Push Notification Best Practices: How to Increase CTR and Conversions
Only 20% of push notifications use segmentation. Another 38% skip rich media features entirely.* Not because teams don’t know segmentation improves relevance or that rich formats lift engagement. They do. But the breakdown happens when it’s time to put that knowledge into practice.
Customer data in one system. Campaigns launched from another. Analytics tracking performance in a third. Each handoff between platforms slows you down and keeps you from reaching users when their intent is strongest.
This post covers push notification best practices from behavioral segmentation and personalized messaging to optimal timing and revenue tracking. Unlike most guides that stop at tactics, we’ll show how teams apply them using a unified platform (like Netmera) to build and maintain a push messaging strategy that stays relevant and measurable.
*Business of Apps – Push Notifications Statistics
Push Notifications Definition
Push notifications are opt-in alerts that appear as pop-ups on desktop browsers, mobile home screens, or within a device’s notification center. These short messages display text, rich media like images or buttons, and prompt users to take specific actions.
Push vs in-app notifications comes down to reach and timing. Push notifications reach users outside the app, even when it is closed. In-app notifications appear only during active sessions and respond to actions already in progress.
What Push Notifications Mean for Customer Engagement
Stronger retention. Push notifications can lift retention rates by 3–10× when done right.
Real-time communication. Deliver transaction alerts, breaking news, and time-sensitive offers when timing matters most.
Higher engagement. Push notifications often generate better open rates, establishing them as a more responsive communication channel.
Traffic and revenue growth. Bring users back to your app or website with targeted promotions and personalized content recommendations.
Greater visibility. Messages remain on user screens until dismissed, keeping your brand present throughout the day.
Why Most Teams Struggle to Apply Push Notification Best Practices
Bad copy, poor targeting, message bombardment. These are real problems that weaken your push communication and keep CTR low.
But at the core sits a broader issue: the lack of a unified system connecting your data, campaigns, and measurement.
Let’s see how this plays out in e-commerce. A user abandons their cart. You spot it in your analytics dashboard. Then you export the segment, upload it to your push tool, and coordinate send timing manually. By the time the message reaches that user, they’ve already made a decision.
This coordination tax slows every campaign. High-performing teams use a unified system where data, targeting, and measurement work together seamlessly that makes push notifications effective.
Push Notification Best Practices: Eight Tactics for Relevant, Measurable Campaigns
Think of these tactics as a chain as each one strengthens the next. Segmentation sharpens your targeting, sharper targeting makes personalization possible, and personalization is what turns a push notification into a conversion. For years we’ve tested the eight tactics below with customers in banking, fintech, telecom, and e-commerce. Brands achieving these results did so by using a platform that lets them apply all eight practices without coordination delays.
1. Segment Users by Behavior and AI Predictions
Demographic segmentation tells you who your users are while behavioral segmentation shows what they do. Viewing a pricing page three times signals stronger intent than any demographic filter.
When behavioral events feed directly into a single customer view, marketing and product teams can create audiences themselves. N Kolay, a digital banking app with 9 million users, used Netmera’s real-time behavioral triggers to build a multi-step automated journey guiding users through a premium membership funnel. Tasks completed jumped by 119.6%. That’s the kind of lift precise segmentation makes possible.
AI-powered predictive segments take this further by identifying patterns before users act. Instead of reacting to cart abandonment, you identify users likely to abandon based on browsing behavior and engagement cadence.
2. Personalize Messages Using Behavioral Data
“Hi Sarah” feels personal until every brand uses it. Real personalization references what users do. “Complete your order—your cart expires in 2 hours” works because you know what’s in that cart.
Dynamic content uses profile attributes stored in your system. Netmera’s attribute syntax pulls data like age, membership level, or product preferences into messages automatically. “New drop, {@name}. {@artist} just added 3 tracks to your mix.” displays as “New drop, Sara. Coldplay just added 3 tracks to your mix.”
You can send messages in each user’s preferred language, or adjust timing based on their timezone through Netmera’s platform. Language builds connection and brand recall, and so does tone. Mackolik, a leading sports news platform, uses distinct notification tones to improve user experience, which helped them boost retention by 20%.
3. Send Push Notifications When Each User Is Most Active
Sending at the right moment increases reaction rates 40%. The “right moment” varies per user. Generic send times based on industry averages miss individual patterns.
You can test different send times manually to find patterns, or analyze each user’s activity automatically. Best Time Delivery in Netmera calculates when individual users typically engage based on 60 days of behavior. The system identifies their most active hours per weekday and schedules notifications for those windows.
New users without enough historical data receive messages during your app’s peak hours until their own patterns emerge. This approach removes guesswork from timing decisions while letting teams focus on testing content and creative elements.
4. Add Images, Videos, and Clear Calls-to-Action
Rich push notifications with images or videos improve reaction rates 25%. Product images, lifestyle photography, or short video clips give users visual context before they click. Which one works best? You won’t know until you test. Our customers A/B test push messages in Netmera, see which version brings more clicks and purchases, then send that version to the rest of their target segment.
Active CTAs using power words increase conversions 12.7% compared to passive language. “Discover more” and “Start now” motivate action better than “Continue” or “Next.” Keep mobile push under 50 characters for readability.
Emojis increase reaction rates 20%, though you need to test which ones resonate. Fire, thumbs up, and lightning symbols often drive higher engagement than generic smiley faces. Platform differences matter too: what works on iOS might display differently on Android.
