Best Push Notification Examples

Everyone is familiar with push notifications these days…

Ping! Another push notification lights up your phone screen!

Push notifications are taking over our digital lives. These real-time pop-up messages keep users engaged with their favorite apps. And for good reason – they work.

70% of users enable push notifications because they provide value. Alerts, updates, and timely information right at your fingertips. No need to have the app open.

For businesses, it's a direct line to increase mobile app engagement. Push notifications can generate:

• up to 7x higher CTR than email
• higher user retention and session depth
• improved re-marketing capabilities

But not all push notifications are created equal. Writing the perfect message is an art as well as a science.

In this guide, we’ll dive into the key ways to drive success as well as giving you some of the best push notification examples that you can use for inspiration.

How Push Notifications Work?

Push notifications are here to stay, there’s no doubt about that. But how exactly do these little pop-up messengers work their magic?

At a technical level, it's all about maintaining a persistent connection. Even when your app is closed, a direct pathway remains open between your device and the notification service like APNs(Apple Push Notification service) or FCM(Firebase Cloud Messaging). When there's an update to push out it gets sent through the back channel and pops up on your screen. In other words, there’s no need to have the app open to get real-time information.

Of course, nailing the timing and frequency is key. The goal? To send personalized messages that are delivered at just the right times, tailored to each user's habits and lifestyle.

Too many, and you'll risk annoying users. Too few, and you'll miss out on engagement opportunities.

The science of push notifications can be summed up like this:

Thoughtfully tailored messages + properly timed = push notification success.

Push Notification Types

Push notifications come in a variety of styles, including:

• Alert Notifications – Simple text notifications conveying timely, relevant info. Promos, content updates, etc.
• Badge Notifications – App icon alerts like email counts and to-do lists. Quantifiable updates.
• Sound Notifications – Add a ping, chime or other quick sound for time-sensitive warnings.
• Newsstand Notifications – For content apps. Include headlines + text previews of new media assets.
• Location-based Notifications – Triggered by a user's geographic location, often using GPS or beacons. Useful for retailers, events, transportation, and tourism.
• Interactive Notifications – Allow user input, like replying to a message or answering a poll question. Create more engaging experiences.
• Image Notifications - Include images, GIFs or videos. Leverage visual content for greater impact.

It’s key that you pair the notification type with your use case to get the best results. In other words, you should aim to match the format to your specific message and goal.

Best Push Notification Examples

E-Commerce Push Notification Examples

Bursting with creativity, the retail and e-commerce industry sets the standard for engaging push messaging.

• Create urgency to prompt purchases – “That item you 💜️ is now 50% off!” “Come take a look at our shiny new makeup collection.” Leverages FOMO with new product alerts.
• Prompt cart abandonment recovery – “We see you have items in your cart. Don't forget to checkout!”
• Delight app users with a surprise – “Your morning brew is on us! Stop by for a free coffee.”
• Provide help based on recent purchases – “Assembling your new furniture? See tips from our experts.”

No matter the goal – driving sales, engagement, or app activity, retail brands creatively leverage personalized and relevant messaging. Experimenting with visual content, exclusivity, and time-based urgency are all common techniques too.

Banking and Finance Push Notification Examples

Security and proactive communication are pillars of the banking experience. Push notifications help extend that experience in a convenient digital format.

• Provide real-time alerts – "We detected suspicious activity on your card at [location]. Call us immediately if this wasn't you."
• Assist with portfolio monitoring – "Your AAPL stock just dropped 2%. Keep an eye on the market today."
• Guide onboarding — "Woohoo! Your bank account is now linked. Send and receive money faster."
• Send timely reminders – "Heads up - your cell phone bill is usually paid around this time. Don't forget!"
• Offer promotional deals – "Big purchase coming up? Get 6 months interest-free when you pay overtime with Plan It."

Finance apps provide a delicate balance of security, utility, and promotions within their push notifications. Alerts add significant value around time-sensitive events like fraudulent activity, while many also find success with personalized money tips and offers.

Health and Wellness Push Notification Examples

The highly personal nature of health and wellness products lends itself perfectly to targeted and meaningful push messaging.

• Motivate with personalization – "Don't forget to log your calories today, [Name]! Stay on track with your goals."
• Recommend positive action – "Stressed today? Take a few minutes to meditate and re-center yourself."
• Reinforce healthy habits – "Great job hitting 8,000 steps today! You crushed your daily goal."
• Promote new features – "Having trouble unwinding at night? Try Calm's new Sleep Stories before bed."
• Prompt social sharing – "You ran 5 miles yesterday, the farthest yet! Share the motivation with your connections."

