Best Practices for a Push Notification Strategy

As the first mobile-native messaging format, push notifications have developed into a formidable engagement tool, strengthening customer relationships and increasing revenue. This pillar of cross-channel marketing has been proven to boost engagement and help brands build lasting connections with their audience.

But while many marketers recognize their potential, not everyone feels confident navigating the content, design, and technical side of this powerful messaging channel. Understanding push notification best practices can help drive effective and engaging campaigns.

Whether you're aiming to boost engagement, increase revenue, or personalize at scale, this guide will help you with:

What are Push Notifications and Why do they Matter?

What are the Different Types of Push Notification?

Push Notifications 101: How They Work and Why They’re Effective

A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Push Notifications That Drive Action

Writing Style Guidelines for Push Notifications

Push Notification Best Practices: 8 Strategies for Higher Engagement

Push Notifications Best Practices in Action: 3 Campaigns That Got It Right

How to Measure the Success of a Push Notification

How to Improve Your Push Notification Strategy

11 HowTips and Tricks to Help Your Push Notifications Stand Out

FAQS

Final Thoughts

What are push notifications and why do they matter?

Push notifications are time-sensitive messages that brands and publishers send directly to users’ devices, appearing even when an app or website isn’t open.

Whether it’s a news update flashing in the corner of a laptop screen or a social media alert lighting up a phone’s lock screen, push notifications are designed to grab attention and drive action in the moment. With just a tap or click, users can jump straight into an app and engage with the latest updates, offers, or reminders.

Push notifications serve a range of purposes, from alerting customers to a flash sale or breaking news to delivering essential updates like train times, events and purchase confirmations. They’re highly visible, immediate, and effective at driving engagement. In fact, according to our research, push notifications increase engagement by up to 191% compared to users who receive no messages—making them one of the most effective real-time marketing tools available.

It’s also important to note that consumers have full control over their push notification preferences. Some choose to keep them on for everything, while others limit them to select apps and brands—or turn them off completely. Many websites ask users to enable push notifications through their browsers, while operating systems like iOS and Android let users fine-tune their settings, even pausing notifications entirely with Do Not Disturb mode. Most devices also offer notification summaries, giving users a quick way to catch up on anything they’ve missed.

What are the different platforms that support push notifications?

There are six different platforms that support push notifications, each with a best use.

Mobile push notifications

Short, attention-grabbing messages sent to smartphone users who have opted in to receive updates from an app.

Best used for engaging users with timely updates, such as sending a notification when a favorited item is back in stock or a credit card is used.

Web push notifications

Pop-up messages sent to a user’s computer or mobile browser, even when they aren’t actively visiting the website.

Best used for encouraging conversions, like alerting users about price drops, back-in-stock items, or sales to drive cart completions.

Connected TV and device push notifications

Messages sent to smart TVs and connected devices either on-screen or via second-screen notifications on mobile.

Best used for keeping audiences engaged with entertainment content, such as notifying them when a new episode is available or sending personalized recommendations for new content to watch.

Wearables push notifications

Notifications sent to smartwatches and fitness trackers, optimized for quick glances and minimal interaction.

Best used for real-time updates like workout progress or ride-share arrival alerts.

AR, VR, and spatial computing push notifications

Push notifications designed for immersive digital experiences on AR, VR, and spatial computing devices.

Best used for enhancing engagement in gaming and entertainment, such as notifying players when a new game level is available.

How push notifications work and why they’re effective

A push notification is sent to a users’ device—whether that be mobile, laptop or desktop, by a mobile app or website that they’ve given permission to message them.

A user doesn't need to be actively on the website or in the app for a message to be sent, which means it’s a great channel for urgent or time-sensitive content that brands want to use to inspire a specific action.

How are push notifications actually sent to devices?

Marketers have two main ways to deliver push notifications to their audience’s devices. They can either create and send messages using a customer engagement platform (like Braze) or trigger them programmatically via API calls.

The dashboard approach is the go-to method for most marketers. It allows them to craft a message, add copy, include rich media like images if needed, define audience segments, set behavioral triggers, dynamically personalize the content, and schedule or send the notification—all within an intuitive interface.

