Article
How Push Notifications for Websites Can Boost Engagement and Conversions
Marketers are always on the lookout for tools that can increase engagement, drive traffic, and ultimately boost conversions. One of the most effective but underutilized tools is push notifications for websites. These messages allow businesses to connect with their audience in real-time, even when users are not actively browsing the site.
In this article, we’ll dive deep into what website push notifications are, the benefits they bring, and how they can be a game-changer for marketers looking to optimize their customer engagement strategies.
Difficulty in Keeping Audiences Engaged
One of the biggest challenges facing marketers today is maintaining user engagement after someone leaves a website. Visitors may browse your website once and then disappear, never to return. Unfortunately, even with great content, discounts, or promotions, they might not revisit unless they have a compelling reason to do so. In fact, statistics show that 70-90% of website visitors don’t return after their first visit.
Moreover, relying solely on traditional channels such as email marketing has its own drawbacks, highlighting the need for innovative marketing strategies. Emails often end up in spam folders or go unopened. Social media reach is becoming increasingly difficult due to ever-changing algorithms that favor paid content. Marketers need a more direct, reliable way to stay in front of their audience, and exploring various user engagement tools can be beneficial.
The core problem? Marketers are losing touch with potential customers who leave their sites, making it difficult to maintain engagement, increase sales, and boost long-term conversions.
How Push Notifications for Websites Work
Push notifications for websites are an efficient way to bridge the engagement gap. These are short messages sent directly to users’ devices (desktop or mobile) even when they aren’t actively browsing your site. They require users to opt-in by allowing notifications when they visit a website, similar to tools for enhancing customer retention that help businesses maintain user interest. Once subscribed, users receive notifications in real-time that keep them updated on new content, promotions, or other important announcements.
Here’s why website push notifications are so impactful:
Real-Time Communication: Unlike emails, push notifications are instantaneous. As soon as a user subscribes, marketers can send out notifications that pop up on the user’s browser or device, offering immediate visibility.
High Engagement Rates: Push notifications generally boast higher engagement rates than email campaigns. Studies show that push notifications have a click-through rate (CTR) of up to 30%, significantly higher than the 1-2% CTR typical for email marketing.
Non-Intrusive but Effective: Users must opt-in to receive push notifications, which means you’re engaging with an already interested audience. Plus, they don’t clutter inboxes like emails and can be easily dismissed by users if they choose.
Direct Re-Engagement: One of the key benefits is the ability to re-engage users who have left your site. Push notifications can be triggered based on user behavior (like cart abandonment) or time-based prompts (e.g., flash sales), pulling users back to your website when it matters most.
How Push Notifications Transformed a Marketing Strategy
Take the case of Sarah, a digital marketing manager for an online fashion brand. Sarah struggled to keep visitors engaged after they browsed the site, leading to high bounce rates and a low percentage of repeat visitors, until she discovered Braze's engagement solutions that helped her improve her strategy. Despite investing in email marketing and paid social campaigns, she noticed minimal improvement in engagement metrics.
She decided to try push notifications for websites. After implementing a simple opt-in prompt on the homepage, her visitors started subscribing. Over the next few months, Sarah used push notifications to alert subscribers about new product launches, limited-time sales, and personalized product recommendations based on user behavior.
The results were immediate:
Higher return traffic: Push notifications brought back a 15% increase in return visitors.
Improved conversion rates: The click-through rates for notifications were almost four times higher than her email campaigns.
Lower cart abandonment: By sending notifications to users who had added items to their cart but didn’t complete the purchase, Sarah was able to recover 20% of abandoned carts.
Sarah’s marketing strategy was transformed, and push notifications became an essential tool in her customer engagement plan.
How Push Notifications for Websites Boost Engagement and Sales
Push notifications for websites provide an invaluable channel for engaging users and driving sales when following best practices for push notifications. By delivering timely, relevant messages directly to a user’s device, push notifications can re-engage users and bring them back to your site, often resulting in higher conversion rates and improved customer retention. Let’s explore specific ways these notifications can help you boost both engagement and sales.
1. Increase Return Visits
One of the primary benefits of push notifications is their ability to bring users back to your website. Unlike emails, which can easily be ignored or sent to spam, push notifications appear directly on the user’s device in real time. By sending notifications that remind users about ongoing sales, new product launches, or exclusive deals, you encourage them to revisit your site, significantly increasing your return visitor rate.
For example, if a visitor browsed your online store but didn’t make a purchase, you can send them a notification a day or two later with a personalized message: “Still interested in that product? Grab it now with 10% off!”
