10 IDEAS FOR ENGAGING PUSH NOTIFICATION CAMPAIGNS

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It’s not always easy to come up with engaging content, and good reasons to push message your users. Hopefully, the ideas that follow will give you some inspiration…

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WHAT MESSAGE SHOULD I SEND?

There are a lot of holidays in a calendar year in the U.S. Add each of these holidays to your content calendar, and take advantage of each and every one them. http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/

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TIE-IN TO A HOLIDAY

There are always “current events” happening in pop culture. Pick a few feeders – TMZ, Vulture, Perez Hilton – and capitalize on key moments.

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TIE-IN TO POP CULTURE

What kind of culture do you foster among your app users? If this style of message fits your culture, give it a go. Word of caution: Use sparingly.

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TONGUE-IN-CHEEK / KITSCHY

This is a great reason to reach out to users – announce a new feature, new products, new content – anything NEW! Humans crave new stimuli.

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ANNOUNCE UPDATES IN APP

Keep your users guessing. This is a strategy employed by many Internet media titans (“Eat These 5 Super-Foods: You Won’t Believe What They Are – Click Here to See”). People are naturally curious. Peak their curiosity.

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THE CLIFF-HANGER!

People love contests and sweepstakes. Make it social to capitalize on the viral effect and drive more organic downloads.

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CONTEST / SWEEPSTAKES

Keep it short n’ sweet. Say what you mean, and mean what you say.

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GET RIGHT TO THE POINT

Asking your users a question is a great way to make them feel involved in the conversation and bolster engagement. This is a best-kept secret amongst Social Media Managers.

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ASK A QUESTION

Inclement weather can be your best friend. Capitalize on moments where your users are probably trapped indoors and glued to their mobile device as a result.

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TIE-IN TO A WEATHER EVENT

Don’t just get them to open the app…drive them to do something once they open the app. Make your push notification count!

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ASK THEM TO DO SOMETHING

A/B TEST your push notifications to small groups of users before sending to your entire app audience. Optimize the open rate. Don’t leave it to chance.

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TRACK METRICS on your push notification campaigns (# Sent, Open Rate %, Direct Opens, Influenced Opens, etc.). Analyze and tweak as necessary.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Employ a RE-TARGETING strategy. Don’t just send a single push and expect optimal results. Follow-up with people who didn’t interact the first time.

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