Would you believe that one man in 1978 made $13 million from 400 emails? Gary Theurk—oft cited as the Father of Spam—did just that. The thing is: email wasn’t as commonplace as it was back then. Email marketing, though still profitable, isn’t as effective as it once was. (Especially since most email copywriters today resemble late-night infomercials.) Enter web push notifications. It’s an instantaneous form of digital communication. Here are a few reasons why push notifications are more effective than emails.
- Fake Information
Have you ever entered a fake name and email address just to receive a free e-product? Everyone has – and anyone who says they haven’t been lying. (Which is funny to admit as a digital marketer.) Providing fake contact details comes with the territory. It simply is what it is; it’s too easy to enter fake information. It’s hard—if not impossible—for users to fake contact information when it comes to push notifications. This is because the entire push notification process relies on them receiving content on their devices.
- User Control
It’s easy to get on someone’s serves and end up in the Spam folder quicker than you can say Jack Robinson. Another option people have is to unsubscribe from that email sender. Even so, the service/sender has the option of sending the same flux of emails from a different ID – or entirely ignore the user’s “unsubscribe” request altogether. (Which has happened to me, as a user, more than once.) At the push of a button they can control the subscription of push notifications.
- Speed
Notifications have a character limit. Emails don’t. Even Ben Settle—who is a world-renown email marketerwho writes gripping, brief emails—would benefit from this character limit. It forces you to be succinct. Richard Branson is often quoted as saying if something can’t be written “on the back of an envelope, it’s rubbish.” If you’ve got time just to send a link, do so – push notifications almost “force” users to end up on any page you send them to.
(I’m subscribed to Ben Settle, by the way, and read his emails daily. I love them.)
- Cross-Platform
Nobody needs to be told anymore that we live in the “era of digitalisation.” The fact of the matter is: everyone and Aunt Betty has a Smartphone, Smartwatch or some mobile device. Push notifications work on all of them instantly. Almost everyone has to log into their email account to check their inbox.You can use browser push notifications to interact with site visitors using a one-click subscription service.
- CTR
We have to look at a pop up on our devices in order to figure out whether it’s worth viewing or not. People are more likely to push a notification. This instant delivery makes them more of an eye-grabber than subject headlines in emails.
- In The Loop
Email marketers send out half a dozen of emails a day. Despite the fact that many of those emails may end up in the Spam folder, the marketer can’t control when people see their emails. Those emails aren’t seen immediately. Push notifications are, because they don’t rely on the customer/user to manually check.
Conclusion
There are still good reasons to use email marketing in your marketing strategy. Emails aren’t going away any time soon. But the fact of the matter is that push notifications are a more reliable source of marketing that gets information to people faster.
