Reaching out to others is more simple than this.   The concept is the same, though, but push notifications do not involve a hike up a hill.  They’ve been around since 2008, thanks to Matias Duarte and his team, but it’s the crew at Apple who brought this form of communication into the limelight.  Now those with a smartphone might get close to 50 push notifications each day.  That’s why it’s so important for you to make the content in your message pull your clients and potential customers toward you rather than pushing them away.  

However, if you misuse this method of reaching others, they may turn off your app’s push notifications.  You don’t want that to happen!  So, how can you send a sales message without the risk of that disconnect?  Here are some tips for you.

P-ersonalized

Let’s face it,  these pop-up messages interrupt whatever their recipients were doing.  Suddenly their smartphones have come to life with your push.  Instead of them focusing on the interruption, you want them to see the push in a positive light.  You want them to be intrigued enough to stop and read the message.  Plan your strategy with what may motivate those receiving them and craft your message with that in mind.  

As a result, your focus must be on the value of your product or service to the recipient.  Avoid sending a generic push to everyone.  Better yet, adding the recipients’ names makes the message more personal and conversational.  When it’s generic, the push has less appeal.  Focus on one benefit for the recipient so that reaching out to them has value to them.  

Also, take in mind the age group, the gender, and the interests of these push recipients.  Know your market well enough so that you can personalize these messages. What about your product or service will make a difference to these folks?  Reaching out to them needs to answer that question.

U-nique

People get bombarded with text, email, and now more recently, push notifications.  How can you make your message catch their eye and not push them away?  First of all, you certainly don’t want them to notice a typo or a spelling error.  It’s not always easy to catch your own writing mistakes, so ask someone else to do that task.  

You want your pushes to inspire curiosity and intrigue. You don’t want your messages to look like anyone else’s. Indicate how only your product or service will take care of a need they have.  Appeal to their emotions. Use words that help them think of a dream or a goal they have. Inspire quick action with words such as “Time’s running out!” or “Order now.”   

Ultimately, even though what you offer may not be unique, how you market it can be.  Brainstorm with your team and seasoned clients to uncover the special features of your product or service.  Braid those into your push notifications, convincing those who may still be on the fence.  Reaching out to others needs to convince them that just like your push, you are unique.

S-ales

That’s your goal.  You want more sales from your current clients and from potential customers.  Rarely does that happen with the first attempt.  People are often browsing and considering their next move.  One way to get people moving faster is to give them something to do right away, immediately after they read your message.  How?  Encourage that by including a Call-to-Action button. It can be something simple and fun – like click HERE if you went outside today.  That works if you are selling sweaters or bathing suits.  Align the question with what you are selling.

Another way to inspire a sale is to make them comfortable with who you are and what you do.  Be conversational.  Appeal to what they need to know about your product or service and what they want to do to improve their lives.  Make that link, and the purchase will become the connection.

Remember that a push is not to be pushy.  By the nature of these notifications, the person merely must have the mobile device turned on.  Your potential customer doesn’t need to be in the app or even to be using the device in order to get the message.  Reaching out to them means letting them learn something of value to them that makes them want to know more. 

H-ello

That is to say, make your pushes a friendly “Hey, There!”  Write like you talk, as if you know the person reading it.  Add humor or inspiration.  Provide information, maybe an alert.  Nudge them to take action.  Start with a verb so you are including them right away.  Research a topic and find out a new fact to share.  Get to know your buyer and focus on their interests.  

Be careful not to turn your hello into a push sales hack that will turn away folks.  Avoid sending too many messages. Write a message that is short and simple and entertaining.  Short?  Yes.  Fewer than 140 characters.  Link your blog or your website so they can see more for themselves.

It’s not easy to limit your words.  Back in the day, people paid Western Union to send out telegrams, and they paid by the word.  To save money, they narrowed down their message to the fewest words possible.  Do the same.  First, draft your message, and then chop away at it.  You want your push to be enough but not too much.  Reaching out to somebody briefly is a friendly hello and a little more.

P-U-S-H

So, let’s put it together:  each push notification is a Personalized, Unique Sales Hello. You want someone’s attention to become curiosity leading to a desire to know more about you.  You are pushing the message, not the person.  Nudging perhaps, but not a pushy handshake.

There’s one more letter that will help you with your push notifications.  B.  That stands for Business Glu.  You can send pushes from your own app.  You create your app through Business Glu and send out a quick message so people will download your app.  

Take the name Business Glu literally.  Your business will grow and communication is the glue.  We’ll help you and your team succeed.  Contact us for a demo, and we’ll show you how reaching others starts with a push.