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Receiving too many notifications or notifications that are deemed to be annoying is the most likely reason people will uninstall an app. For most apps, it makes a lot of sense to have notifications. However, you have to strike the right balance between being helpful and being annoying. There are factors that determine what notifications are needed, such as what type of app you are offering. For example, exercise and learning apps often have daily notifications because people want to be reminded to complete their daily tasks. Other types of apps, like financial and business apps, will require notifications based on a schedule or when something happens to the accounts (such as a deposit or automatic payment).
Receiving too many notifications or notifications that are deemed to be annoying is the most likely reason people will uninstall an app. For most apps, it makes a lot of sense to have notifications. However, you have to strike the right balance between being helpful and being annoying. There are factors that determine what notifications are needed, such as what type of app you are offering. For example, exercise and learning apps often have daily notifications because people want to be reminded to complete their daily tasks. Other types of apps, like financial and business apps, will require notifications based on a schedule or when something happens to the accounts (such as a deposit or automatic payment).
Though your notifications and their timing will change based on the industry your app is related to, there are some things that are fairly universal. When you are developing and updating your app, here are some of the things you should consider to determine what notifications are right for your app.
There are three types of notifications, all of which you may want to use with your app.
Most notifications appear in more than one place so that a user will see the message even if they aren’t using their phone. The most common pairing is either locked screen or banners and the notification center. This makes it so that the user receives a notification when they first look at their phone while saving a copy of the same notification to their comprehensive notification panel. Locked screens and banners usually are not posted together as this is often seen as more nagging then notifying.
It is best to have notifications default to being turned on, but you should give your users the option to control their notifications. If a user doesn’t want any notifications, give them the option to completely shut them off.
The app should have multiple types of notifications as well. Give your users the ability to turn different notifications and types on and off.
The most important thing to remember is that roughly 60% of users will turn off notifications because they get annoyed by them. By letting them only get the notifications they need, they are more likely to keep notifications active.
Whether the changes are to price, app change, privacy policies, user agreement, or something else, have a notification that will let them know that it is coming. You will need a follow up notification to remind them a day or two before the change. The notification can be very simple and to the point so that the user can quickly read it and have a chance to react as needed.
One problem that many companies tend to make with apps is that they start to think that everything they have to say is important. This results in an increase in notifications to their users. By sending notifications too often, users will get annoyed, and – worse – they are more likely to ignore the notifications that they should see.
One of the first questions that should be asked before you begin drafting all of your notifications is “Do users need to know this?” If the answer is No, reconsider sending it. If the answer is Maybe, use a setting that doesn’t go to people who have settings that minimize how many notifications they receive.
It is important to determine how relevant and useful a notification is before it is released.
Depending on what industry your app is in, you may want to consider adding personalized notifications. These kinds of notifications are essential for health apps, particularly exercising apps, but they aren’t the only ones.
Consider how your users will access the app and what they will expect. Personalized notifications can help them to better utilize it.
This may not make sense for all apps, but for a majority of them, a reminder that they have not been using the app may give them the nudge needed to open it again. Let your users determine when they want the reminder notification, and set the default to something that makes sense for your industry. Check out what similar apps are doing if you aren’t sure what timeframe to establish for this notification.