On the other hand, some brands use API calls to automatically push notifications the moment something changes in one of their systems, like new content goes live in their CMS. During elections, for instance, news organizations have pre-built push notifications tied to different outcomes, allowing them to instantly send the correct update when a race is called. While this type of notification can be effective, it’s not ideal for most uses, especially more sophisticated ones.

Every push notification—whether created through a dashboard or triggered via API—ultimately gets delivered through Apple Push Notification service (APNs) for iOS and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for Android. These platforms act as the gatekeepers for push messaging, each with its own set of rules and requirements that marketers need to follow.

One of the key rules? Push tokens.

What’s a Push Token?

A push token is a unique identifier assigned by APNs (for iOS) or FCM (for Android) that links an app to a specific device—whether that’s a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Think of it as a digital flag that signals a device has opted in to receive push notifications. Without a valid push token, a device simply can’t receive these messages.

There are two key types of push tokens: Foreground and background.

Foreground push tokens

Foreground push tokens are necessary for a push notification to appear on a user’s device. When someone opts in for push notifications, their device is assigned both a foreground and background push token, allowing it to display messages. (For more details on special cases like provisional push notifications, check out our guide.)

Background push token

Background push tokens are assigned to every device that has a brand’s app installed, even if the user hasn’t opted in for push notifications. They enable brands to send silent push notifications—messages that don’t appear on the device’s screen but help with essential backend functions like uninstall tracking.

A device can have a background push token without a foreground one. For example, if a user opts out of push notifications but still has the app installed, only the background token remains. But if they uninstall the app entirely, all tokens are removed, preventing any future push messages from being delivered.

How can brands send push notifications quickly (and successfully) at scale?

For brands using a customer engagement platform, ensuring push notifications are sent quickly and reliably to the right audience is critical. While brands don’t always want to blast their entire audience with messages, there are times when reaching as many users as possible is essential—think breaking news, weather alerts, or urgent updates.

Handling large-scale push campaigns requires a strong, scalable infrastructure. To manage this kind of volume, push notifications need to be processed and dispatched to APNs and FCM efficiently.

If your brand plans to send large-scale, real-time messages—especially during major events like Black Friday—it’s important to choose a platform that can handle the demand. But scalability isn’t just about sending messages; it also affects your own app or website. Some brands have launched massive push campaigns only to find that the resulting surge in traffic overwhelms their servers.

To prevent crashes and service interruptions, brands can use rate limiting—a feature that spaces out message delivery over time. Instead of sending a push notification to five million users in a single second, rate limiting might spread it out over five minutes, ensuring a smoother experience for both the brand and its audience.

By planning ahead and leveraging the right tools, brands can deliver timely, effective push campaigns without compromising performance.

A step-by-step guide to crafting push notifications that drive action

Alongside following push notification best practices, there are areas around design and content that you can use to help guide your efforts. Applying writing style guidelines for notifications can lead to clearer, engaging, and effective messages.

The design

While the exact layout of a push notification may vary by device, most follow a similar structure:

• Browser icon or company logo
• Title or headline
• A brief message
• Call to action (CTA)

The logo/icon

The first thing users will notice is your logo or browser icon. Since the brain processes images faster than text, a strong visual can instantly communicate where the message is coming from.

The headline

Your title or headline is a short phrase that immediately conveys the purpose of the notification—whether it's promoting an article, sharing social media activity, or announcing a sale. Think of it like an email subject line but even shorter. With only around 50 characters, you need to make every word count.

Writing style guidelines for notifications

Push notifications typically contain one or two lines of supporting text. On average, this amounts to about 14 to 25 words, so your message should be concise and compelling.

Tips for writing notification copy

Clarify your offer

Expand on the headline with a short, direct message. For example: "Get 25% off all athletic wear—now through Friday!"

Stay true to your brand

Whether your tone is fun, professional, or serious, your notifications reflect your brand’s voice.

