7 steps to increase reader revenue with push notifications
Push notifications can be a powerful tool when they they follow the right strategy. Used wisely, they can transform your traffic, increase conversion rates and even boost advertising revenue.
The media industry is committed to innovation, and this leads every news business to try and test new content formats to engage with their audiences. Push notifications can be used as part of those innovation processes are a powerful tool for reader engagement. Even if your subscription strategy has been a success, you may eventually have a bunch of inactive subscribers that push notifications can re-engage.
Following the best practices of international media, we have summarised the key points to succeed with push notifications. The following 7 steps should help you find out the best approach to make the most of your news and articles:
1. Choose your push notification software wisely
The objective of push notifications is to capture the reader´s immediate attention and get them into a reading habit. Before you make your choice you should list the features that will help you achieve your goals and make sure the software you are considering has them all. Some key functionalities you may need are:
· Automatic push notification whenever a new story is publish
· Scheduling push notifications
· Tracking your readers´ activity in real-time
MAS works with any CMS to push your content and comes with a comprehensive real-time analytics tools. You can activate push notifications or schedule them at a click and check right away if that push was a good idea.
2. Set up KPIS objectives
Keep it simple and straight. Define your objectives clearly.
Knowing what readers you want to target will help you define the right time to launch a push notification according to their interests and your goals.
3. Choose the push headline carefully
The right keywords and copywriting techniques can do wonders to your conversion rates once the push notification has gone out. But they can also have the opposite effect. When faced with a bold title or one that is too long, your readers might choose to ignore or even cancel your notifications.
4. Avoid notification overload
Choose your segments carefully and learn where their limit is. When overused, push notifications can overwhelm your audience and trigger adverse reactions, leading your readers away from you.
5. Join forces
Integrate your push notifications with your paywall and newsletter strategies for an omnichannel approach. Joining forces will multiply your results: you can occasionally push articles that promote your newsletter to gain new subscribers or even send some content under the paywall. Once you have your readers’ attention, they will show a more positive disposition.
6. Try, monitor, learn, try again
It´s all about finding what works best for you as there is no “out of the box” solution with guaranteed results for everyone. Find your own best practices paying attention to your audience:
· When is the best moment of the day?
· What is the appropriate push frequency?
· What are their favourite topics and type of news content (breaking news, evergreen content, research findings)?
· What kind of headline works best?
· Which news format provides the highest open rates?
Bearing in mind these issues, remember the only way to succeed is to Keep testing, monitoring, learning and getting back to testing again.
7. When out of ideas, search for inspiration
Industry leaders tend to share their successful experiences for others to learn. Check out how Die Harke managed to increase their traffic with the right use of push notifications or how the combined change of CMS and its push notifications system helped “El Correo Gallego” double its traffic within a few months.
Push notifications can be an invaluable tool as long as they have a clear strategy behind them. Properly used, they can transform your traffic, increase conversion rates and boost advertising revenue.