Although Android has supported web push across mobile devices for years, Apple has historically barred companies from sending these eye-catching mobile-first web alerts.

Over the years,  Safari held out as a significant outlier in providing this capability — until the release of iOS 16.4.

iOS16 and Expanded Browser Support for Mobile Push Notifications

Finally, an exciting announcement at Worldwide Developers Conference '22 confirmed support for mobile web notifications on Safari mobile by 2023.

With iOS16, companies with a web-first model will soon have an innovative way to engage their users, expand engagement, and drive key business goals.

Apple claims slightly over half of the mobile market share in the United States and close to 20% worldwide, which means the recent enablement of web push on iOS devices represents a tremendous business opportunity for web-first companies.

Giving Web-First Companies a Mobile-First Mechanism for Engagement

Every company should strive to engage with consumers on a mobile-first basis, but mobile engagement can present a challenge for businesses with a web-first model. Whereas companies with a mobile app can send their users timely push notifications and spur reengagement directly within their apps, web-first companies have historically been forced to use alternate channels to reach audiences on iOS mobile phones.

As a result, web providers have had to improvise their engagement strategies by asking users to opt into SMS or email as alternative communication options.

Why do Companies Choose a Web-First Business Model?

Mobile app development incurs a high cost and requires a significant investment of resources. Oftentimes, it doesn’t make sense for businesses with a successful web-first model to invest the necessary time and resources in creating an app if doing so won’t ultimately benefit their monetization model. But that doesn't mean they should completely ignore the overwhelming web traffic on mobile devices.

For modern companies that are not app-based (eg "Mobile-First"), mobile web notifications are a viable alternative engagement channel to reach iOS target audiences.

The Benefits of Using Mobile Web Push Notifications on iOS

Here are a few key statistics illustrating the importance of using mobile web notifications as part of your engagement strategy for iOS 16+ users.

• Apple Safari claims almost 25% of the global browser market share
• Whereas the average email click-through rate (CTR) is between two and three percent, push notifications have an average CTR of eight percent
• iPhone users statistically earn a higher average annual salary than Android users and spend an average of $101 per month on technology products, which makes them a higher-spending market segment.

A Brief History of Browser Support for Web Notifications

Historically, Apple’s lack of support for mobile web notifications has dramatically slowed the adoption and utility of web push as a channel. Previously, even if an Apple device had a supported browser installed, users would still have been unable to receive web push notifications.

In 2015, Chrome became the first browser to implement support for the web push notification API. Today, additional browsers — Chrome and Firefox on OS, Windows, OS X, Safari on OS X, and others — have implemented support for web push. Since web push notifications have existed, Android developers have leveraged this channel to reach their mobile users, creating a more cohesive mobile web experience.

Finally, In early 2022, Apple hinted at support for web push on mobile devices in its first Beta of iOS 15.4. In 2023, with the release of iOS 16.4, iOS push notifications became a reality.

How to Implement Mobile Web Push Notifications

1) Know the Basics of How They Work

Before you deploy mobile web push notifications, you should understand how they appear to your end users and how they are configured.

Mobile web notifications are displayed on the corner of a user’s screen in a fashion that’s strikingly similar to a mobile push notification… (Wow!) On a mobile screen, they appear at the top or right side of a mobile device’s screen, provided that a user has their web browser open.

When a web notification is sent, users click on it, which will take them back to a URL defined by the company in question. Web push notifications are received on a permissions-only basis, meaning your users must opt into this communication channel. The web push experience also differs across browsers. Some allow more freedom to include images and other elements.

The delivery of push notifications involves two APIs — a notification API and a push API. Every browser uses a different notification delivery service to deliver web push notifications. Chrome uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Safari uses Apple Push Notification Service (APNS), and Firefox uses MDN Servers. To start sending notifications, you’ll first need to install a web-based SDK from a web push service on your site.

2) Understand Permissions Frameworks

Mobile web push notifications are a permissions-based channel, similar to SMS or email. Although the prompting experience is similar to desktop web push notifications, on mobile devices, the native browser permissions prompt takes up a user’s entire screen.

On iOS, users must add a web app to their home screen in order to subscribe to and receive mobile Safari web push notifications. Logistically, that means that in order to send web push on iOS, web-first companies must: 1) ensure that their app leverages Progressive Web App (PWA) features, and 2) Provide additional guidance in the opt-in process to direct users to add the app to their home screen.

Examples of an 'Add to Home Screen' iOS Web Push Permission Prompt

Here are some examples of iOS app prompts that direct users to add their app to the home screen in order to subscribe to notifications.

3) Be Strategic With Your Opt-In Strategy

When it comes to requesting opt-ins for the mobile web channel, you’ll want to be strategic in when, how, and in what way you ask to open this new mode of communication.

Delaying the Native Prompt

Delaying the native browser prompt and crafting a custom prompt message can help incentivize users to subscribe by providing the necessary context and instructions to do so.

By first communicating the value of receiving mobile web notifications, you’re likely to gain more subscribers and instill initial trust in your brand. With the optimal web push provider, you can better cater your permissions request using a custom prompt, bell prompt, or category slide-down message.