Avoid sounding like an ad

Push notifications should feel natural, not overly promotional. Skip the all-caps and marketing jargon.

Edit and test before sending

A well-crafted push notification should be clear, on-brand, and actionable. Review all elements—headline, message, and CTA—before hitting send.

Use numbers, symbols, or emojis

These elements can help your message stand out and be processed faster than text alone.

Get to the point

Don’t bury the lead. The most critical information should come first.

Show value

Your headline should make it clear why the user should care. Whether it’s a discount, a limited-time offer, or an important update, the value should be obvious.

The call to action (CTA)

Your CTA tells users what to do next. Whether it’s clicking a button or tapping an image, it should be clear and compelling.

Create urgency

Use strong action verbs and time-sensitive phrases like “Act now” or “Book before it’s gone.”

Give a reason to act

Users need to know what’s in it for them. Instead of “Order now”, try “Order now to get your laptop within a week.”

Use numbers when possible

Specific figures (discount percentages, pricing, shipping times) can help boost conversions and make your CTA more persuasive.

Use push action buttons

Users can interact directly with your app from a notification without needing to click into an app experience.

Push notification best practices: 8 strategies for higher engagement

1. Use push notifications to keep users engaged beyond the app

One of the biggest challenges for mobile brands is retaining new users. Following push notification best practices helps keep them engaged and encourages ongoing interaction. Push notifications—and other messaging channels—help brands reconnect with users, remind them of the app’s value, and encourage continued interaction.

Far too often, companies invest heavily in app development but neglect user retention strategies. Push notifications are a powerful tool to keep users coming back—don’t overlook them.

2. Push permissions aren’t automatic—you have to earn them

Many brands mistakenly believe they can start sending push notifications to all users immediately. However, push is an opt-in channel—users must grant permission first. Simply downloading the app doesn’t mean they’ve agreed to receive notifications.

How you request permission can significantly impact opt-in rates. If users decline, your ability to reach them later is limited. To increase opt-ins, consider using a push primer—an initial message explaining the value of enabling push notifications. This allows you to ask again later if they decline the first time.

3. Track push opt-ins, uninstalls, and conversions to measure success

Push notifications are an excellent way to re-engage users—but only when used strategically. Sending too many or irrelevant notifications can drive users away.

To assess whether your push strategy is working, monitor:

• Push opt-in rates (how many users allow notifications)
• Uninstall rates (how many delete the app after receiving notifications)
• Conversion rates (how many users take action after receiving a notification).

Striking the right balance is important. While push can boost short-term engagement, excessive notifications can lead to long-term losses, with users opting out or uninstalling the app altogether. If that happens, it’s much harder to win them back.

For brands using a cross-channel approach, there’s the option to use other channels, like email to send re-permission campaigns that give a gentle tap urging customers to opt back in for push. However, it can be difficult to change minds, so monitoring and adjusting their campaigns can help reduce opt-outs and uninstalls ahead of time.

4. Consider differences between Android and iOS users

User behavior can vary depending on the mobile operating system. For example, Android users tend to engage more with push notifications because their device retains them until they’re manually dismissed. On iOS, once a user opens one notification, the rest are cleared from the lock screen.

Engagement and retention rates can differ between Android and iOS. Marketers should take these differences into account when analyzing their push notification performance across platforms.

5. Look at long-term trends, not just immediate results

It’s tempting to focus on immediate engagement spikes after sending push notifications, but long-term patterns matter more. Many users will ignore unwanted notifications for a while before deciding to disable them or uninstall the app.

Additionally, novelty effects can skew early data. For example, new notification styles, like adding emojis, may initially boost engagement, but that impact can fade over time. Keep an eye on trends to avoid making short-term decisions that don’t hold up in the long run.

6. Be strategic about timing and frequency

Even highly interested users won’t appreciate a push notification when they’re sleeping. Timing matters. Sending notifications when users are asleep or inactive reduces engagement and increases the likelihood of them being ignored.

To maximize effectiveness, analyze user behavior and send messages during their peak engagement windows. The Braze platform offers send-time optimization, automatically delivering push notifications when each user is most likely to engage.

