Why Web Push? 5 Powerful Benefits of Web Push Notifications

By John Whiston On December 20 2019 Insights With 0 Comments Permalink

Why Web Push? 5 Powerful Benefits of Web Push Notifications

If you’ve spent any time on the internet this year, you’ll be familiar with web push notifications. According to the latest statistics from Push Push Go, 85% of online stores, plus a range of other e-commerce outlets, use web push notifications for business purposes^[1].

In case you’re still unsure (or just instinctively click ‘later’ on any web notification you encounter), Google Developers provide this helpful definition of web push notifications: “web push notifications allow users to opt-in to timely updates from sites they love and allow you to effectively re-engage them with customized, relevant content”^[2].

Basically, they’re those usually helpful, sometimes annoying notifications that pop up while you’re browsing a site, asking you to opt-in to further communications from that business.

As Know Band puts it, web push notifications are “messages or notifications that are delivered to the subscriber’s device in real-time; with a condition that the user’s internet must be turned on at that particular moment. The notifications are sent even if the subscriber is not present at your website”^[3].

So far, so good, right? Web push notifications allow you to engage opted-in users with timely, relevant, and personalised content, such as product offers, sales alerts, or abandoned cart reminders, even if they’re not currently on your website!

If all this sounds a little too good to be true, believe it. A study by Push Push Go found that web push notifications can deliver an ROI of up to 3,500%^[1], while a similar analysis by Gravitec found an ROI of 2,200% for every dollar invested in web push marketing^[4].

Below, we go in depth on why web push notifications are such an effective marketing tool, citing 5 powerful benefits of web push notifications.

Why web push? Why not!

#1. Click-Through Kings

One of the key benefits of web push notifications is their high click-through rate (CTR).

Every day, users collectively send 294 billion emails. This makes it difficult for even the savviest email marketers to stand out. Web push notifications make it easier for marketers to cut through the noise. While statistics on web push CTRs vary slightly from source to source, they all agree on one common detail: web push CTRs are higher than email CTRs on average.

For example, AdWeek claims that “push notifications capture almost double open and click-through rates as compared to email”^[3]. Push Push Go corroborates, noting that email marketing CTRs are at least “twice as low” as web push CTRs^[1]. E-Goi goes even further, claiming that web push notifications can achieve CTRs that are 7x better than email^[5].

A comprehensive study by Max Traffic quantifies the difference in email and web push CTRs. They found that the average CTR for ‘E-commerce’ emails is 2.32%, compared to 5.28% for web push notifications. Similarly, the average CTR for ‘Finance’ emails is 1.86%, compared to 11.21% for web push notifications^[6].

Additionally, an analysis of over 50 billion web push notifications by Push Push Go found that the average CTR for all web push notifications is 12%, rising to 16% for web push notifications targeted at abandoned carts^[1]. By comparison, MailChimp found that the average CTR across all industries for emails sent to at least 1,000 subscribers is 2.62%^[7].

A case study by Le Redoute confirms this. With the help of abandoned cart web push notifications, they were able to increase average CTRs by 2-3 times^[8]. Likewise, a case study by Push Engage found that CTRs can increase by anywhere between 100% to 218% by using segmented web push notifications^[9].

Of course, none of this means that email marketing is ineffective, but rather that web push notifications are the click-through kings. Using both email marketing and web push notifications is often a highly effective marketing strategy, with both channels providing major benefits.

#2. Higher Opt-in Than Emails

With higher click-through rates also comes more opt-ins. Smart Insights elaborates, saying, “[web push] opt-in rate is higher than that of an email since the user does not share any personal details and can subscribe with a single click”^[9].

Put simply, with fewer barriers to entry, it is generally easier to get a user to opt-in to a web push notification than subscribe to an email newsletter. To subscribe to an email newsletter, a user has to provide their email address and other contact details, whereas opting-in to a web push notification can usually be done by clicking one button.

According to Gravitec, the average opt-in rate for ‘E-commerce’ web push notifications is between 0.5%-5%, while for ‘Media’ the average opt-in rate is between 0.5%-6%, and for ‘Finance Services’ the average range is 0.5%-10.5%^[4].

Smart Insights provides an even more optimistic estimate, claiming “push single step opt-in can lead to a subscription rate as high as 20%”^[9]. Xtreme Push agrees, noting, “on average, our clients see 20% of active website users opting in to receive web pushes”^[11].

According to a definitive guide to web push notifications published by Push Engage, the average web push opt-in rate is between 5%-15%, compared to an average subscriber rate of approximately 2% for email newsletters^[11].

With numbers like that, why wouldn’t you opt-in?

#3. Increase Conversions

Higher CTRs and opt-ins are nice, but when it comes to marketing metrics, conversions are usually king. Thankfully, web push notifications have also been shown to increase conversion rates, if deployed appropriately.

According to a study by Medium, well-crafted web push notifications can achieve 15% increases in conversion rates^[12].

It should be noted, conversion rates can be difficult to measure and compare as different businesses have different goals. For one business, reading a blog post may be considered a conversion, while for another, a completed sale is considered a conversion. Still, a 15% increase is a sizeable impact.

An analysis by Localytics uncovered equally impressive results. They found that once a push notification is opened, 15% of users convert on average^[13]. However, the average conversion rate rises to 54% for segmented web push notifications^[13]. This highlights the importance of segmenting your audience.

Localytics took their analysis further, tracking average web push notification conversion rates by message type. They found that the average conversion rate for a ‘Broadcast’ (campaigns sent to an entire subscriber base) web push notification is 1.18%, while the average conversion rate for a ‘Segmented’ web push notification is 1.57%^[13].

Additionally, the average conversion rate for a ‘Dynamic/Broadcast’ web push notification is 0.8%, while the average conversion rate for a ‘Dynamic/Segmented’ web push notification is 1.95%^[13].

These numbers compare favourably with email newsletter conversion rates, which typically hover between 1%-5%, depending on the type of email^[7].

#4. Fast & Efficient

While email is one of the most effective marketing channels, anyone who has worked on an email newsletter will know that crafting the perfect newsletter can be time-consuming. From drafting the perfect subject line, to writing compelling body text, plus eye-catching graphics and irresistible calls to action, creating an email newsletter can be a long journey.

On the other hand, web push notifications are often a faster and more efficient process. That is not to say that they don’t require care and attention to detail, but writing an attention-grabbing headline and a few lines of body text is often faster than putting together an entire email newsletter.

This faster turnaround allows you to reach more subscribers in a timely manner, while still achieving high click-through, opt-in, and conversion rates.

#5. Reach

We’ll keep this final point short & sweet (just like a good web push notification).

Web push notifications allow you to reach subscribers instantly, even if they’re not actively browsing your website. As long as their computer is open and connected to the internet, you can reach your audience with web push notifications.

This instantaneous reach is arguably the biggest benefit of web push notifications. The ability to immediately reach your audience with targeted, personalised messages, no matter what they’re doing on their computer? It’s a marketer’s dream come true!