It’s easy enough to come up with a web push notification strategy and take advantage of this ingenious marketing tool. But making sure that you’re just not wasting both time and money is a different story altogether.

Below are proven tips that can help turn your web push notification campaign into a resounding success:

• Personalize – Don’t let the behavioral data available to you go to waste. Instead, use it to come up with personalized messages targeted towards segmented subscribers. Case in point, a live-streaming service tells you that a new episode of a show that you’ve been following constantly is now up. So, now, all you have to do is click and watch.
• Don’t Underestimate CTA Buttons – Call-To-Action Buttons are arguably much more relevant today than before. This is especially true when it comes to web push notification campaigns. Putting buttons coupled with imperative verbs like “Know More” or “Click Here” or “Order Now” can do wonders for your campaign.
• Use Images – Well-constructed sentences and paragraphs are important, but images are what helps draw subscribers into your notifications. A combination of CTA buttons, a highly-enticing sales pitch, and an attractive image will help capture your user’s attention and make them want to interact with your push notifications, giving you more data to personalize your campaigns and improve their overall experience.
• Location, location, location – Location are one of the most prominent data captured by browsers by default. You can use this, along with behavioral data you’ve gathered, to send notifications to interested parties. Like, for example, sending information about a limited free shipping promo for users from a particular area.
• Time It Right – You can’t just push notifications to your subscribers, day in and day out. You have to find out where they’re from, what time it is there, and what time they’re usually most active. By communicating with them at the most opportune times, you prevent your notifications from being blocked until perpetuity.

How NOT to Do Your Web Push Notification Campaign

From the tips and supposed “do’s” of web push notification campaigns, we go to the “don’t’s”, the things that will likely spell doom for your efforts.

Avoid doing these things if you want your web push notification campaign to succeed:

• The most common complaint about push notifications? They’re too often. To improve engagement rates, plan out your campaign to cater towards different users based on their interest and behavior and don’t send notifications frequently.
• Native opt-in prompts may work, but most people opt-out almost as soon as they opt-in. Meanwhile, having a customized prompt, usually just right before the native prompts, allows you to reach out to your audience and present your value to them. Besides, having a custom prompt ready means that it’s easier to ask if they want to subscribe again later on.
• Don’t get too wordy. Some marketers make the mistake of turning push notifications into full-blown articles. Don’t do that. Instead, use it to drive interest towards the landing page where more of what you’re offering is actually explained in detail. To drive the point home, use catchy titles, short but powerful descriptions, and appropriate images.

The Limitations of Web Push Notifications

As much as Google has been pushing for web push notifications in recent years, this clever marketing tool is still far from perfect.

There are a few things it can’t do just yet, such as:

• No HTTP support – Web Push Notifications are exclusive only to HTTPS websites. This is to ensure the privacy and security of the data of the browsers, a feature supported only by secure websites.
• No iOS support – At least, not yet anyway. As of the moment, push notifications just can’t reach the iOS audience just yet.
• No rich media support – Perhaps the biggest drawback of web push notifications is that they only support large images. This is unlike app notifications, which support various elements, including videos, gifts, audio, and plenty more.

There are plenty more limitations of web push notifications, but when you consider the benefits, funding a campaign built around this powerful marketing tool is well worth the investment.