Using Push Notifications for Mobile App Retention

Digital marketing has always been such a tough job, and these days, needless to say, that apps are losing out on a lot of users. Thus, for those who are mobile marketers, this is the toughest phase. To come to terms with the truth, we cannot expect all the applications to gain huge popularity as the rate one ranks – be it Snapchat, Instagram, or work apps like CamScanner and more. And the other physical difficulty that remains is that one smartphone can never house all the apps together that are present in the digital world, meaning that only if odds are in favor, can one app gain popularity and be successful in the digital market.
The basic concept of survival of an app is dependent on a few criteria, and in the long run, people only pick those which are functional, most valuable and serve their purposes. It is obvious if now an app performs the same function as that of Instagram, then all users would still never use this unknown app and use Instagram instead. So, the survival of an app is also tricky – it has to be unique in nature.

The Ulterior Motive

It is understood that one would need to retain their customers if they have to continue with their mobile marketing business. Typical Snapshot retention tells us how many users of the app are there after they have downloaded it. So, this doesn’t measure the number of downloads, but the number of active users. There are even other tools which calculate the retention value in simple percentage and guide with the process.

The Nature of The Customers

It is the psychological basis of any human mind to be absolutely fickle. We cannot expect loyalty from the customers other than cases of exception when a brand comes into play. There have been studies that prove that 21% of the people may use the app only once, and then 71% will probably flip out quickly. The question that must be bothering the marketers now is, how to keep the customers stuck to their app, and prevent them from leaving the platform? It is rare that apps like SnapChat have taken over the world, and we will hardly find a person who doesn’t use it. So how does one go about this situation?

Understanding Why Retention is important

The basic design of an app is its utility –be it a health app which would provide health advice, or monitor health conditions, or a beauty app, that would provide a specific purpose. But the end goal isn’t that the application will be serving a purpose, the app reaches the finish line only when the users download the application and then use it regularly. Building a strong audience for the application would be one way to build a strong base.

All the Solutions are at Bay

It might be an obvious solution, but people tend to miss out on this. Push Notification is a base strategy to start off with the mobile app marketing sector, and the results can be achieved if the application is accurate. It might be called a stroke of luck that even customers have a more positive response to push messages – else the ball game would be completely different. There has been another study that has been conducted by Localytics, which says that 52% of the population have started receiving push notifications more positively, making it a welcome strategy to keep customers hooked to the app.

Some Plausible Way Outs

The risks of using push are many, given that the mobile marketer sends in more of push messages, that automatically annoys the user and results in app uninstallation. The technique of bombarding never works. One instead has to make sure that the push notifications need to go in slowly, such that the user isn’t irritated with his app user experience. Using the behavior pattern of the customer, one could easily send in moderated amounts of push messages, to keep the customers tied to the app. It may be that someone is using a video transmission app, then leading the user to watch more episodes of the same season via push messages could help the user like the app further.
It has been determined experimentally that one push message a week is the perfect ratio for customer liking. Hence this is no longer under the experimentation zone and can be performed easily.

The Choice of Push

People react better when they are given certain choices, and they respond better if they are asked. It is a much better approach if we ask them if they want to receive push notifications or not. The user himself can select the kind of push notifications that he/ she might want to receive, the user may also be given the frequency choice and accordingly, he receives the notification, acts on the basis of the notification, ultimately keeping people hooked up on the application.

Content Inclusion

This could be an excellent way to include content into your application – push gives the app creator to write an elaborate content – one could easily push in a catchy headline and write an elaborate review of some wedding venue that is featured on your application. Instantly, if the customer is of marriageable age, she/he clicks the guide and moves to view or download your app. A specific kind of notifications if sent –that creates a more dedicated customer base.
The entire process is directed by geomarkers, making it a customized system for the customer. Both the users and the app developer stand at a win-win solution.
Hence it is understandable that only if a mobile app provides a return on investment, the venture has been successful. Thus being smart, active, attentive to the needs of the customer will help the app developer innovate push messages according to the needs of the customer base that he has. Everything boils down to one thing – usage of timing properly. A good timed message may save the app!