Maximizing Customer Engagement With Push Notifications

Push notifications are changing how companies engage with customers, outperforming traditional email in every key metric.

At MetaCTO, we’re helping our clients leverage this powerful channel to transform their mobile apps into engagement powerhouses. Here’s what you need to know about the push notification advantage.

Push Notifications vs. Email: The Numbers Don’t Lie

The data is compelling when comparing push notifications to traditional email campaigns:

Open Rates: Push notifications achieve 50-60% open rates, compared to just 15-20% for marketing emails. ¹
Click-Through Rates: Push notifications see 15% tap rates vs. 2-5% click rates for email. ²
Response Time: Push notifications typically get reactions within minutes, while emails might not be read for 6+ hours
Retention Impact: Users who enable push are 2.5× more likely to continue using your app month-over-month. ³

These figures represent a significant opportunity for businesses. If you’re relying solely on email to reach your mobile customers, you’re likely missing out on 3-4× the engagement potential.

Why Push Notifications Perform Better

Push notifications excel for several key reasons:

Immediate Visibility: Push messages appear right on the user’s lock screen or as a banner, making them harder to ignore than emails buried in crowded inboxes.
Zero Cost Scaling: Unlike SMS (which costs ~$0.01 per message), push notifications cost nothing to send through your app, regardless of volume.
Rich Content Capabilities: Modern push notifications support images, action buttons, and deep links that launch users directly into specific app screens.
Real-Time Delivery: Push notifications reach users instantly when time-sensitive information matters most.
Personalization Power: Because users are already authenticated in your app, you can personalize notifications based on their behavior, preferences, and history.

Retention Boost: The Long-Term Value

Perhaps most impressive is the impact push notifications have on long-term user retention. Research from Localytics found that:

62% of users who enable push will return to an app the following month, compared to only 32% of those who disable push
Over a four-month span, retention was 36% vs 14% for push users vs non-push users
Sending even a single push in the first week of app usage can nearly triple 90-day retention rates

The more thoughtfully you use push, the better the retention. Users who received weekly notifications had 4.4× higher retention, and those with daily (relevant) notifications saw as much as 820% higher retention over those receiving none. ⁴

Implementing an Effective Push Strategy

Based on our experience implementing successful push notification strategies for clients, here are our top recommendations:

1. Get the Opt-In Right

The first challenge is getting users to enable notifications. On iOS particularly, where opt-in rates average around 44% (versus 67.5% on Android), your permission request strategy matters:

Wait until users see value in your app before requesting permission
Explain clearly what benefit they’ll receive from enabling notifications
Consider a “pre-permission” screen that explains the value before triggering the system prompt
Offer the ability to customize which types of notifications they receive

2. Segment and Personalize

Not all notifications are created equal. Segmenting your audience and personalizing messages based on their behavior and preferences can quadruple open rates:

Use behavior-based triggers (viewed product, abandoned cart, etc.)
Leverage location data when relevant (nearby store, location-specific offers)
Reference previous interactions (“The item you viewed is back in stock!”)
Personalize with their name and preferences

3. Optimize Timing and Frequency

Timing is crucial for push notification success:

Analyze your user data to identify when your audience is most active
Respect time zones and avoid sending during typical sleeping hours
Find the right cadence—too few notifications won’t maximize impact, while too many can lead to opt-outs
For most apps, 2-5 well-targeted push notifications per week hits the sweet spot

4. Craft Compelling Content

Push notifications have limited character space, so make every word count:

Lead with the most important information (front-load your message)
Create a sense of urgency when appropriate
Use action-oriented language
Keep it concise—under 50 characters often performs best for the title
Test emojis, which can increase open rates by 20%

5. Implement Deep Linking

Deep linking—directing users to a specific screen in your app rather than just opening the home screen—significantly improves conversion:

Link directly to relevant content (product pages, order status, specific features)
Reduce friction in the user journey from notification to action
Configure attribution so you can measure the effectiveness of different notifications

Measuring Push Notification Success

To maximize the value of your push strategy, you need to measure the right metrics:

Delivery rate: Percentage of sent notifications that were successfully delivered
Open rate: Percentage of delivered notifications that were opened
Conversion rate: Percentage of opened notifications that led to the desired action
Opt-out rate: Percentage of users who disable notifications after receiving them
Retention impact: Difference in retention between users who receive notifications vs. those who don’t
Time to action: How quickly users take action after receiving a notification

Conclusion

Push notifications represent a massive opportunity for companies with mobile apps. With dramatically higher engagement rates than email and a direct impact on retention, they deserve a central place in your mobile engagement strategy.

At MetaCTO, we implement sophisticated push notification systems for our clients as part of our web-to-mobile transformation services. We help you move beyond basic notifications to develop a strategic, personalized communication channel that drives real business results.

Want to leverage the power of push notifications in your mobile app? Talk to our experts about how we can help you implement an effective push strategy.