What are push notifications?

What are push notifications? Being the only member of the Elixel family that isn’t what you’d call techy, we thought it would be a good opportunity for me to learn lots about this fast paced and ever changing industry I'm now a part of, and then share that knowledge with the rest of the world in a language that hopefully everyone can understand! So, here goes.

Please raise your hand if you’ve ever wondered ‘What’s a push notification?’

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Yeah, me too! You hear the term push notifications and you’re asked by tons of apps if you want to allow them, but I’ve never really understood what I’m allowing or blocking. Then I thought, ‘Hey, if I don’t know then how many others don’t know too.’ In this blog I’ll explain, in plain English, what they are and their benefits to both the user, and the producers.

Back to basics

A push notification is exactly what it says on the tin, it’s a notification that is pushed to the users mobile device by the producer. Push notifications are a great way for users to receive relevant information about products and services that they are truly interested in and it is an easy and effective way for producers to reach their target audience.

Ok, let's talk about it from a user's perspective. You want to book a holiday in Europe but you’re just not sure if you can afford it *sigh*. Cut to montage of life passing by! *PING*.....‘Leave the Winter blues behind - 20% off all flights in Europe!’ This super duper company has sent you an offer you ACTUALLY want to see, hurrah! It’s instant, it's short and sharp and it's easy to act on. Holiday booked!

Now, here’s the perspective of the producer. Marketing is always a challenging area because as a country we’re sick of it. We are bombarded with emails, texts and post telling us what a company has to offer, but what they offer isn’t always relevant to the person that receives it. The beauty of push notifications is that you can use the process of segmentation to contact a specific part of your user base depending on their demographic or usage habits. Plainly speaking, you’re contacting the right people with the right message. This then draws the user back into the app, yes directly into the app, where you want them! Plus, the cost of a push notification is significantly lower than other types of marketing. You’ve got less admin in writing a lengthy offer, less time designing something to look appealing, no printing cost….the list goes on! You can also create a campaign or offer in the morning and have that with your audience within the hour. It’s just makes sense.

Simply said, allowing or using push notifications (in the correct way) is a win win situation!

For me, as the only member of the team that is a tech novice, who has gone out of her comfort zone to research and write about this, I honestly can’t see the drawback of push notifications. Yes it’s a pain if they are abused but they are less of a hassle to deal with than text messages, emails or pesky phone calls *URGH*!

Anyway, give push notifications a go, you might be pleasantly surprised with what you get!

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Next up in the non-techy talks series: What are in-app purchases?

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