Push notifications have been around long enough that app users know the good from the bad. But marketers are still looking for that sweet spot where they can deliver value to users without invading their privacy or over-messaging.
Aaron Sawitsky, director of product marketing at mobile engagement platform Localytics, spoke with eMarketer's Rahul Chadha about how to fine-tune a push notification strategy and the next important trend. Sawitsky was interviewed as part of eMarketer's November report "Push Notifications 2018: How to Win Opt-Ins, Develop Metrics and Get the Creative Right."
eMarketer:
What metrics should marketers use to gauge the success of their push notifications?
Aaron Sawitsky:
The most important metric by far is the conversion rate. Marketers will often choose a conversion event that is too generic and isn't a good indicator of the performance of the actual message. For example, if a travel app wants to drive purchases of tickets to New York, setting the conversion event as "purchase ticket" doesn't show how effective the notification was. Instead, the conversion event should be specific to purchasing a ticket for New York City.
For secondary metrics, open rate is generally a great indicator for the creative, especially when doing A/B testing. We also recommend retention rate, sessions per user and revenue per user, depending on what you're trying to drive.
Also, a high uninstall or opt-out rate could indicate that the message needs to be tweaked, the audience is too broad or something else is going on. You need some visibility into whether you're shooting yourself in the foot.