7. Personalization goes beyond just adding a name

A user’s name in a push notification can grab attention, but true personalization involves much more. Leverage customer data to make notifications relevant and tailored to individual users.

For example, instead of a generic “Check out our new arrivals,” try “Your favorite brand just dropped a new collection—shop now!” By showing that you understand users’ preferences, you increase the likelihood of engagement.

8. Push notifications should lead users to the right place

There’s nothing more frustrating than clicking on an engaging push notification, only to land on the app’s home screen instead of the relevant page. Users expect to be taken directly to what was promised in the notification.

For example, if an e-commerce app promotes a specific product, clicking the notification should open that exact product page—not the homepage. Use deep linking to send users where they expect, improving the overall experience and increasing conversions.

Push notifications best practices in Action: 3 campaigns that got it right

Chicken, buckets and data: The secret recipe to KFC India’s winning cross-channel campaign

KFC India has a mission–to be the most heart-led QSR brand in the world. With over 1,000 locations in India, and a major growth market for the global brand, customer engagement is key to their success.

The challenge

KFC India was looking to launch more innovative campaigns, and had been stifled by their previous platform. They were excited to bring their more creative ideas to life with Braze and identified an opportunity to drive more purchases and increase customer growth through app engagement and a gamified campaign.

The solution

Using a mix of channels, including email, push notifications, and in-app messages, they came up with “Bucket It”, where users could earn rewards by playing a game. Push notifications really drove game participation as they were sent daily to users who had not claimed rewards in the last 3 days, making them an integral part of this cross-channel campaign.

The results

The "Bucket It" campaign led to 22% increase in average daily orders per store, 23% lift in daily revenue per store, 22% growth in new users, and 27% growth in repeat orders.

A fresh take on customer engagement: How mon-marche.fr drove more orders with personalized push notifications

Mon-marché.fr is a Paris-based online grocer, bringing the best of the market straight to the doorsteps of households across Paris and beyond, delivering fresh produce, meat, dairy, and more. Customer engagement is essential to their success and the mon-marché.fr team needed to be able to use additional data for tailored messaging without having to bring in external tech resources.

The challenge

Mon-marché.fr wanted to tap into additional customer data to deliver more personalized messaging that drove orders—all without needing dedicated technical resources to integrate external data into Braze.

The solution

Using Braze Data Transformation, mon-marché.fr found an intuitive way to seamlessly import and activate valuable customer data, making it easier to personalize content at scale. They launched a campaign that sent out reminders to customers to place an order through weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly push notifications. Each message was individualized using Braze Connected Content.

The results

With greater access to customer data, mon-marché.fr gained new opportunities to personalize messaging, engage customers, and drive brand growth. The result was a 21% push open rate and a 43% increase in orders.

Racing to success: NASCAR's fast track to fan engagement

For over 70 years, NASCAR has captivated audiences with heart-pounding races and a massive global fanbase. With nearly three million viewers tuning in per race and events broadcast in 186 countries, NASCAR isn't just about the races—it’s about engaging fans through live coverage, driver stats, and race results on NASCAR.com.

The challenge

While NASCAR had a strong digital presence, they realized that many of their most tech-savvy fans weren't always tuned into their site. This led to missed opportunities for engagement with race news, press conferences, and live updates.

The solution

To tackle this, NASCAR turned to web push notifications as a strategic way to drive traffic back to NASCAR.com. Their goal? To deliver timely, engaging content directly to fans—without interrupting their browsing experience. From promoting race recaps to sneak previews of upcoming races, web push became a valuable tool for keeping fans informed. They even used push notifications to drive app downloads, expanding their reach across platforms.

The Results

The push for web push notifications paid off. NASCAR achieved an impressive 13.5% open rate on content-related messages and 9.6% on app download prompts. This strategy ensured that NASCAR was always front-and-center in fans' digital lives, boosting engagement and page views for premium content.

How to measure the success of push notifications

To refine your push notification marketing strategy, it’s essential to track key performance metrics that determine what’s working and where adjustments are needed.

