Push ads subtly integrate into users’ screens and are notably inconspicuous yet highly visible.
Push advertising subtly integrates into users’ screens and remains unobtrusive but highly visible. This ad is effective in affiliate marketing due to its flexible rules and ability to create a sense of urgency. It motivates people to take immediate action.
What are Push Ads
The technology behind push notifications isn’t new, but its application in advertising is a recent development. Gaining momentum towards the end of 2018, push marketing has captivated users with its straightforwardness and impressive outcomes. These notifications mimic private messages or urgent alerts from websites or apps, overlaying other windows on the screen.
Push notification ads reach users on all devices with internet access, such as mobiles, computers, and tablets. Their design is such that they’re hard to overlook yet don’t resemble traditional advertisements. On laptops, for instance, they typically resemble messenger app notifications, compelling users to view their content. The system briefly displays these messages, allowing the user enough time to read and potentially click on them.
These ads operate on a subscription model, meaning that users must agree to receive push notifications. This approach naturally filters the audience, leaving a group more likely interested in digital promotions.
An added advantage is that these push notification ads engage users continually, even when they are not actively browsing. The marketer decides where a click on a notification takes users: the advertiser’s page or the offer directly.
Push Notifications vs Push Ads: What’s the Difference
Push notifications originate from apps that users download onto their mobile devices, serving as a tool for internal communication. The notifications resemble text messages or alerts on a phone. They appear regardless of whether the user is using the app.
Marketers often use app push notifications for marketing, even though their original purpose is not affiliate marketing within the app. However, these notifications are still suitable for marketing purposes.
Marketers have adapted them for affiliate marketing, even though they were not originally designed for it. App push notifications have become a valuable tool for marketers to reach their target audience.
In contrast, push ad notifications are a form of online advertising aiming to increase traffic. Ads can show on computers and phones. Publishers put them on their websites or apps for people who subscribe.
Although both appear as brief, non-intrusive instant messages, their purposes differ. Marketing specifically tailors push ad notifications to mimic the appearance of standard push notifications.
Types of Push Ads
Four basic types of push notification ads exist:
Web push notifications leverage browser subscriptions and server assistance to deliver notifications.
In-app push notifications target app users, offering updates like social network news or app reminders. These notifications engage an existing user base without drawing in new users.
In-page push ads represent an evolution in push notification technology. This format extends the reach of ads to iOS users, who previously couldn’t receive such ads. In-page push notifications look like pop-ups but imitate push notification ads or messages from messaging apps.
Mobile push notifications offer extensive personalization and interactive capabilities. They can occupy up to 80% of a user’s screen, providing significant exposure. Mobile push notifications also integrate GPS data, enabling location-based targeting and reaching a more specific audience.
Push Advertising Advantages
Push ads offer several distinctive benefits compared to other ad formats, like banner ads. A key advantage is the voluntary nature of subscriptions.
Users consent to receiving advertising, which indicates a higher likelihood of being receptive to the offers. This target group consists of real people who have independently decided to subscribe to push ads.
The ads are delivered directly to the user’s screen, ensuring fail-safe delivery exclusively to the target group.
For advertisers, push traffic ads present an excellent opportunity to reach new audiences. Their extensive reach allows for the promotion of diverse offers. However, choosing the right offers is crucial. For example, broad consumer products tend to perform better than niche B2B offerings.
Push ad traffic is also financially accessible, requiring no substantial budgets, making it ideal for beginners in affiliate marketing. An affordable way to learn and profit from the industry.
Another notable feature of push advertising is its lenient content policy. This policy is particularly attractive for affiliate marketers because it allows a broad range of offers. Niches like sweepstakes, gambling, and various forms of dating are all permissible in push notification ads, reducing the likelihood of bans and the need for workaround strategies.
Furthermore, push ads are virtually immune to ad blockers and banner blindness, providing an unobstructed path to the audience.
Push Advertising Challenges
There is always a risk of losing subscribers, as they can unsubscribe at any time, sometimes even unintentionally, e.g. when reinstalling the operating system, which is a challenge for customer retention.
Push notifications have a limited lifespan, lasting only a few seconds or several minutes. If a user doesn’t have time to view an ad immediately, they miss the opportunity.
This ad needs brief descriptions due to limited space, and the content must be regularly updated to be effective and engaging.
Push Notification Advertising Pricing Models
The most common pricing models in push advertising are CPC (Cost Per Click) and CPM (Cost Per Mille).
