Push notifications can be made creatively to vest them with advertising value. Maybe, they are not worthy of replication, but sure they cannot be ignored. Zomato made use of online advertising popular among the new age companies. Dunzo too followed suit by creating tiny pop-ups appearing on the phone. Though these notifications make noise, they may not actually lead to sales. That does not deter the brands to make use of them.

While crafting these push notifications, they make use of behavioral insights, cultural cues and wordplay.

In 2016, there appeared context specific push notifications. They were found to be more effective than batch and blast notifications, or non-personalised messages.

On a marketing channel, push notification are more effective than the usual banners, panels and email ads. They enhance a brand’s voice. People expect this type of quirkiness from the company after a point. If they do just routinised messaging, the effectiveness is lost.

Messages rooted in behavioral psychology garner the attention of the people. They get mentions on social media.

Though effective there is a limit to the number of notifications that can be sent and the number of characters which make these notifications. Untimely notifications may irk the readers.

Though puns are popular, they should not overdo them.

Notifications are mini-billboards for a company. You can latch onto topical things. Even moment marketing works.

An onboard customer is chosen for life cycle communication.

Push notifications are segmented and specialised. They carry 15-20 characters in the title and 50-90 in the body. If there are images, you are restricted to 30-40 characters.

The metric used to assess the efficacy of notifications is CTR (clicks on the push button notifications). Another metric is the user’s actual transaction on the app. These metrics may not be completely scientific. But notifications do contribute to brand recall and recognition.

The basic aim of these notifications is commercial gain, and not entertainment.