When used correctly, push notifications can be your app’s most powerful engagement tool.
In fact, 60% of users engage more frequently with apps that send push notifications. Pushes can boost your overall app engagement up to 88% and increase retention rates up to 5x more compared to not sending them at all.
With all that in mind, just blindly sending push notifications doesn’t guarantee success. The average smartphone user in the US gets 46 push notifications per day. So you really need to dial in on your approach to stand out from the crowd.
Beyond the basics, I’ll explain the best practices for truly getting the most from your push notifications— increasing conversions, driving engagement, and reducing churn.
#1 – Segment Your Users Strategically
Taking a one-size-fits-all approach to push notifications just won’t work. Today’s users want personalized messaging based on their needs, behaviors, and preferences.
You need to take a more strategic approach to how you’re segmenting users. This goes way above and beyond the basics like age, location, and gender.
Instead, you can create meaningful segment groups using data:
- Behavioral segments: Group users by actions they’ve taken (or haven’t taken) within your app. Someone who browses products daily but never buys anything should get different messaging from your frequent buyers.
- Usage pattern segments: Separate power users from occasional users, new users, and longtime users. A power user may appreciate messaging about new advanced feature releases while casual users just need simple value reminders.
- Purchase history segments: Create VIP groups for your top spenders and another group for customers who only buy during sales. You can also tag users based on purchase frequency, AOV, and other transaction-focused indicators.
The most powerful segmentation strategies typically combine multiple factors.
For example, you can target power users who haven’t made a purchase within the last 30 days. Send them a loyalty offer that acknowledges how much they use your app. This is far more likely to drive higher conversions than broadly targeting every user with the exact same promo.
#2 – Perfect Your Timing
You can craft the perfect message with an irresistible offer to the right user segment, but if it arrives at 3 am while they’re asleep, you’ve wasted a valuable opportunity (and possibly annoyed them enough to disable notifications altogether).
Ideal timing varies drastically depending on your app category and user base.
For example, the best time to send notifications for a meditation app is early in the morning or late in the evening. Whereas the best time to send notifications for food delivery apps will be around meals.
There’s no universal “best time” that works for everyone. And remember that all of your users aren’t in the same location.
Start by analyzing when users are most active in your app. This will give you a baseline for when they’re receptive to engaging with your brand. Now take things one step further and test different times and then measure engagement rates to truly optimize your approach.
Time-sensitive notifications like flash sales, breaking news, urgent scheduling changes, and appointment reminders can be built on automation rules.
Watch out for warning signs that your timing is off. If metrics show low open rates within the first hour after delivery, you’re likely missing the optimal timing window.
# 3 – Craft Compelling, Concise Copy
Push notifications have a limited character count before the text gets cut off. This forces you to be concise and cut straight to the point.
For iOS devices, you can have up to 178 characters before getting cut off. Android has a slightly higher limit of 240 characters.
Rather than trying to just cram as much as possible into the maximum allowable limit, you can always err on the side of caution and go with shorter copy.
The best push notifications instantly communicate value to the user. They’ll understand the benefit within seconds and, ideally, open the app to take a specific action.
Use FOMO to create a sense of urgency and boost engagement. Just make sure it’s genuine.
I also recommend using an active voice in your messaging. Not only does this help keep the character count low, but it’s more direct and feels personal (“Your order shipped” is better than “Your order has been shipped”).
Don’t be afraid to A/B test different approaches. Even subtle differences can result in surprising results. When in doubt, keep it short, direct, and actionable.
#4 – Personalize Beyond Names
Personalization is key in marketing on all channels and platforms, including push notifications.
But let’s be honest, just adding [First Name] to your notification template isn’t really personalizing everything. It’s the absolute bare minimum, and users today understand that mass messaging can still have their name on it.
True personalization requires a genuine understanding of the person’s needs and behaviors. When a notification reflects something specific they’ve done or shown interest in, it feels like a thoughtful connection as opposed to automated marketing.
