Using Web Notifications to Deepen Engagement

Posted on in Small Business Tips, SME Marketing

Web notifications can create deeper relationships with your website visitors. Interested in learning more or adding them to your marketing strategy? Find out more below…

Engagement is a keyword in today’s online marketing world – and one way to help to engage and create a deeper connection with visitors to your website is by using web notifications.

It’s an important part of any marketing strategy, as online use continues to rise each year – boosted by the proliferation of mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Once you have got people to your website, you need to make the most of that connection with them – and web notifications are one such tool.

What do web notifications do?

When visitors first find your site, if they are unsure where to go, what to do, or whether your company is what they are looking for, a message can pop up, asking them those very questions – or sending them in the right direction.

Web notifications (also called web push notifications) are sent to your potential customers via mobile or desktop. They can appear on their screen even if the user is not actively using your site.

There are three kinds of messages every brand should consider sending via web notifications:

  • Transactional: these messages will confirm transactions, such as purchases, shipping or delivery, and requests for product reviews.
  • Educational: These messages aim to help your target audience keep informed about particular events, offers, trends or products.
  • Promotional: notifications of special offers or discounts.

When you’re starting out with these messages, a good strategy is to begin with those that fall into the educational and transactional categories – these help to build trust with your brand. Promotional messages can follow in due course.

Not sure where to start?

Here are a few examples:

  • You can use web notifications to gauge feedback from customers. A URL in a notification can take them to a survey – or you can use an interactive button. A thumbs up/down sign is easy to use, and you can target the thumbs-downers with campaigns to win them back.
  • Real-time answers: If visitors are applying for a loan or trying to locate a product, your notification can instantly let them know if they have been successful or not – with a link to click for more information. For instance, ‘your loan application has been successful, find out more’ or ‘that product is not yet in stock, please click to register for notification once it is back on our shelves’.
  • Updates on registration status – have they given you their delivery details but need to add more to be fully registered? Let them know with a notification.
  • Let them know they are eligible for some perks. Perhaps they have earned a higher status thanks to the number of purchases they have made. Let them know – and tell them what offers and discounts are now within their reach.
  • Web notifications can also be used to keep them in the know – for instance if you sell concert tickets, tell them about latest tour announcements. For sports fans, give them updates on match results or, for shopaholics, reveal the latest trends in fashion or homeware.
  • Finally, you can help with those purchases. Have they got to the basket but not checked out – send a reminder with an offer to help them finish the transaction? Or let them know if an item they buy regularly is on special offer.

Web notifications can add so much more to your whole marketing strategy – they can really help to keep you connected with current and prospective clients, and are another tool to help you keep your business at the forefront of their minds.

If you would like to have a chat about your marketing requirements, please call Alison Page on tel: 07963 002065 or email: hello@alisonpagemarketing.co.uk. You can of course browse our website to see what our existing clients have to say about our work.