When it comes to mobile marketing, push notifications and SMS have proven to be effective in their respective fields. But which one is better for your business? To answer this question, it's important to understand the difference between the two. Text messages are electronic messages that are sent between phones, while push notifications are brief alerts triggered by an application. Push notifications are sent to the recipient's desktop or mobile device, regardless of whether they have the app open.
They appear on the lock screen with an audible alert and can contain text material, links, buttons, images, music, GIFs, emojis, videos, personalized calls to action, audio, etc. On the other hand, SMS text messages mainly contain text and links. When it comes to reachability, SMS delivery rates are almost 90%, while push notifications are around 75%. However, push notifications offer marketers a unique ability to direct users directly to specific content or in-app events.
If a company is trying to improve targeted communication about its product to existing customers within its application, push notification is absolutely the way to go. However, for broader and more horizontal communications, SMS will always be the first choice. Push notifications are a good way to remind users to perform certain tasks, especially during the onboarding phase. Avoid sending push notifications for reference information that the customer may need access to later, messages without any immediate value proposition, and long messages.
When it comes to longer lasting message content and deeper customer interactions such as ongoing promotions, support messages, and alerts, SMS is more suitable than push notifications. To maximize the reach of your message and get the most out of both push notifications and SMS text messages, it's important to understand when to use each one. Push notifications are ideal for real-time updates and limited-time offers such as one-day promotions. On the other hand, SMS is suitable for longer lasting message content and deeper customer interactions.