1. Push notification opt-in rate

Unlike in-app channels such as Content Cards or in-app messages that appear when a user visits your app or website, push notifications reach users even when they’re not actively engaged—but only after they have explicitly opted in. Therefore, your opt-in rate not only shows how many users you can reach, but also reflects your audience’s overall sentiment toward receiving these messages.

Many users have experienced apps that bombard them with too many, too frequent, poorly timed, or irrelevant push notifications. Such negative experiences can drive users to opt out—even if those missteps were caused by another brand. To improve your opt-in rate, consider using custom opt-in prompts for new customers instead of default system messages. And if someone has already opted out, it might not be the end. A well-designed re-permissioning campaign, with personalized messaging and tailored incentives across different channels, can encourage users to reconsider opting in.

2. Push notification open rate

While the opt-in rate tells you what percentage of your total audience is available for push notifications, the open rate reveals how many of those users are actually engaging with your messages. However, simply counting the number of taps on your notifications might not capture the full impact of your push campaigns.

Consider measuring direct push opens, which count the users who actively click on your notifications. A high direct open rate is a strong indicator that your messages are engaging, as users typically won’t interact with notifications they find uninteresting.

Keep in mind that opt-ins and direct opens should go hand-in-hand. Ideally, a high opt-in rate paired with a high open rate means your users see value in your notifications. Conversely, low opt-in and open rates may indicate that your messages are either too frequent or irrelevant.

Leveraging marketing automation to create more targeted and valuable experiences can help improve these metrics. For example, language learning platform Busuu used dynamic personalization tools to boost the relevance of their notifications, resulting in a 70% increase in direct opens.

Moreover, focusing solely on direct opens can miss additional engagement. Many users might view a notification on their lock screen or notification center and later take action without clicking the message directly—these are known as influenced opens.

By tracking both direct and influenced opens, you gain a more complete picture of your notification performance. If influenced opens are strong while direct opens lag, it might suggest that your app’s value is recognized, even if your messaging could benefit from tweaks like adding push action buttons.

3. Push notification conversion rate

It’s encouraging to see that users who receive your push notifications are clicking on them and starting sessions in your app. However, the true goal of these notifications is to prompt specific actions—whether that’s making a purchase, subscribing to a service, upgrading the app, or another key outcome.

To measure this, track your conversion rate by setting a clear conversion goal for each campaign. Typically, messaging is most effective when it focuses on one strong call-to-action rather than multiple competing ones. Unfortunately, many brands fail to define a central goal, making it difficult to assess campaign success. By prioritizing a single objective for each campaign, you can more effectively evaluate which efforts are driving results and which may need refinement.

4. Push notification revenue

When push notifications are used to drive purchases, subscriptions, or other revenue-generating actions, it’s crucial to assess their impact on your bottom line. One effective method is to monitor purchase events, which track digital transactions made by users on their customer profiles. These events help you determine each user’s lifetime value (LTV) and understand the direct revenue impact of your messaging.

Keep in mind that purchase events need to be set up before launching your campaign to accurately populate user profiles. Planning ahead is essential if you want to fully grasp how your push campaigns contribute to overall revenue.

By closely monitoring these four metrics, you can refine your push notification strategy to drive meaningful results for your business.

How to improve your push notification strategy

When it comes to connecting with customers throughout their journey, one messaging channel truly stands out: Push notifications. These short, attention-grabbing messages can re-engage inactive users or keep customers informed about app updates, fresh content, timely promotions, and other important information. In fact, in our Push Notification Guide: What They Are, How They Work and Why They Matter, we found that the right push notification strategy can take your customer outreach from 0 to nearly 2X, and the right cross-channel strategy can take engagement from 0 to more than 8X.

However, while every app can benefit from push notifications, not all platforms are built the same. It’s not enough to simply send messages—you need the right tools to build a push notification campaign that truly connects with your audience. To get the most out of this powerful channel, choose a push platform that offers these key features:

1. Personalization for push notifications

Sending generic, one-size-fits-all messages can miss the mark. Users want to feel recognized as individuals, not just another number. Smarter HQ’s 2019 Privacy and Personalization Report found that 72% of consumers engage only with marketing messages tailored to their interests. To avoid alienating your audience, make sure your push platform lets you adjust messages based on user data, behavior, and interests.

