Time to get pushy: how push notifications can grow your apps mobile engagement

Mobile apps have become an integral part of our lives, and businesses recognize the immense potential they hold for engaging customers and driving revenue.

Among the various mobile messaging strategies, push notifications have emerged as a powerful channel to captivate app users throughout their customer journey. By aligning your push notification strategy with key business metrics, you can maximize the impact of this feature.

One effective framework for defining these metrics is the “pirate metrics” framework, which includes acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue.

In this blog, we’ll explore the “pirate metrics” framework and highlight use cases where Infobip can provide significant benefits to your business.

Acquisition refers to the customer journey before installation of the mobile app. Although there is no direct communication with the user during this phase, it is essential to collect data about the user to use in the next steps of the funnel. Such data may include the source that led the user to the app and advertising content, which can be used for personalized communication.

Activation involves different target actions, such as creating an account, filling out personal information, retaining the user during the first week, or a paid subscription, depending on the industry. To encourage the user to complete the first target action, it is possible to use various communication tactics, such as setting up an automation scenario of push notifications for all new end-users. In such welcome push notifications, the user can see the value they can get from the app and the steps needed to be taken. Additionally, marketers can run automation reminders for mobile users who don’t log in to the app during the first few days after installation and encourage them to do so by offering benefits for authorized users.

Retention is one of the most important metrics for mobile apps, as around 90% of new users churn during the first month after installation. To track the retention metric, mobile developers need to track all users who launched the app and reach out to those who don’t open it. The period of reminders can vary based on industry-specific practices, but 4 and 7 days are generally considered best.

Referral is another key metric in customer acquisition, especially for mobile apps. It shows that someone who is already engaged with the product recommends it to others. To increase referral metrics, well-designed scenarios of communication with mobile users can be used. Good practices include showing in-app forms asking users to share information about the app on social media, writing reviews, and rating in stores. As well, setting up scenarios with a push notification after a key action, such as delivery of an order or visiting a store, can be effective.

Revenue is perhaps the most important metric in the customer journey funnel, and it can also be leveraged by mobile push notifications. For eCommerce applications, classifieds, gaming, and subscription model applications, encouraging users to take actions related to payment should be one of the mandatory scenarios. Automation scenarios for reminders of favorite items in a store, informing about the appearance of new products, notifying of price changes for tickets, and classical abandoned cart reminders are all ways to boost revenue.

In conclusion, mobile engagement is an essential part of any business strategy today. With the rise of mobile apps, it’s crucial to have a well-thought-out mobile engagement strategy in place to keep your customers engaged, satisfied, and loyal to your brand.

To achieve this, businesses need a robust customer engagement solution that includes mobile app messaging capabilities and analytics. With mobile app messaging, you can reach out to your customers in real-time, provide personalized communication, and keep them engaged with your app. Analytics help you track user behavior, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your mobile engagement strategy.

Moreover, a customer data platform (CDP) is also a vital component of any mobile engagement strategy. A CDP consolidates customer data from various sources and provides a unified view of the customer. This helps businesses better understand their customers, personalize their communication, and provide a seamless customer experience across all touchpoints.

In summary, a successful mobile engagement strategy requires a customer engagement solution that includes mobile app messaging capabilities, analytics, and a customer data platform. By leveraging these tools, businesses can create a personalized and engaging experience for their customers, driving customer loyalty and ultimately, revenue.