A long debate has been noticed between marketers for emails and post notifications. They both are the prominent channels used for communicating with different users or customers. Hence, they have a connection with company websites and users making an interactive bond. They both have different effectiveness in delivering messages being a completely different medium though. Both the sources have different digital pros and cons to engage with users.  One medium can work for some companies and another one for some. This blog will put a glance in push notifications and emails but first let’s understand the both.

What are Push Notifications?

A browser sends push notifications which is a trending marketing tool for targeted audiences. The pop-ups that you see in handsets from apps that have been installed are called push notifications. It doesn’t matter on the usage of the installed app, the messages can be sent anytime. It is considered to be the best advertising strategy for conveying messages quickly with good conversion rates. In the world that is digitally optimised, notifications are suitable for every vertical to all users. Although these are subscription based so messages can be given to only those who opt-in for services. When a user registers a website or install the app they become the member of notifications. However some people don’t like to see them frequently so they disable the feature from the settings. This directly means that you can have a good opt-in rate for making a successful campaign. Inform the users for special offers or new launches for increasing the outcomes of the website or apps.

Push Notification Uses

– Alerts for time sensitive events
– Promotion of new products and services
– Sending transactional messages
– Content Distribution
– Information on latest news
– Maintaining and Building audiences

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing gives a personalised touch to the audience being the most effective way for grabbing attention. You can advertise or educate users by making a long or short format content. For reaching customers and building a subscriber base this is the most used way. You can build and maintain relationships with customers to increase loyalty and business.There are many types of email marketing like auto-generated emails, email promotions, marketing, etc. Updates about products, new blogs, service launches, discounts and more can be given. For efficiency, use the best email marketing platform or software for email automation, autoresponders, drip emails and more.

Email Marketing Uses

– Retaining existing customers
– Information on a new product
– Personalising communication building
– Nurturing and Generating leads with appropriate content

Push Notifications V/S Email Marketing

Length

The most noticeable difference between both is the length of the message. Push Notifications can have limited characters but emails can have a format for more details. You need to consider what needs to be addressed and which form is the best. Much more creation is needed for copywriting bandwidth for emails than push notifications. Less time is used for push notifications to be implemented and created as compared with emails. There is ample space for personalization and creativity in email content depending on the user behaviour. For newsletters, blogs, sign-up forms, invoices and more emails work best. With push notifications, you can create more impact for products and services, updates, promotional offers, discounts, new blog remainders, and more. No matter which channel you choose, make sure to bring value on the table with significant actions. With emails you have to deal with the spamming process and with push notifications deal with disabled settings applied.

Audience

Push notifications includes all the users who have given permissions for receiving notifications. When you install a certain app, you have observed the permissions that they ask for. But for android users, the feature is automatically enabled while for iOS there are permissions taken. Push notifications are more urgent than mails and people receive it in real-time on their devices. This gains the users attention and they act on it instantly.
The audience for emails are those who have subscribed to a mailing list who shared their email Ids. Brands are often seen working hard for growth of their email list by offering incentives like first-order discounts, compelling content, well-timed and well-placed opt-ins. Emails have a chance to be ignored or forgotten because it’s not immediate.

One-Click Subscription

Push notifications stand higher with this platform with one-click subscriptions. When a user is online notifications are sent and have more chances of obtaining an account. People are less likely to unsubscribe from notifications lists having lower subscription churn rate. People can control when and how often they receive them, making it less intrusive as email.
Emails don’t get many subscriptions because people assume it as spam and do not get the needed attention. Many formalities need to be completed before sending them and spams have to be dealt.

Optimisation Rate

As per the studies, push notifications are optimised to a 12% rate based on several aspects. They are short and convey a clear message with 100% viewed rates.
People rarely open emails which results in having a very less optimization rate. Using push notifications in a personalised, respectful manner is a gateway to success. When you make customers feel unique, customers respond with enthusiasm.
People are not interested in emails because it’s spam in their perspective which has higher bounce rates. However, it cannot be overlooked because it generates leads and revenue. Use eye-catchy subject lines, evaluate the sender name, start personalised messaging and write compelling content.

Permanency of Message

Think about how permanent you want the message to be when considering emails or notifications.
For more ephemeral messages like real-time updates that don’t need any necessary records push notifications are best. Push notifications are fleeting and inconvenient for information that can be revisited.
Email marketing is best for information that users might need a record of. Users can revisit the mails if there are shipping confirmations, invoices, tickets, lab test results, or messages with attachments. When email resides in the inbox, it can be prioritised and starred for later use.

Final Words
In the above article we gave words to the long discussion between push notifications and emails. But haphazardly sending email/push notifications will not give much results without a good strategy. Instead of banging heads in deciding which one to choose, go for both for better insights. Develop a strategy for saving budgets and increasing revenue so a combination of both will be helpful.
Try it for yourself today!