How to design a push notification

Have you ever noticed how many of the notifications and reminders you receive on a daily basis from different apps are really interesting?

Meaningless notifications on the smart watch screen

Every day, users are overwhelmed with all sorts of useless notifications that distract them and even become harassed. Harassment notification is the primary reason for users to uninstall mobile apps (71% of respondents)

App Uninstall Reason

It is very important to have a design, useful and relevant notice to the user. To increase engagement, notifications are the most powerful tool for companies to interact directly with users, sending the right messages at the right time and place.

Let's take a look at how to turn this anti-user experience into a significant and valuable part of your products and users.

the core elements of a friendly notice

Notification is a privilege, because the user trusts you and lets you send messages directly to him, and you should not disappoint this trust. User-centric notification is the core building element of any mobile marketing strategy for cow B, but creating perfect notifications is not as easy as you might think.

Here are 5 points to keep in mind when creating user-centric notifications.

1. Too many notifications

One of the most common mistakes you can make, the push behavior that has long caused the greatest harm, is to send your users more notifications than they need. Excessive user-direct sessions can result in "notification overload", which results in the user ignoring all information or shutting down the reception.

Notifications occupy the phone at the same time

Tip: You need to understand the frequency of your user community, their product cycle, their needs, and thus figure out how often you can push notifications.

2. Push value

When a user has just started using your App, he doesn't mind getting notified, as long as these notifications are "valuable", as long as the user feels useful and has to go. The personalized content that makes people exciting and enjoyable is the key point.

Reverse case: There are some notifications that should never appear on the user's screen. AppStore Software Update Notification, it is likely that the design is in compliance with the "System State visualization" principle of usability, but does the user really need to see this? If a notification does not require the user to have any behavior at all and is merely a "notification", it may not be important to notify for notification.

Apple AppStore notifications. Do I really need to be reminded to focus on this?

Reverse case: The Facebook App routinely sends notifications to users, suggesting that you connect with randomly recommended people, or "Find more Facebook friends." This is a helpless move, trying to bring the user back to the application. This notice also disturbs the user because there is no egg to use.

Facebook app for Android positive case: Netflix is a great way to personalize push notifications. Netflix uses notifications to let users know when their favorite videos can be updated.

Netflix does not send a new video or episode to each user every time it is posted, it understands that each user is watching a specific video, only to his favorite play new set on the line, only to send him a push. Result: The app notifies the user of personalized, relevant information.

Tips:

• Do not give notice just because you can send a notice;
• Do not send notifications just to lure users;
• Keep the message clear and well understood. Regardless of the content of the notification, make sure it is the same channel and culture as your users.
• Users will accept content that is relevant to them, whether or not they are frequent.

3. Correct push Time

Send a notification to your users, not what you want to say, but when you say it. Do you like to wake up at midnight with a vibrating phone and a push notification tells you if you invite a friend to drop $15 in the next order?

Untimely push of course, users can always enable sleep mode in his device settings, but that's not a solution. A correct solution should be to send notifications in an ideal time node that is the most effective for the user, unless this is the user's immediate need. Typically, the peak time period for mobile phone use is 6:00 to 10:00.

Tips for your fitness:

• Do not send push notifications at inappropriate times (sick notifications sent from 0:00 to 6:00 have the risk of disturbing users and interfering with sleep);
• Always send notifications in the user's local time zone;
• Select the message time for each user. Follow your itinerary for the day. Distribute messages automatically at the time your users like, so you can open your App.

4. Rigorous testing

How do you make a good push better? Test it! A/B testing is effective in the field of push notifications. However, unlike A/B testing of Web design, testing message pushes requires speed and determination.

Interesting practice from Adam Marchick: Near Valentine's Day, 1-800-flowers prepare A/b test for very different messages. They put a small number of users in those shopping carts who did not complete the purchase, and tested 2 versions of a message. The first version of the message is a simple reminder:

Forget something? Come back! But the second version is different from the 15% discount coupon code.

IOS Push notification:forget Something? Come back and SAVE 15% with promo Code

Unlike what we expected, the best-performing message is the first version-there is no version with the coupon code. In fact, there are more than 50% sales and fewer apps uninstalled than the promo code version that contains the promo code. That's why you need to test everything.

But it is a big mistake to track the trend of positive statistical indicators (such as login data) only. You should have a big blueprint to track all the major statistical indicators:

Goal reached: "Does this push drive the user to do what we expect him to do?" Goals to achieve such as: Community sharing, buying, logging in, and so on.

The user opens: "Does this push improve and enhance the user's experience?" An important indicator to answer this question is the number of users who open your App after receiving this message push notification. This indicator is the evaluation of whether the push is user-centric or company-centric important data.

App uninstall or turn off push: The number of users who uninstall or turn off notifications caused by push notifications. When you focus on this data in real time, it's easier to judge or cancel any harmful notification activity before it goes wrong.

5. Building a messaging policy

The best way to build an effective mobile app communication strategy is to use different message types-push notifications, mail, in-app notifications, scrolling news messages.

Select proper notification type based on urgency and content. Source:appboy

Message diversification-Your various forms of messaging should be used in a coordinated manner to build a great user experience.

Conclusion

The move strategy is that every message has value.

The ability to bring real value to your users ' lives is important to enhance your brand and increase your turnover. Remember these tips when you find out how to send a good push message:

1. Personalize message content to ensure that users receive a valuable notification of their relevance;
2. The successful notification policy confirms the time of sending the message according to the user's situation;
3. Before sending a message, you should identify a target and follow the necessary indicators to confirm if the communication is effective;
4. Diversify the way you message. Push notifications do not solve all the problems;
5. I hope this article is interesting and you have a good understanding of how to optimize your notification activities.

How to design a push notification