CPC involves advertisers paying for each user click, making it a preferred choice for conversion-focused campaigns. This model is popular because it is simple and less risky. Advertisers can estimate clicks based on their budget.
On the other hand, CPM requires advertisers to pay for every thousand impressions. It’s especially effective for reaching a broad audience and ideal for campaigns focusing on increasing brand awareness. While CPM can provide extensive reach, it may carry more risk than CPC, as it doesn’t ensure active user engagement like clicks.
Creating a Push Ads Campaign
Here are six essential steps to set up a push campaign:
1. Choosing the GEO
This is a crucial parameter. Each country has unique traffic volumes and bid levels. Ask your partner or ad network manager for advice on picking the best country for your offer.
2. Selecting Device Options
This involves basic targeting settings to gather key user information. Creating different campaigns for mobile and desktop devices is crucial. Also, using broad settings helps gather valuable data about your target audience.
3. Determining Your Budget
Set daily budget limits to control spending and avoid unexpected costs.
4. Setting Up Tracking
Effective campaign optimization requires a tracker. Integrate with tracking solutions, like Keitaro Tracker, making it easy to add a postback URL during campaign setup. You can also set up capping to prevent ads from appearing too frequently to the same user and to avoid purposeless clicks.
5. Adding Creatives
Adhere to the network’s guidelines when creating your ads. Try different creative options, ideally 8-10, to see which ones connect best with your audience.
6. Scheduling the Campaign
Define the local time, start, and end dates. We recommend a 24/7 schedule for initial campaigns to identify the most effective times for your offer.
Four Tips on How to Create a Converting Push Ads Campaign
Adhere to the Push Ad Structure
A push advertisement is composed of several elements:
1. A primary image that encapsulates the essence of the offer.
2. A link to follow.
3. A headline, which is crucial for capturing user interest. Usually, up to 65 symbols.
4. The message text, which outlines the key details of the offer. Usually no longer than 240 characters.
Typically, push notification ads incorporate all these elements. However, mobile devices initially present them in an abbreviated format without the primary image. Users can view the main image by expanding the notification.
Push advertising is suitable for even the most ambitious or unconventional ideas. The only limits are the format rules, like the size of the main image and the character limit for the text. Beyond these structural limitations, your creativity is unrestricted, subject only to the content policies of individual advertising networks.
Be Specific in Target Audience
Understanding your target audience is essential. Generic messages often fail to resonate, so segmenting your audience and tailoring communication to each group is important.
Begin by defining the ideal customer persona, detailing aspects like age, gender, demographics, behavior, and preferences. The more detailed the persona, the better. Use this persona to compare with your audience and guide marketing campaigns for better engagement. According to a study, basic personalization improves open rates of push notifications ads by 9%.
Segment Push Traffic
While users voluntarily subscribe to push notifications, their level of interest can vary significantly. Segmenting traffic helps identify the most responsive audience groups.
We can categorize push traffic into two main groups based on two criteria.
1. User Freshness
New subscribers generally show a higher likelihood of clicking on ads. Typically, user engagement tends to decline after about a week.
2. Performance
Different traffic sources have varying levels of effectiveness. You can assess the effectiveness of traffic for specific verticals or offers through A/B testing. Some advertising platforms offer this service, providing clients with pre-segmented traffic source lists. People often refer to these as Premium and Standard subscriber lists.
Your chosen ad network can provide a significant amount of push traffic sources. Advertisers can optimize campaign outcomes by focusing on premium sources. They can then leverage standard or lower-performing sources for further campaign scaling.
Be Mindful of the Timing and Number of Push Ads
Bombarding your audience with excessive push notifications can significantly detract from the user experience. The appropriate frequency of these notifications varies depending on your industry.
For example, an online retailer might be able to send one or two pushes daily without issue. Online service users may find frequent notifications intrusive, so it’s better to limit them to a few times weekly.
According to CleverTap, an average US smartphone user got 46 push notifications daily in 2018. Consider this amount when planning or the frequency of your push ads.
The timing of push notifications also plays a crucial role. A study by Business of Apps shows that the most effective times for sending push notifications are between 11 am and 3 pm and between 5 pm and 11 pm in order to achieve a balance between reaching users and taking their time and attention into account.
Ultimately, push notification advertising represents a unique and powerful channel for reaching and engaging audiences. When used effectively, they can significantly enhance advertising campaigns. This can lead to increased conversions and improved brand awareness. Additionally, they provide a user-friendly and cost-effective approach.