Health and wellness apps know the power of sending notifications that make each user feel acknowledged, provide helpful recommendations, and give that extra boost of motivation needed to stay on track.

Travel Push Notification Examples

With so many details to track when you’re traveling, the travel industry leverages push notifications to help users out.

• Drive urgency with scarcity – "Only 2 rooms left at your hotel in Seattle next week. Call to confirm before it's too late."
• Send reminders – "Today's the day! Enjoy your flight to LA."
• Promote geo-targeted and personalized deals – "Unlock 10% off your next booking in Madrid."
• Prompt action – "Your flight tomorrow is on time. You can start checking in now."
• Provide helpful alerts – "It looks like there's heavy traffic on the way to the airport this morning. Request your ride now to ensure you arrive on time."

The travel industry seamlessly blends timely notifications around bookings and transit with helpful destination tips and personalized promotions. Location-based messaging in particular allows for highly contextual notifications.

Gaming Push Notification Examples

Gaming apps keep players engaged and coming back through smart push notifications tailored to gameplay behaviors.

• Drive re-engagement – "Your lives have been replenished! Come back for bonus moves."
• Create urgency – "A rare avatar has appeared nearby!"
• Build a narrative – "Your village is under attack! Log in now to defend it."
• Offer incentives – "Your daily free coins are ready to be claimed!"
• Generate FOMO - "Season 5 is ending soon! Complete these challenges for exclusive rewards."

Push messages tailored to in-game events, status, and activities are highly effective for gaming apps. Reminding users when they can play again or highlighting in-game occurrences helps keep gameplay top of mind. Exclusive content alerts also incentivize re-engagement.

E-Learning Push Notification Examples

Here are some more push notification examples for the e-learning industry:

• Motivate students – "You're half way through the Web Development Nanodegree! Finish the next module and earn a badge."
• Drive re-engagement – "Haven't practiced your Italian lessons lately? Review vocabulary words and complete a quick quiz."
• Generate urgency – "That watercolor course you loved is back! Enroll today and save 25%."
• Alerts for new content – "New lecture added to Gordon Ramsey's Cooking Techniques class."
• Offer help and support – "Stuck on algebra? Check out the new tutorial created by math experts."

E-learning platforms know the importance of motivating messages, progress milestones, and alerts. Building FOMO around limited-time promotions also proves effective for driving re-engagement.

What Makes an Effective Push Notification?

The best push notifications are those that will grab attention and are of genuine interest to users. You need to combine clarity, timing, creativity, and actionability.

• Clear Messaging – Concise copy that communicates value quickly. Avoid vagueness or overly clever wording.
• Relevance and Personalization - Messages tailored to each user based on preferences, behaviors, and context.
• Appropriate Timing & Frequency – Well-timed based on day, date, user habits, and recent interactions.
• Use of Rich Media – Images, GIFs, and videos can boost engagement, but use them sparingly and try to minimize load times.
• Localization – Whenever possible, adapt messaging to language, location, currency, and cultural nuances for each user. Avoid one-size-fits-all notifications.
• Effective Call-to-Action - Include a clear next step when relevant. Streamline the steps needed to take the desired action.
• Deep Linking - Link directly into the app and relevant in-app content for a smooth user experience.

The Role of A/B Testing

A/B testing is a valuable technique to optimize your push notification strategy. It allows you to test different variables like messaging, timing, design, and more to see which resonates best with your audience.

You can conduct A/B testing by sending one version of a notification to a percentage of your users, and a slightly different version to another percentage. Next, you analyze the open rate, clickthrough rate, conversions, and other key metrics to determine which notification performed better.

Make sure to watch for statistical significance before drawing conclusions from small sample sizes. Over time, continuously A/B testing your notifications will help you fine-tune your messaging, timing, and delivery for maximum engagement and conversions. A/B testing provides the data you need to improve your push notifications over time.

Key Takeaways

• Focus on value and relevance through concise, personalized messaging sent at optimal times. Experiment and optimize.
• Tailor strategies to your goals – promotions, engagement, education, urgency, etc. Evaluate success based on core metrics and KPIs.
• Use A/B testing to continuously improve your notifications. Test different messaging, timing, design elements, and more to identify what resonates best.

Push notifications aren’t the only way to increase app engagement. In-app chat has been proven to increase user interaction and keep people interested in your app. To find out how Sceyt Chat API can easily and quickly integrate real-time messaging in your app, check out our demo app.

Dan Martin

Dan is a an experienced B2B tech writer with a background in engineering.

He specializes in writing about IT, software, SaaS, and engineering.