Consider these two push notifications:
- Check out our shoe selection
- Complete your purchase of the red sneakers you’ve been eyeing
The latter is obviously more personalized (and it doesn’t need the user’s first name to be effective).
Leveraging your app user data is the best approach to personalizing content.
- Behavioral data references a specific action users have taken in the app.
- Preference data targets what users explicitly tell you they like.
- Contextual awareness factors in the user’s current situation (like location or in-app status).
- User history data considers their relationship with your app and business over time.
Try to make these messages feel like the next logical interaction with your brand based on the user’s previous engagement point.
If possible, you can combine multiple data points to take your personalization efforts to the next level.
#5 – Use Location-Based Triggers
Locational awareness is a simple yet highly effective way to transform generic alerts into perfectly-timed messages.
The easiest way to do this is by leveraging geofencing technology—which allows you to trigger messages based on the user’s physical location. You can target people who are entering your store, approaching a competitor, or passing through a specific neighborhood.
Put yourself in the shoes of your customers for a second.
Imagine walking near a coffee shop in the morning and receiving a notification that your favorite drink is discounted today before noon. That’s infinitely more valuable than receiving the same promotion while sitting on your couch, miles away.
While location-based triggers are often associated with brick-and-mortar businesses, you can look for creative ways to apply this to your app, even if users aren’t physically near any of your locations.
For example, let’s say you’re running a mobile commerce app selling clothes online.
You can set up a geofence around your competitor’s retail stores. So if one of your users enters those stores, you can instantly target them with a deal on items available in your app. This type of targeting can not only dissuade a purchase from your competitor, but it targets users who are in a buying mindset and feels genuinely helpful.
#6 – Prioritize Action Over Information
This is a really common mistake that I see apps making all of the time. They’re wasting a valuable touchpoint with users by giving them information that nobody cares about.
Information-only messaging may seem helpful on the surface. But without a clear next step, these messages don’t typically drive any meaningful engagement.
Information: “A new fitness class has been added to our schedule.”
Action: “New HIIT Class Added: Secure your spot for tomorrow’s 6PM session”
or
Information: “Reminder: Your event starts tomorrow.”
Action: “See you tomorrow! Download your tickets and parking pass now for quick entry.”
The informational messages don’t entice the users to actually do anything. They can simply read the notification, and put their phones back down without opening the app.
But the action pushes have a clear path from the notification to the next step (while still being helpful and informative).
In addition to having compelling CTAs, you can use deep linking so that when a user opens the notification, they’re directed to the appropriate page or screen.
For example, if you’re telling users to sign up for your gym’s new HIIT class, don’t just send them to your app’s home screen and force them to find it on your schedule. Bring them directly to the screen where they can book a spot.
#7 – Create Milestone and Achievement-Based Notifications
People are naturally motivated by progress, accomplishments, and recognition. We’re wired to respond positively to achievement markers, and apps can leverage this psychological principle by crafting notifications around these milestones.
When done correctly, these messages feel less like marketing and more like a celebration. Users are more likely to have a positive response to your messages and continue using the app.
Fitness apps can highlight step counts, 30-day workout streaks, and personal records. Mindfulness apps can celebrate consecutive days of meditation or journaling.
You can also apply this concept to community achievements that foster connection (“Your comment was viewed by 127 other people this week!”), reinforcing the value of the user’s participation and encouraging continued engagement.
The best types of milestone notifications combine recognition with incentives to continue. Acknowledging past behaviors while encouraging future actions will create a positive reinforcement loop that drives long-term retention.
# 8 – Align Push Notifications With Cross-Channel Communications
Your push notifications don’t exist in a vacuum. They’re just another touchpoint within your broader communication ecosystem—including email marketing, SMS, social media, paid ads, and more.
Everything you’re doing on these channels needs to work in harmony to create a cohesive brand experience that feels intentional rather than isolated or fragmented.
