Email Vs Push Notifications: Know the Key Differences

Often, brands use emails and push notifications to get in touch with their audiences. Businesses leverage both email marketing and push notifications to attract subscribers to their websites to perform the desired outcome. Though it seems like both email and push notifications serve the same purpose, they are different and cater to separate sets of audiences.

Yes, they are different and serve a vastly different set of customer expectations. But, of course, they seem to be great marketing tools for brands to let people know about their updates or recommend products.

Though both emails and push notifications come as handy tools for brands, they have their own pros and cons. For instance, emails may end up in the spam folder, or the recipients may ignore them. On the flip side, sending push notifications at an unwanted time may spoil your brand promotion.

Let’s discover more about email and push notifications and understand the differences. Read on for valuable insights regarding these handy marketing tools email and push notifications.

What is Email Marketing?

Email marketing is the practice of sending commercial emails to a list of contacts who have given consent to receive emails from your brand. Brands often leverage email marketing to inform their contacts, drive sales, and build a community around their brand.

Today, email marketing is not generalized and one-size-fits-for-all type message. Instead, it is a personalized message that focuses on consent and segmentation. Though it may sound time-consuming, technologies and tools available today will make it easy for you.

Advantages of Email Marketing:

In general, email marketing enables brands to connect with their audience consistently. Here are some reasons why email marketing is ideal for your brand:

• Perfect for Commercial and Promotional content:

Transactional emails tend to receive more opens and clicks just like any other type of email, generating more revenue. So, yes, this kind of statistics ensures that emails can be a worthy marketing tool.

• Ideal for Long or Sensitive Information:

Email is the best option for sending official communications like receipts, booking confirmations, or sensitive information like log-in credentials. Plus, emails are ideal for long-form content like ebook downloads and tutorials.

• Perfect for Personalization and Customization:

One can’t deny the fact that emails can help you run effective and personalized marketing campaigns. Brands can include images, graphics, or text-only emails according to their business needs and target audience’s interests.

• Tailored Marketing:

Brands can divide their audiences into segments with trending marketing tools available today. Thus, they can send emails based on demographic details like age, gender, financial status, and location. Plus, brands can also run separate email campaigns for new customers and long-term customers.

Disadvantages of Email Marketing:

• Compared to other channels like push notifications, messenger updates, and SMS, email marketing often results in low click-through rates.
• Email is not an instant way to communicate with audiences. Though everyone has email apps on their phones, people rarely check as compared to SMS and other forums. However, despite low click-through rates, emails offer more ROI than other modes of marketing.

What are Push Notifications?

Push notifications are pop-up messages that show up on the user’s screens. Users can click through those messages and check for the updates instantly. Push notifications are quite effective as users can see them regardless of the device or the browser they use.

Brands use push notifications to quickly convey messages, offers, sales, and other important information to their customers. The most appealing factor behind push notifications is that the users can receive them even if they are browsing elsewhere and not on your website or app.

Advantages of Push Notifications:

Push notifications allow brands to connect with customers even if they are not active on your website or mobile app. Thus, you can convey time-bound messages like last-minute offers, deals, and discounts to users instantly. Here are some advantages you can enjoy with push notifications.

• Ideal for time-sensitive Content rather than Promotional Content:

Push notifications are ideal for time-sensitive offers like shipping information, order delivery information, and sending reminders. The idea is to send information that users will find helpful.

• Perfect Cross-Platform Delivery:

Users can receive push notifications even when they are not actively present on your website or app. That is what sets push notifications apart from other messaging channels. Yes, while email and other social media applications work upon opening the application, push notifications appear even if the browser surfs randomly elsewhere.

• High Click-Through Rates:

Push notifications receive higher click-through rates over emails because of their visibility and time sensitiveness. So, one can safely assume that push notifications grab the audience’s attention compared to an email.

• Quick Subscription:

You will need consent from your subscribers to send any marketing content, no matter what. With push notifications, the opt-in process is quick and easy.

Yes, when a visitor arrives on your website or app, all they need to do is click allow notifications. Upon doing so, they are on your list. It benefits the subscribers as they can stay updated about your latest content without giving you their email addresses. For brands, they can grow the lead list without worrying about incomplete fields and fake email addresses.

Disadvantages of Push Notifications:

• Push notifications may interrupt the user when they are working, in the middle of a meeting, or doing any crucial task. So, you must make sure you don’t annoy your customers.
• Push notifications are not ideal for sending general updates. It is better to opt for push notifications if the message is time-sensitive or an announcement.
• Aggressive sales tactics may turn into aversion. Of course, sending promotional content constantly to your subscribers is not an ideal way to build trust. So, sending personalized notifications based on the user’s interests and past buying history is mandatory.

Email vs Push Notifications:

You can keep emails as long as you need. On the other hand, push notifications to have character limitations. Apart from that major difference, here are a few things to keep in mind before sending push notifications, email, or any marketing content for that matter.

• Focus on delivering high-quality Content:

Whatever you choose email marketing or push notifications, the quality of the content should be good and relevant.

• Be Consistent in meeting expectations:

Once you create a list, make sure you meet the customer’s expectations. Make sure you share personalized content that the users will find beneficial.

• Convince the Search Engines:

Though Push notifications or emails may not play a direct role in your search rankings, Google weighs a brand through all its content, right from text ads, blog posts, push notifications to emails.

Final Thoughts:

Both push notifications and email marketing are sophisticated marketing tactics that can benefit brands. Ideally, it is all about when to use what.

As we saw, push notifications are ideal for sending reminders of upcoming deals, sales, and more. In other words, push notifications are best for time-bound information.

Email marketing gives you sufficient room to educate about your brand or build enough curiosity making your readers click through. Thus, if your product demands more explanation or introduction, go ahead with email.

Hopefully, this blog cleared the air about emails and push notifications. Leveraging the most suitable marketing tool is the key to business success.