2. Reduce Cart Abandonment
Cart abandonment is a major pain point for eCommerce businesses, with approximately 70% of shoppers abandoning their carts before completing a purchase. Push notifications provide a powerful way to recover those lost sales by sending reminders to customers who added items to their cart but didn’t check out, similar to insights found in the top customer engagement platforms that can enhance user interactions. These messages can nudge them to complete their purchase by reminding them of the items they left behind, offering discounts, or creating a sense of urgency with time-limited offers.
For instance, sending a notification like “Your cart is waiting! Complete your purchase and get 15% off—only for the next 24 hours” can prompt customers to return and finalize their transaction.
3. Create Urgency with Time-Sensitive Offers
Push notifications are highly effective for promoting time-sensitive offers such as flash sales, limited-time discounts, or special promotions. These notifications can create a sense of urgency that compels users to act quickly before they miss out. Because push notifications are delivered instantly and directly to users’ screens, they’re particularly well-suited for driving engagement with real-time offers.
For example, a message like “Flash Sale: 50% off all items for the next 2 hours! Shop now before it’s too late” can encourage immediate action, leading to a spike in conversions during the sale window.
4. Personalize Offers Based on User Behavior
Personalization is key to increasing engagement, and push notifications allow for a highly targeted approach. By leveraging user data—such as past purchase history, browsing behavior, and preferences—you can send personalized notifications that resonate with individual customers. Whether it’s recommending products similar to what they’ve previously bought or informing them about restocks of items they viewed, personalized notifications feel more relevant and valuable, increasing the likelihood of engagement.
For example, if a customer frequently buys fitness gear from your website, you can send notifications like “New arrivals in our fitness collection! Check them out now” to entice them back.
5. Keep Customers Informed and Engaged
Push notifications can be used not only to promote products and drive sales but also to keep customers informed about important updates, new blog posts, or changes to your business. By consistently providing valuable information, you can keep users engaged and nurture long-term relationships. For instance, notifying customers when a product they’ve shown interest in is back in stock, or when a blog post they might find useful is published, ensures you stay top of mind even when they aren’t actively shopping.
This ongoing engagement builds brand loyalty and fosters a deeper connection with your audience, increasing the chances that they’ll return when they’re ready to make a purchase.
6. Boost Customer Retention with Re-Engagement Campaigns
Retaining existing customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, and push notifications can play a crucial role in your strategies for customer retention. By sending re-engagement notifications, you can bring back customers who haven’t visited your site in a while or remind them of why they originally loved your brand. Whether you offer a special “welcome back” discount or highlight new products based on their previous purchases, re-engagement campaigns can drive repeat business and extend the customer lifecycle.
For example, a notification like “We’ve missed you! Come back and enjoy 20% off your next purchase” can entice inactive customers to return and shop again.
7. Encourage Cross-Selling and Upselling
Push notifications also provide a great opportunity for cross-selling and upselling. You can send notifications that recommend complementary products to items customers have already purchased or suggest higher-end versions of products they’ve shown interest in. These strategies not only increase the average order value but also enhance the customer’s shopping experience by showing them products they’re likely to appreciate.
For instance, after a customer buys a smartphone, a push notification offering “Don’t forget your accessories—shop phone cases, chargers, and more!” can lead to additional purchases.
8. Drive Immediate Engagement with Geo-Targeted Notifications
Geo-targeted notifications add another layer of personalization by sending messages based on a user’s location. If your business has brick-and-mortar locations or region-specific promotions, you can trigger notifications when users are near a store or when a location-based event is happening. These hyper-targeted messages can drive immediate foot traffic or interest in local deals.
For instance, a notification that says, “Welcome to our store! Enjoy 10% off your purchase today” could instantly convert passersby into customers.
How Unblocked Brands' Passport Solution Can Help
If you're looking for a seamless way to integrate push notifications into your marketing strategy, Unblocked Brands' Passport solution offers the perfect solution.
Here’s how Passport can help:
No Mobile App Needed: With Passport, brands can send push notifications without requiring users to download an app. This dramatically reduces friction, as customers can opt-in with just one click.
Default Push Notifications: Passport’s push notifications are automatically set to “on,” making it easy for users to stay connected with your brand.
Simple Setup: Brands can get started with Passport in under five minutes. You’ll quickly be able to send out notifications to engage users, whether it’s a promotion, new content, or a product reminder.
Passport is designed to help you re-engage your audience, improve your CTR, and reduce cart abandonment—making it a powerful tool for marketers focused on long-term customer engagement.
Start Using Push Notifications to Drive Engagement
Push notifications for websites offer a direct, high-engagement marketing channel that brings users back to your site, increases conversions, and enhances customer loyalty. If you’re ready to integrate push notifications into your marketing toolkit, the benefits can be transformative.
