Introduction
Push notification marketing may not be the primary type of marketing, but it is still very widely used. It can bring great results if done right. Besides, there are different varieties of push notifications that can help you accomplish different goals.
When it comes to B2B content marketing, push notifications can be a valuable addition to maximize the results from your content. Hence, here’s how you can use push notifications for your B2B content marketing strategy.
Understand Types of Push Notifications
First of all, you need to understand push notification types and how you can use them to achieve different goals. There are three main types of push notifications:
Web Push Notifications
These are also known as browser push notifications that are connected to the browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc. Web push notifications aren’t connected to the website that the user is viewing at a specific moment. This means that the user can receive such push notifications anytime.
App Push Notifications
App push notifications are directly connected to the specific apps that send them. These can be in-built apps that many smartphones feature or apps. On one hand, app push notifications have a limited audience. It is because they can only be received by users who downloaded the app. On the other hand, if you have your own app and want to send push notifications, you will know that your audience is already highly interested in your content because these users have made an effort to download the app in the first place.
Messenger Push Notifications
Similarly to app push notifications, messenger push notifications are tied to their respective apps. In this case, these are messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, iMessage, Telegram, and others. But unlike app push notifications, messenger push notifications aren’t limited. In fact, you can reach a very wide audience as long as you have the contact information of the users you want to reach – namely, their phone numbers.
Every type of push notification has its own advantages and disadvantages. Depending on your goals, resources, etc., you will need to choose one or more of these types of push notifications to set up and execute a successful campaign. For instance, if you don’t have an app and the means to collect phone numbers, then it’s best for you to focus on web notifications. If you have many resources to utilize, you might benefit from combining all three types of push notifications in your strategy for maximum results.
Define Goals, Audience, and Channels
This is one of the most important steps in planning your push notification marketing strategy because it could impact other aspects of your overall marketing strategy (e.g. your product marketing). By defining your goals, target audience, and the channels you will be using, you will determine in which direction you will use push notifications in your content marketing strategy.
First, your goals. As mentioned earlier, using push notifications in your content marketing strategy can help you achieve a variety of goals. These include a new content promotion, notifications about news and updates, sales and discounts announcements, and so on. Essentially, you are using notifications to deliver valuable and relevant information to your audience. By doing so, you can increase sales and conversions, improve engagement with content, and establish long-term relationships with customers among other things.
Second, your audience and channels. The channels you use are also related to the type of push notifications you want to work with, so you need to consider all of these together. For instance, if you decide to use app notifications, then your channel will be your mobile app and your audience will only consist of the users who downloaded the said app.
Build Your Push Notification List
Once you have defined your goals, audience, and channels you can start building your push notification list. Of course, this is only a mandatory step if you will be sending messenger push notifications. If you decided to work with web push notifications and/or app push notifications, then you don’t need to spend time looking for the phone numbers of the users you want to target.
At its core, building your push subscribers list is similar to building an email list for marketing campaigns. That’s why you can use similar tactics to build your push notification list:
- Set up pop-ups on your website asking users for their phone numbers. Make sure to have an offer they can’t decline (e.g. sales and discount updates, new content notifications).
- Create a referral program where your past customers can refer you to potential customers and get something in exchange (e.g. a discount). Ask participants to provide their phone numbers to receive push notifications from you.
- Go through your list of past customers and reach out to them by email asking if they would like to join your list to receive push notifications via a messenger app.
- Host a webinar related to your industry and collect phone numbers from participants. Inform them beforehand that you will be sending push notifications to them.
It is always important to provide users on your push notification list an option to opt out of receiving some or even all notifications from you. This is a practice that is common in email marketing. Some people only subscribe because they are interested in discounts while others want to get all your notifications. Moreover, you should make it easy for users to unsubscribe from you completely if they feel like it.
Write Your Push Notifications
Now that the planning stage is over, you can start working on the push notifications themselves. The best part about push notifications is that they are generally quite short and only consist of text which means they take relatively less time to create. If you feel like the plain text is too simple, you can add emojis to spice everything up. Just make sure that you don’t go overboard with them.
If you are inexperienced as a writer or you are not confident in your writing skills, you can always get professional help. Check the custom writing reviews site Best Writers Online to find an expert writer in your field who will help you create your push notifications. By working with an experienced writer, you will be sure that the notifications you make are relevant, don’t have mistakes, and will achieve the goals you set.
Run A/B Tests with Different Versions
When creating your push notifications, it is a good idea to write multiple versions of the same notification. This is not mandatory, but it can be a good practice if you stick to it consistently. You can’t always know what will work and what won’t, so it’s best to have some options to choose from if you see that some of your notifications aren’t getting any responses.
It’s also worth running some A/B tests with the different versions of your push notifications before you decide to launch a full-scale campaign. Test these versions on small groups of users or even on test audiences. Then, you can decide which notifications to send to a larger audience.
Decide on the Frequency and Timing
Speaking of your push notification testing, you will also need to decide on the frequency and timing of your push notifications. You can’t just send them out whenever you feel like it. Besides, it’s not just the push notifications themselves that could be impacting the success of your campaigns – it could also be when and how often you are sending them out.
There is no ideal time that works for everyone, so you will need to do some research and experiment a bit before you decide on your frequency and timing. Just like emails, it’s best to send out push notifications when your audience is most active during the day and during the week. Likewise, try to send out a reasonable number of push notifications per day. Sending too many push notifications can annoy your audiences.
Send, Monitor, and Improve
Lastly, you can start sending your push notifications, monitoring the success of your campaigns, and improving your strategy. Remember what your goals are and who your audience is. Similarly, keep in mind that your push notifications need to be beneficial to your content marketing strategy, but they can also benefit other aspects of your business activity.
Choose the metrics you want to track and stick to them throughout the entire campaign. By tracking your chosen KPIs consistently, you will be able to see whether you are achieving your goals as well as whether you are making progress in the first place. If something isn’t working, don’t hesitate to try an alternative approach or solution. Keep on experimenting before you find what works for you.
Conclusion
All in all, using push notifications in your B2B content marketing campaigns could help you improve the results of these campaigns. You can grow your email list, increase conversions, and so much more. Use the tips in this article to help you start using push notifications by successfully adding them to your content marketing strategy.
Author Bio:
Frank Hamilton has been working as an editor at the essay review service Writing Judge. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves travelling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.