting up a tedious statement. 

It’s not limited to just weather websites. You can find exciting words to convey any kind of message in any industry. Just check out how a news website made a news flash about Musically’s acquisition funny by mentioning “it’s not Facebook” in the notification. 

Informative push notification
A regular NEWS flash notification made interesting with a simple idea

You just have to stress a little on creativity rather than being obvious. Anything can be made interesting. 

6. Keep them clear, short, and precise

Well, being exciting with your words is really stirring. However, excitement doesn’t mean sending puzzles to solve. All of your efforts just go in vein if users don’t understand what you are trying to say. Maybe, they just interpret your words negatively and turn off notifications. 

So the first thing to consider while writing any kind of push notification is being clear with your message. Pass your copy to your colleagues and ask them about their comprehension of the same. 

Next thing, is the notification length. It matters a lot when you are dealing with something like push notifications, which are delivered on an array of devices. From notification headline to body, you only have a few words to describe the whole scenario. 

  • Keep the headline short: Maximum 5-7 words are enough. 
  • Don’t repeat the headline content in the body. Continue from where you left in the headline.  
  • Use your brand icon to evoke immediate attention on the notification
  • If your Push notification service allows, use a relevant banner image to evoke further interest. 
Rich Push Notifications
Rich Push notifications on Chrome are great for evoking engagement

7. Use emotions to connect 

What evokes the most immediate actions? Emotions indeed. It’s not easy to hit the emotional cords and possible a risky job for marketers. However, if you think you can evoke some positive emotions and vibrant thoughts in your subscribers, just go for it. 

Emotions make the best channel to connect with the people. If you understand their needs and want to bring smiles to their faces, that’s emotion. Click To Tweet Possibly, you can just make someone’s birthday happy by forwarding an exclusive discount coupon. 

Push notification services
Let your push notification subscribers know that you care for them

It’s just about connecting and letting people know that you care for them. That’s it. 

Final thoughts

The best way to write engaging push notifications is practicing the creative ideas and learning from the previous experiences. Maybe, you cannot master it overnight; maybe, you cannot learn about all your customers; or maybe, your push notification tool doesn’t allow you to add creative banner images. 

Whatever be the hurdles, if you keep yourself open to the learning curve, you might just see the invisible. Keep experimenting and testing different creative ideas to connect, you would get the success, and users would love your notifications. 

Just stick to the basics. Be relevant, polite, clear, and valuable to your subscribers. That’s it.

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