5. Use Geofencing to Connect Digital and Physical Experiences
Think of a retail brand aiming to increase loyalty by bridging digital and physical through location-based triggers. They send mobile push notifications to inactive users with a discount offer. Deep linking (or deferred deep linking if the app isn’t installed yet) opens the campaign page directly in the app. After the user places a mobile order, another push arrives with a coupon code valid only at their nearest store. When they walk in, geofencing triggers a personalized welcome.
Starbucks used a similar approach with Netmera’s location-based personalization and gamification. They saw 15% growth in foot traffic and 25% increase in loyalty program participation.
6. Build Cross-Channel Sequences
A user adds an item to their cart but doesn’t purchase. Thirty minutes later, a push arrives: “Your item is waiting—complete your order now.” They click but don’t convert. Two hours later, an email with a 10% discount code triggers automatically. Still no purchase? An SMS reminder goes out before the offer expires.
A fashion rental company used Netmera’s Journey Builder to turn first opens into registrations. Instead of running separate push and email campaigns, one automated flow checked consent, selected the right channel per user, and delivered timely reminders. Out of more than ten thousand entries, 14% completed registration.
Journey Builder lets you control frequency across channels, track how many times users enter or exit sequences, and set rules preventing message overload. Check our blog post to learn more about Netmera Journey’s capabilities.
7. Use Deep Links to Send Users to Specific Screens
Deep links navigate users to specific screens within your app. Deferred deep links handle users who don’t have your app installed yet. Both open the promoted screen instead of a generic page, which removes friction and improves user experience.
Netmera’s deferred deep linking creates customizable pre-install landing pages for your app so users see branded experiences even before downloading. Analytics track the complete flow from click to target screen, showing where users drop off. This data feeds retargeting campaigns that reach users through different channels.
See different use cases for deferred deep linking across industries in this post.
8. Track the Full Funnel from Push Send to Final Conversion
A push with 8% CTR looks successful until you discover only 0.5% converted. Another push has 4% CTR but 3% conversion rate. Which performed better? Most teams can’t answer because they only track clicks.
The gap between click and conversion hides critical problems. Users click your push, land on a broken page, or abandon during checkout. You need to see delivery rates, post-click behavior, conversions, and revenue attribution.
DenizBank saw loan applications dropping. Funnel Analysis in Netmera showed conversion rates fell from 10% to 5% because Android users couldn’t view contracts due to a loading screen error. After fixing the issue and retargeting users, they restored the 10% conversion rate and cut bounce rates 41%.
Fal Sepeti is another great example of this. When a user started checkout but didn’t complete it within an hour, Netmera’s behavior-driven automation fired a push at the exact moment intent was still alive. Checkout-to-purchase completion climbed from 30% to 56%, with 80% of users who clicked going on to complete their transaction.
Real-time monitoring catches problems before they compound. Netmera tracks the full funnel from delivery to conversion, with Hot Conversions and Hot Revenue metrics linking push performance directly to business outcomes.
How to Create and Send Push Notifications in Netmera
Netmera supports various push notification formats including text, image, banner, carousel, slider, and product discovery cards. Creating and launching campaigns follows a straightforward workflow:
Navigate to Messages > Campaigns > Create New Campaign. Add your campaign name and select Push Notification as the type.
Build your message (What). Enter all necessary details about your message (content, title, time stamp, image etc.) Preview how it appears on iOS and Android devices in real-time.
Define your audience (Who). Select target segments using behavioral filters, demographics, or AI predictions.
Set timing (When). Choose immediate send, scheduled delivery, or optimal time per user. Add expiration dates to remove outdated notifications from user devices.
Test and launch (Go). Send test notifications to registered devices to check display across different operating systems and screen sizes. Review all campaign details, then click Send.
Find more details about push notification capabilities Netmera offers in our user guide: Mobile Push & Web Push
Choosing a Push Notification Platform: Unified vs. Point Solutions
Point solutions specialize in push notification delivery but require separate analytics platforms and CDPs. This fragmentation hits teams using separate tools for each function. By the time you coordinate handoffs between your CDP, push notification platform, automation software, and analytics dashboard, campaign windows close and user behavior shifts.
Unified customer engagement platforms like Netmera combine customer data collection, push notification delivery, cross-channel journey automation, and analytics in one system. This eliminates coordination delays between tools and lets teams act on behavioral insights immediately while the user intent is still strong.
FAQs on Best Practices to Increase Push CTR
Push notifications are opt-in alerts that appear on mobile home screens, desktop browsers, or notification centers. They display text, images, or buttons and prompt users to take specific actions, even when the app is closed.
Mobile push notifications appear on smartphones and tablets through installed apps. Web push notifications appear on desktop or mobile browsers without requiring an app download. Both reach users outside active sessions.
Mobile push works through an SDK integrated into your app. When you send a notification, it travels through the device’s operating system (iOS or Android) to the user’s home screen or notification center, appearing even when the app is closed.
Segment users by behavior, personalize messages beyond first names, send at optimal times per user, use rich media and clear CTAs, trigger location-based messages, coordinate with other channels, add deep links, and track beyond click rates.
The best time varies per user. At Netmera, we use “Best Time Delivery” feature to analyze each user’s 60-day activity pattern and identify their most active hours per weekday.
Burcu Ulucay – Content Marketing, Netmera
