Which is the best way to engage our customers — email marketing or push notifications?
With all the digital communication channels that are available to us today, we might feel confused about which particular medium we should focus on for our marketing efforts.
All digital triggers — which include emails, SMS messages, and push alerts — have value because they are similarly designed to evoke certain actions and reactions from their audience. However, the various types of digital channels have crucial differences as well.
Here, we analyze the pros and cons of both push notifications and email marketing strategy to find out which one is more effective in reaching our customers and in achieving our sales goals.
The Pros and Cons of Push Notifications
Push notifications are special alerts that are “pushed” to the mobile phone, tablet, and other smart devices of our customers.
Pros
- Push notifications are delivered immediately so they can promote instant interaction with your customers.
- Push notifications can enable users to check out the app or website of your company or brand with just one click.
- Push notifications can promptly alert customers about time-sensitive announcements from your company, such as special events or promotions.
Cons
- Push notifications can contain only a very limited amount of information about your brand or company.
- Push notifications may be disabled by your customers on their devices if they find them spammy.
- Push notifications from your company may get overlooked in the midst of all your customer’s other push notifications.
The Pros and Cons of Email Marketing
Email marketing is a traditional form of digital marketing that uses email messages to reach out to customers.
Pros
- Email marketing promotes customer loyalty because it engages them over time through a series of related email messages.
- Email messages can contain more substantial information about your company or brand, as well as its products and services.
- Email messages are less likely to get overlooked because an email inbox is relatively less busy than an active gadget screen.
- Members of your mailing list are less likely to unsubscribe if you send them quality content they can benefit from.
Cons
- Email messages are not the ideal vehicle to share time-sensitive announcements from a company because the customer is not likely to open them immediately.
- Email promotions may possibly end up in the spam folder, if the recipient is not in your mailing list.
Which One is Best?
Both the email marketing strategy and the push notification strategy have their advantages and disadvantages. Push notifications are a good marketing tool, especially if we simply wish to promote a certain event or brand sale.
However, email marketing is still the best long-term marketing strategy, especially if we wish to build a strong relationship with our customers and to cultivate their trust and loyalty.
