An omnichannel messaging strategy is essential for producing a seamless and sticky user experience, promoting app engagement, and boosting user retention over time, as you presumably already know as a high-growth firm. The bigger problem is figuring out when and how to use each messaging channel to make the biggest impact.
The Advantages and Drawbacks of Various Communication Channels
Global mobile app downloads soared to 218 billion in 2020, a startling 55 percent growth from 2016 and an increase of 7% over the year before. In just the previous few years, consumer spending on mobile apps has surged globally by 42%.
Despite the fact that the number of mobile apps available is always growing, a 2019 study found that 25% of mobile apps downloaded globally were only utilised once. User retention is the current top problem for mobile apps.
Fortunately, a successful omnichannel messaging strategy takes care of this issue. Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of each channel is helpful whether you are providing transactional or marketing messages. Let’s quickly go over some of the main advantages and restrictions of SMS, in-app messaging, and mobile push.
Push Notifications for Mobile
Mobile push notifications are a powerful re-engagement medium since they are extremely customisable and visible.
These alerts offer a direct channel of contact with your app’s users, grabbing their attention even when they aren’t using it. Mobile push notifications might thus reach users whose attention is probably divided between a plethora of competing apps. Utilize mobile push to stay ahead of the competition, amplify the benefits of your app, and encourage repeat usage.
Utilizing mobile push notifications also allows you to segment your larger audience and tailor your content to different use cases.
You may segment depending on user behaviour, time zone, demographics, and more with mobile push. From this point, you can tailor and adapt messages to include the most compelling or urgent information. You can send a daily push message at 12:00pm urging a west coast user who frequently uses your gaming app during her lunch break to take part in a new challenge. You should base your message timing and content on user preferences and behaviours when creating re-engagement campaigns, such as the kind of news alerts a West Coast Warriors fan would like to receive or the amount of magic chests a player has already unlocked. You may reengage your users with relevant content by learning what matters to them.
Push alerts are adaptable in terms of both form and purpose. They can direct the user with little friction to take the desired action by deep-linking to a specific app menu, screen, or feature. Both transactional and marketing communications may be delivered with these messages. They can also be designed with rich media, such as emojis, pictures, and videos, to go along with the call to action (CTA). Sometimes the smallest change, like adding an emoji or adding an image, video, or gif to your prose, can greatly increase the conversion rates of your message.
One drawback of mobile push is that iOS users must choose to get them. In comparison to Android smartphones, which have an opt-in percentage of 90%, iOS devices typically have rates between 40 and 45 percent. It can be difficult to obtain iOS users’ opt-in consent. If users don’t like the communications they’re receiving after opting in, they can remove authorization. In order to avoid annoying consumers, it’s crucial to diversify the kinds of material you send and pay attention to how frequently you do so.
Users also receive a lot of mobile notifications, so this channel has fierce competition. Emojis, photos, or gifs can be added to your messages to make them stand out and stick out in your alerts. Additionally, leverage data like a user’s name, preferences, demographics, and behaviour to personalise your messages wherever possible in order to deliver appealing content.
Email
Email is a vital channel to include in your omnichannel marketing mix because of its adaptable format, extensive global use, and high return on investment.
Over 50% of people on the planet use email as a traditional communication method. Your mobile business can utilise it to send out a variety of communications, including upsells, product and feature updates, onboarding series, and more.
One is the ROI of email, which is difficult to dispute. For every dollar invested in email, businesses can typically expect a $42 ROI.
Email is a vital tool for reengaging consumers who may not have push enabled or who are looking for more thorough onboarding or education across channels and devices in a world where 1 in 5 users will delete an app after their first use. Email gives you more area for creativity and in-depth material than mediums like push and SMS, which only provide you a small amount of capacity to convey your message.
You can use this channel to appeal to various demographics. According to research, older people favour email greatly and use it more regularly than younger viewers. In one survey, those aged 45 to 65 checked their email at least once each day, with older people more likely to do so on a desktop. By targeting several audience segments where they are most comfortable, you may diversify your communications approach in this way.
Invoices, receipts, lab reports, and other official papers are among the private, professional, and financial communications that are frequently sent by email. Apps in the financial services, telehealth, and eCommerce sectors frequently use email as this class of communications because it is a secure platform for doing so. These professional interactions are not best served by SMS, online, or push alerts because they are less private and more transient in nature.
Email is a great option for some use scenarios, but it’s not the best option for others. Email is not a real-time channel, so be aware of that. Choose a new medium to share critical updates that demand consumers to respond, like in-person order delivery notifications from your food delivery service.
SMS
Consumers have close ties with their phones, which is no secret. Americans check their phones on average 262 times every day, according to a recent survey. The fact that mobile-first channels like SMS have a 78 percent greater open rate and a 39 percent higher response rate than email is not surprising in light of this figure.
For many other reasons as well, SMS is a potent messaging platform. You can reach audiences who haven’t downloaded your app yet or aren’t actively using it by using SMS. Even audiences with little or no internet connection, like those who are travelling, can be reached.
SMS has a distinct advantage in that the messages you transmit last longer. Unlike text messages, which users can swipe away without opening, mobile push notifications remain on users’ phones until they are read and/or removed. Subsequent texts you submit will show up and be categorised in the same thread, provided that users don’t remove your first message. Push notifications are best for in-the-moment updates and short-term deals like one-day only promotions, while SMS are best for longer-lasting message content and deeper consumer connections, including continuing promotions, support messages, and alerts. Additionally, customers value having a permanent record for urgent communications like bank alerts, for which they are useful.
Being a customer favourite among marketing mediums is another advantage of SMS. According to one study, 75% of consumers prefer SMS over other mediums for receiving offers. Sending coupons, news about new products, special product promotions, and other account-related notifications through text message will be considered respectful of these wishes.
SMS notifications are constrained in that there aren’t many customization options available. These messages have a character restriction of 160 and can only accommodate a few different kinds of multimedia. Multimedia elements frequently display differently on different devices. Your messages should be clear, concise, and explain your CTA without adding extraneous information.
SMS notifications are permission-based, just as smartphone push notifications, so you can only communicate with a specific group of users. In accordance with FCC guidelines, you must obtain users’ opt-in before deploying SMS and provide an easy and straightforward way for them to opt-out. Mobile companies can obtain SMS opt-ins by asking customers to opt-in for text messaging when they sign up for updates via another channel, like email, or through web pop-ups. Mobile app companies can instead solicit SMS opt-ins using social media channels or by running paid advertisements that are optimised for this purpose if they have limited online and/or email presence. Offering incentives like discounts or holding competitions is another method for obtaining more SMS opt-ins.
Start using Mok.one
Mok.one is made to assist you in managing alerts and user communication across all channels, including email, in-app chat, bulk SMS, and push notifications for mobile devices and the web. Our platform is simple to set up, and without having to do any technical work, it’s simple to modify and automate your message strategy. If you don’t already have one, you can sign up for Mok.one for no cost and start notifying your users of updates right away. Don’t believe us? Sign up and find out for yourself!