Think about how users interact with your brand. If someone receives a push notification about a sale and then opens their email to find a completely different promotion, it creates a disconnected experience that feels random and poorly planned.
So you need to make sure that your core push notifications align with your current campaigns and appear consistently across every channel.
That said, don’t make the mistake of blasting identical messages across every channel.
Each communication medium needs to have appropriate messaging based on the format and delivery method. For example, push notifications are better for timely alerts and quick actions, whereas emails are better for detailed information with rich media.
It’s not about reaching users on every possible channel. It’s about leveraging the strengths of each channel to ensure you deliver relevant messaging that users will actually respond to.
# 9 – Set Up Event-Based Triggers
Event-based push notifications are triggered by a specific action or behavior that users take within your app. This strategy ensures that your messages are highly relevant because they’re delivered when users have just interacted with a specific feature.
Unlike scheduled notifications that reach everyone at once, event-based triggers respond to each individual user journey in real time. This creates a more personalized experience that feels helpful rather than intrusive.
Some common examples of event triggers include:
- Cart abandonment: triggered when users add items but don’t complete the checkout
- Product views: when users repeatedly view the same item without adding to cart
- Content consumption: if users watch a video or complete a course module
- Feature discovery: after someone tries a new app feature for the first time
- Account milestone: triggered when a spending threshold is reached or on a subscription anniversary
The key to this strategy is timing. You’re trying to catch users at a moment when their interest is still high.
For example, if you send a cart abandonment message within 30 minutes that person is far more likely to convert than someone who hasn’t opened your app in weeks.
# 10 – Run Re-Engagement Campaigns For Inactive Users
Even the best apps experience churn. It’s just part of the game.
But inactive users still have value. If your app is still installed on their device, it’s much easier to target these people than getting downloads from completely new users.
Well-designed re-engagement campaigns can bring back inactive users before they’re lost forever and uninstall the app.
The first thing you need to do is define what’s considered “inactive” for your specific app. This answer will depend on your business model and app type.
For example, a social media app may define inactive users after a week without logging in. But health and wellness apps might wait 30 or 60+ days of no activity before tagging users as inactive.
Once you’ve identified inactive segments, set up a progressive re-engagement series.
- Start with a gentle reminder about the value they’re missing.
- Follow up with personalized content based on their previous activity.
- Escalate to special offers or incentives if they still haven’t responded.
The sequence of these messages should evolve from simple reminders to compelling reasons to return.
There’s a delicate balance here that needs to be considered as well. You need to catch users before they’ve completely disengaged without bombarding them on a daily basis.
Successful re-engagement campaigns typically follow a progressive cadence that starts with frequent touches and then gradually spaces out the timing of each message.
# 11 – Continuously Analyze, Test, and Optimize
Push notification best practices aren’t a set-and-forget initiative. Success here requires ongoing tweaks and refinement based on performance data and user preferences.
Establish clear KPIs for your campaigns.
Look beyond open rates. Make sure you track conversions, time to open, retention impact, and opt-out rates.
You can also use A/B testing to see how copy variations, CTA phrasing, timing, and frequency impact your KPIs.
In addition to quantitative metrics, you can also send surveys to your users and collect in-app feedback. This is a great way to find out if people actually find your notifications helpful or if they’d rather see something else.
I also recommend using your data to refine your segmentation strategy. You might find that certain user groups respond better to different approaches.
Final Thoughts on Push Notification Best Practices
Push notifications continue to be the most direct way to reach your app users immediately.
But success isn’t guaranteed. You still need to have a real plan and strategy in place to get the results you’re looking for.
The most successful push notification strategies are personalized, timed to perfection, and helpful without being intrusive.
Mass messaging every user and while using their first names as an attempt to draw their attention isn’t going to cut it anymore. But if you apply the strategies in this guide, you can transform your push notifications from basic alerts to powerful engagement tools that drive meaningful results for your business.