For example, if a user leaves items in their cart, you could send a personalized reminder featuring those items. In a media or entertainment app, you might recommend videos or articles based on what the user has enjoyed before. And personalization isn’t limited to promotions—it can also make product updates, tips, and reminders feel more relevant by matching the content to each user’s needs.

Customization should extend beyond the message itself. Use deep links so that when a user taps a notification, they are taken directly to the relevant section of your app rather than a generic homepage. This seamless experience helps preserve the value of your carefully crafted message.

2. Location-based and geo-triggered notifications

Sometimes, relevance depends on where your users are. If your push platform can target messages based on location or use geofencing to trigger notifications, you can deliver timely, region-specific updates that resonate.

According to the Pew Research Center, up to 83% of app users consider location data essential for a great mobile experience.

For users who have shared their location data, demonstrate the benefit by sending offers or news specific to their area. Geo-triggered notifications, which activate when a user enters, leaves, or lingers in a defined area, let you share real-time updates—like alerting someone when they’re near one of your stores or reminding them about a ridesharing service as they exit an airport. Just be sure your push platform can automate campaigns using this type of data.

3. Message testing support

Creating effective push notifications often requires some trial and error. Great messaging evolves through testing and refinement. With the right tools, you can experiment with different versions of your messages using A/B or multivariate testing to see what drives the best engagement.

Testing helps you discover which message style inspires users to act—whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a service, or another key action. Without the ability to test your notifications, you might not fully unlock the channel’s potential.

4. Flexible push scheduling options

Timing is critical with push notifications. Reaching your audience at just the right moment can be the difference between a successful interaction and an annoyed user. Your push platform should offer various scheduling options so your messages land at the optimal time. Consider these approaches:

• Time-based scheduling: Send messages immediately or at a set time—whether once or on a recurring schedule—to quickly share breaking news or updates.
• Action-based scheduling: Automatically trigger notifications when a user takes a specific action, such as sending a thank-you message after a donation.
• Send-time optimized scheduling: Deliver messages during each user’s peak engagement times to maximize their impact.
• API-triggered scheduling: Use data from your own systems or external sources, like weather updates or location information, to trigger notifications automatically.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here. Tailor your scheduling to fit your audience’s habits and preferences.

5. Actionable push campaign analytics

Data is essential when it comes to fine-tuning your push notifications. Without detailed insights into how your campaigns perform, you’re essentially guessing which messages work best. Analytics can show you which users are engaging, which campaigns drive the strongest response, and where improvements are needed.

When choosing a push platform, make sure it provides comprehensive analytics so you can adjust your strategy based on real data rather than assumptions. Remember, push notifications are just one part of your overall messaging mix. Integrating push data with metrics from emails, in-app messages, and other channels helps you get a full picture of your marketing performance.

11 Tips and tricks to help your push notifications stand out

Companies that truly connect with their customers by adopting the latest push notifications best practices tend to boost lifetime value and keep acquisition costs low—a winning formula for sustainable growth.

As mobile marketing continues to evolve, strategies that work today may lose their impact tomorrow. A key element in your mobile marketing toolkit, should be to keep things fresh, win back lapsed users, and deliver meaningful results. Check out these top tips and tricks to help your push notifications stand out.

1. Master the timing of your push notifications

Push notifications are a powerful tool for delivering time-sensitive calls to action. They also work wonders for re-engaging users who haven’t interacted with your app or visited your website in a while. Essentially, you want to catch your audience at the moment they’re most likely to act—but timing it right isn’t always straightforward.

Looking for smart ways to send push notifications when they matter most? Try these two strategies:

Action-based delivery: Every click, scroll, or hesitation on your app or website sends a digital signal. By tapping into these cues, you can deliver messages that align perfectly with your users’ behaviors. With action-based delivery, push notifications are triggered by specific actions—or even inaction—ensuring that your communications are both timely and tailored to each user’s preferences.

