As marketers, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stand out and get your customer’s attention amongst the other numerous apps on your customer’s phones. There are hundreds of thousands of apps designed to cater to our every need, all trying to keep us engaged and motivated. 

The recent iOS changes with privacy and data have made it even more difficult for apps to properly target content towards their customers. The success of your app comes down to your customers’ experience, and how well engaged you can keep them throughout the customer journey.

One of the best ways to increase engagement with your app is by boosting your notification opt-in rate–enabling you to send targeted communications to your customer, which if done well can improve retention by 39%.

We researched what the top 20 wellness apps do to increase this key metric. Read on to learn how you can incorporate industry best practices to get and keep your customer’s attention, taking your company to the next level.

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1. Let Your Data Do the Talking

Rather than trying to convince your customer that opting-in to notifications will be beneficial to them through words, let the numbers do the talking. Much of the health and wellness customer base is looking for accountability, so if you have concrete numbers on how app notifications influence customer success, share them with your customer. Let them know that they have the power to be a part of a successful group of users by opting in. 

The apps above did a great job of using powerful numbers– “3x more likely to reach their goals” and “losing 64% more weight” speak to the success of your app, and more importantly, tie these numbers and customer success directly to notification opt-in. Give your users something tangible to believe in 🤩 .

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2. Be Transparent

Letting your customer know exactly what to expect from you is another proven method in increasing your notification opt-in rates. A customer is more likely to consent to notifications if they understand what they are signing up for and find value in what’s described. While transparency is vital, be sure your notifications are genuinely what you claim they will be – too many notifications, especially ones your customers aren’t expecting, can be detrimental to your customer retention. 

These top wellness apps did a great job of communicating exactly what their notifications will consist of. By doing so, they were also able to communicate the value they’ll provide the customer. Additionally, telling the customer that they are able to opt out anytime, as the first app did, can convert customers who might be on the fence about your app, reminding them that opting-in to notifications can be undone at any time👍.

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3. Use FOMO (fear of missing out)

The last thing your customer wants is to miss out on is the benefits of your app. This makes successfully communicating the value of notifications extremely important– they are more likely to say yes to something they fear they will regret missing out on. Our research shows that 70% of the top wellness apps presented their customers with screens like the ones above– explicitly presenting the importance of notifications to the customer experience. 

The apps above do a great job of using phrasing like “don’t miss out” and emphasize that the user should opt into notifications to get the “full experience,” all while communicating the necessary information to their customers in the most straightforward way possible. 

Showing the customer examples of notifications they might receive and even allowing them to choose what types of messages to receive are both great ways of integrating the customer in the process without overwhelming them with too much information. The last thing you want to do is confuse your customer, so stick to a minimalist design and just enough content so they are informed (and want to see more 😉).

Make the Ask, and Follow Up

At Wishroute, we are committed to seeing you succeed. With how much competition there is for your customer’s attention, we believe it’s critical to engage customers in the most compelling way possible as early as possible and have a strong follow-up communication strategy. 

Including an optimized app notification opt-in prompt in your onboarding process, and automating follow-up prompts after signup for those that don’t opt-in initially, gives you the greatest chance of being able to communicate with your customers post download. Collecting other forms of communication like email and sms (which is our favorite 😉) is equally important. 

Through these communication channels, you can remind customers of the intention that brought them to you and the value your app delivers – increasing free-to-paid conversion, retention, and customer success🚀

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Want to learn more? Get in touch with us here to learn more about how Wishroute can help you better communicate with your customers!

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