Push Notifications & In-App Messages: Facts, Stats, Benefits and How to Use Them
16th September 2020
You have a stunning hotel or serviced apartment business and a beautiful brand new app from Criton. But how do you communicate all of the great things you have on offer to your guests?
We have partnered with Kumulos, a cutting-edge push notification and in-app messages system, to help you engage with your audience and promote offers, products and services to your guests in the most effective way possible!
In this article, we will discuss what are the differences between push notifications and in-app messages, why push notifications are such a powerful tool and how to use them effectively.
Definitions: Push Notifications & In-App Messages
First of all, what are push notifications and what are in-app messages?
Push notifications are messages that show up on your guests’ phones when they are either not looking at their phones or are outside of your app. You know the popup you get when you get a text message, email or reminder? That is a push notification. You can set up the push notifications using Kumulos and send them to your guests’ phones. Guests have to opt-in to these, and they can opt-out at any time. These are generally short messages that appear in the phone’s notification centre and direct the user to your app.
In-app messages only appear when the user is on the app, and users do not need to opt in to receive these - you can send them to anyone with your app! They will see the in-app message when they open your app or you can combine an in-app message with a push notification so that your guests will receive a push notification which will take them to the app showing the in-app message. In-app messages can have more information than the brief message of a push notification. They can even fill your clients’ phone with an image or video, text and a call to action that can link to a page within the app or an external link - such as a page on your website or a landing page that you have created for a special offer.
Facts and statistics about push notifications
We have compiled a short list of facts and statistics about notifications that clearly shows why, if you have an app, you can’t ignore the power of push notifications:
- Push notifications have an open rate of 90%. That is 50% higher than email marketing, meaning that you can reach more guests more effectively with push notifications.
- The click-through rate from a push notification is 7 times higher than that of email marketing.
- Push notifications boost app engagement by 88%.
- 65% of users return to an app within 30 days when push notifications are enabled.
- Sending push notifications can increase app retention by 300-1,000%.
- You can increase app retention by 71% over two months simply by sending just one on-boarding related push notification to newly acquired users during the first week after they have installed your app.
- Only 8% of people ignore push notifications. That means that 92% of users engage with them in some way.
- Send push notifications to new app users within 90 days — or risk wasting 95 cents of every dollar you spent acquiring them.
Why you should use push notifications
Here are a few reasons why you can’t afford to waste the potential that push notifications offer your business:
- Client retention
- Guest engagement
- Revenue generation
- Traffic increase
- Message personalisation
- Audience segmentation
- Information available in real-time
- Updates relevant to clients in a specific location
- Higher opening rate than email.
Benefits for hotels and serviced apartments
The benefits are huge for hotels and serviced apartments using our apps. Push notifications really drive users to the app, grab their attention and help you promote offers or incentives that can generate more revenue.
In-app messages are great for displaying more content that promotes your deals and making sure that the users are being shown all the great things you want to show them while they are within the app. They drive more purchases and visits, and with UTM tracking, it is possible to see exactly what makes for an effective push notification campaign.
Benefits for your clients
There are benefits for your customers too. Push Notifications give them quick updates that are timely and relevant - whether you are running a happy hour offer or you just want to let them know that the Wi-Fi is temporarily down for maintenance.
With in-app messages, you can give them time-sensitive information - like a discount code for happy hour cocktails, or updates on cleaning in public areas - in a single, easy-to-access location so that they can refer to it again and again.
When and how to use push notifications
When and how can you use push notifications to boost engagement and increase revenue? Push notifications and in-app messages are very powerful tools but, to ensure they are effective, it’s important to know when and how to send them.
Here are a few examples of push notifications you can send and can apply to your own business.
1. Send incentives or seasonal offers
People love discounts or offers as they feel they are getting more value for money and they are a great way to increase bookings or guest spend. Push notifications can be used to get those incentives right in front of your customers and trigger them to take action.
2. Promote new services or facilities
Does your hotel restaurant have a new menu? Did you just open a new golf course or spa? Have you added a new hotel, lodge or serviced apartment location to your portfolio? Push notifications enable you to notify your guests about new services or facilities they can take advantage of.
3. Offer mouth-watering discounts
Do you have a restaurant and it’s a little quiet on Wednesday? Are you running a discount on your mouth-watering food menu? Use push notifications to help you reach your clients with the special discount you have created for them.
4. Target customers located in a specific area or region
When creating push notification campaigns, you can create audiences you want to reach with a specific message based on their location. For example, you can send a notification only to the guests that are at your property, or send a message only to app users in France.
5. Promote loyalty programme packages
If your bookings are down, you can use push notifications to generate engagement and sales for your hotel business. For example, you can send a notification to app users to tell them that they qualify for a 20% discount on weekdays if they join your loyalty programme.
6. Notify guests about new cleaning procedures or important updates
Right now, it is absolutely critical to make customers feel safe about your cleanliness standards. Push notifications can be used to tell them about your enhanced clearing procedures or tell them about something important happening in your property.
7. Request feedback from guests
Gathering guest feedback is a great way to improve operations and services, and understand what might have an impact on the guest experience. A push notification combined with an in-app message can promote a customer feedback form to gather responses.
8. Re-engage with people that haven’t opened the app for a certain amount of time
As push notifications are a great way to re-engage with customers and drive traffic to your app or website, you can also create audiences you want to reach according to their app usage and, for example, send notifications to people that have not opened the app in the last 30 days.
If you are interested in a demo of our apps with push notifications, please drop us a line at hello@criton.com.
How Criton can help you
Criton is an award-winning technology provider which enables hotels and serviced apartment operators to take the guest experience to the next level with a sophisticated mobile app. Criton helps hotels to streamline the entire guest journey and maximise in-stay revenue. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.
Sources