Intelligent Timing: This feature from the Braze Intelligence Suite allows you to schedule notifications to hit each recipient’s peak engagement window, determined by their past interactions. In fact, Braze research indicates that messages sent using Intelligent Timing are 2.6X more effective at driving app opens compared to those sent without it.

By fine-tuning when you send push notifications, you can significantly boost engagement and drive better results.

2. Understand the 3 key ways to measure push-related opens

When you send a push notification, your goal is typically to drive users to open your app and take action. While app opens are a vital metric for mobile marketers, the story isn’t as simple as a single tap. There are nuances that reveal just how impactful your notifications really are.

At Braze, we break push-related opens into three categories:

• Direct opens: These occur when a user taps the notification and immediately opens your app.
• Influenced opens: These capture the users who open your app after receiving a notification—even if they don’t tap it directly.
• Total opens: This metric combines both direct and influenced opens, expressed as a percentage of all recipients of a push campaign.

Influenced opens are particularly insightful. They help you understand the indirect impact of your notifications. Even if a recipient doesn’t tap the message, the push may still nudge them to engage. To gauge this, compare the open to the user’s usual behavior. For example, if a user typically opens your app 20 times a day, an open two hours after a push might not be significant. However, if another user—who normally opens the app only once a month—logs in two hours after receiving a notification, that push likely played a key role in prompting that action.

3. Discover the essential differences between iOS and Android push notifications

Engaging with users on iOS versus Android requires different strategies, and understanding these nuances is key for crafting successful campaigns.

For example, iPhone users often tend to be more affluent, socially active, and view their devices as status symbols. This means that targeting promotional push notifications to iOS users can potentially yield a higher ROI for your campaigns.

For more detailed insights into these platform-specific differences, be sure to check out our comprehensive guide on iOS and Android push notifications.

4. Stay aware of browser-level variations for web push notifications

While mobile push notifications on iOS and Android follow familiar rules, web push notifications span a more diverse landscape. Popular browsers like Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Opera each handle these notifications uniquely, making it crucial for marketers to understand these differences.

A key detail to note is platform support. For example, Chrome and Firefox enable you to send web push notifications to opted-in users on both desktops and mobile devices. Safari also released support for mobile push in 2023 as well.

For a deeper dive into these browser-specific differences—including details on campaign specifications like image sizes and character limits—be sure to explore our comprehensive guide.

5. Enhance your push strategy with multi-channel messaging

Push notifications are a potent tool for driving engagement, boosting revenue, and increasing retention—but they work best when integrated with other messaging channels. To maximize your impact, consider using in-app messages alongside your push campaigns or launching a multi-channel strategy that pairs push notifications with Content Cards.

6. Expand beyond opens and clicks to boost engagement

Originally, push notifications were all about prompting users to open an app. However, modern notifications offer more interactive opportunities. Today, users can engage directly with a message by tapping a button or entering text, allowing you to drive key actions without necessarily launching the app. 

By incorporating push action buttons, you can encourage immediate activities and conversions right within the notification itself.

7. Skip plain-text and embrace rich, custom interfaces

Don’t settle for basic text. Rich push notifications empower you to craft campaigns featuring vibrant images, animated GIFs, audio, and video. This creative upgrade can significantly boost conversions—customers are 57% more likely to engage when even a single image is included.

8. Leverage A/B and multivariate testing for optimal performance

Even if your push notifications are already making an impact, it’s important not to take it for granted. Continuously evaluating your messaging performance and using testing to refine your approach, is key to an effective marketing strategy. The Braze platform streamlines this process by supporting both A/B and multivariate testing across push notifications and other message types.

Create up to eight message variants in your campaign and distribute them randomly to your opted-in push audience. Once your campaign gathers enough data, review the conversion rates to identify the winning variant.

This ongoing analysis helps your messages consistently drive the outcomes you need to achieve your broader marketing goals.

9. Leverage silent push campaigns to engage users who aren’t opted in

While push notifications are often seen as urgent and interruptive, there's a quieter side to this messaging channel—silent push notifications. These notifications allow you to communicate important updates to your mobile app users discreetly.

Because silent push notifications focus on triggering in-app actions rather than drawing attention through alerts, they aren't subject to the strict opt-in requirements that standard push messages face. This means they can still reach users who have declined visible push notifications, keeping them in the loop without disrupting their experience.

For a deeper dive into how silent push can enhance your customer engagement, be sure to check out our developer guide on the subject.

10. Handle notifications when users are actively in your app

Push notifications are designed to drive users back to your app or website, but what happens if a user is already active in your app when the message arrives? Fortunately, both iOS and Android offer solutions to manage this scenario, ensuring that notifications enhance rather than interrupt the user experience. For detailed options and best practices, refer to the respective iOS and Android developer documentation.

11. Save server resources with local notifications on iOS

iOS provides a clever workaround to ease server load—local notifications. With this approach, you can programmatically trigger push notifications directly from the device without relying on server infrastructure. This not only conserves resources but also streamlines your messaging process.

Push notification strategy FAQS

What is push notification marketing?

Push notifications are short, attention-grabbing messages sent to users who’ve opted in to receive updates from your app or website—even when they’re not actively using it. Originally designed for mobile, push has evolved into a powerful engagement tool that strengthens customer relationships and drives revenue.

While push notifications are most commonly associated with smartphones and tablets, they’re now reaching users through web browsers and even wearable devices like the Apple Watch. As more websites adopt push and wearables gain popularity, these new platforms will create even more opportunities to connect with your audience in real time.

What should push notifications be used for?

Push notifications work best as part of a cross-channel strategy, driving engagement and conversions alongside in-app messages, email, and more. Here’s how you can use them effectively:

• Welcome Campaigns: Keep new users engaged by following up on in-app onboarding. Use push to re-engage those who drop off early and highlight key app features to encourage continued use.
• Promotions: Announce upcoming sales with in-app messages and email, then use push to create urgency as the sale nears its end, driving last-minute purchases.
• Win-Back Campaigns: Re-engage inactive users with a mix of push and email. Push grabs immediate attention, while email provides more details—perfect for reviving interest or recovering abandoned carts.
• Time-Sensitive Alerts: Deliver timely updates on flash sales, weather events, or holidays. Deep-link to in-app content or Content Cards for a seamless experience.

Are push notifications effective?

Yes, Braze research shows that push notifications can drive a 191% Increase in customer engagement compared to users who receive no messages. They boast click-through rates (CTR) 5–10 times higher than email and can boost app engagement by 88%. When used strategically, push notifications improve conversions, strengthen customer relationships, and directly impact revenue.

What does push notification software do?

Push notification software helps businesses send messages at scale to engage mobile users effectively. It strengthens customer relationships, enhances mobile experiences, and facilitates seamless communication across channels. With easy customization and automation, brands can drive engagement, boost revenue, and create impactful, real-time interactions.

Final thoughts

Push notifications are a powerful tool for engaging customers, driving conversions, and strengthening brand relationships. But success depends on more than just sending messages—it requires a thoughtful approach that balances relevance, timing, and user experience.

By following push notifications best practices, crafting clear and compelling messages, and leveraging writing style guidelines for notifications, brands can create campaigns that resonate with their audience. Combining push notifications with a cross-channel strategy and continuously optimizing through testing and analytics will further enhance engagement and long-term results.

As push notification marketing continues to evolve, staying ahead of trends and innovations will be key. Push notifications aren’t just another marketing channel—they’re a major innovation when used effectively. By implementing these best practices, you can increase engagement, boost revenue, and build stronger customer relationships.

Forward-Looking Statements

This blog post contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding the performance of and expected benefits from Braze and its products. These forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions, expectations and beliefs of Braze, and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Further information on potential factors that could affect Braze results are included in the Braze Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended October 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on December 10, 2024, and the other public filings of Braze with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this blog post represent the views of Braze only as of the date of this blog post, and Braze assumes no obligation, and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.