With a strong marketing automation provider, you can also modify when users see push permission prompts based on criteria such as the number of page views or time spent on a page in order to better time your permissions request.

4) Be Mindful of the Differences between Mobile and Web Push on Mobile Devices

As we’ve discussed, web notifications operate in a different way than mobile push notifications. They are delivered to the end user through a given browser via a different path than traditional mobile push notifications, contingent on a company's mobile app.

Although mobile push and mobile web push notifications have a similar appearance on the end user’s device, web push notifications are only seen by users who are currently active on the device in question. This is another reason why you should aim to optimize your experience based on users’ activity and behavior patterns using strategies such as tagging and segmentation.

Get Started with OneSignal

OneSignal is designed to help you send notifications and seamlessly manage your user communication across various channels, including mobile push notifications, web push notifications, bulk SMS, iOS Live Acitivites, in-app messaging, and email. Our platform is quick to set up and makes it easy to send engaging messages across every OS and browser, including iOS, without doing any development work. If you don't have a OneSignal account, you can create one for free and start sending push notifications to your users today.

Used by more than eight percent of top websites, web push notifications are a widespread and effective communication channel. These messages offer a critical mechanism for websites to reach their users with timely and personalized messages.

Web push is used by companies with websites desiring to connect with users to drive greater engagement and conversions as well as to improve the digital user experience —even after a user has left their website.

These messages are displayed on a visitor’s desktop, tablet, or mobile device when they have their web browser open. When a user clicks on a web push notification, they are sent to a URL the company has defined. When displayed on desktop, web push notifications appear as a popup on the side of a user’s screen and are also stored in a computer’s notification center. On mobile devices these notifications appear similarly.

Getting Users to Engage on Mobile

Web notifications are sent via a web browser to user’s device. Because web push are sent through a web browser, they cannot be seen by a user unless their browser is open. Mobile push notifications take a different path to delivery than web notifications, as they are sent directly to a device’s operating system (iOS, Android) and are contingent on your company having a mobile application. Mobile push notifications are only viewable on a mobile device, whereas web push notifications can be transmitted via desktop or mobile. However, unlike mobile push notifications, which are delivered to a user’s lock screen regardless of whether they’re active, web push notifications are only seen by users who are currently active on the device In question. Nonetheless, they are a critical way of reengaging users who are active on the device but may be engaged with or distracted by another activity.

In order to begin sending web notifications, companies must first integrate with a web push service. Generally, companies choose a third-party notification provider to do so. Sending these messages is supported by popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, and more. The appearance of web push differs across browsers. Some allow more freedom to include images and other elements.

How Does Opt-In Permission Work?

The web push channel is supported by Android and iOS devices. Some browsers that currently support mobile push notifications include Chrome and Firefox on OS, Windows, OS X, Safari on OS X, and more.

The protocol for subscribing to mobile web push on supported browsers is the same as it would be for desktop web push, aside from minor differences in the following:

1. How custom web permission prompts are displayed
2. How the native browser permission prompt displays — it takes up the full screen on mobile

On iOS, users must also add an app to their home screen in order to subscribe to web push notifications.  

How to Send Web Push Notifications on iOS and Android

Creating a Custom Permission Prompt & Delaying the Native Prompt

In order for users to actually receive these alerts via their mobile browsers, they must first give their permission to receive your mobile web push communications. Companies can request permission through a browser’s native permission prompt, which appears immediately when users click on your site.

However, if you’re hoping to be more strategic and tactical in gaining subscribers, you may decide to delay this permission request and create a custom prompt (eg a pre-permission prompt) in order to demonstrate the value of this channel and provide essential context before the native prompt appears. This context is especially important for iOS web push given the unique opt-in process.

If you decide to delay your opt-in, use that extra time to showcase your top features and products. Make sure to include a compelling reason for users to subscribe, such as receiving breaking news headlines from your news site.

In addition, make sure to prompt your users at a relevant time, optimizing for their timezone and typical usage patterns. You can also base your timing on their on-site behavior, like page time or number of pages browsed. Delaying the web push permission prompt until a visitor has viewed a certain number of site pages can increase the likelihood of opt-in.

What are the Elements of a Web Push Notification?

Web push notifications often include a title, body content, a notification URL, a banner image, a browser icon, the web domain, and action buttons. These messages appear differently across operating systems and browsers. Although these notifications are small in size and content, brands put thought into their notification strategy to convey the right message, visuals, and calls-to-action (CTA’s) at the right moment in time.

Is Web Push Supported by iOS?

Although Apple was late to the game, at WWDC22, they announced support for web push on iOS and iPadOS devices with the release of iOS 16. Learn more about how iOS web push is changing the game for web-first companies.

How to Configure Web Push for Mobile

In order to send mobile push notifications, companies must first install a web-based SDK from a web push service on their site. Generally, you’ll want to ask a tech-savvy member of your team to first register the service worker on the browser in question.

Push notifications make use of two APIs: a notification API and a push API. Every browser uses a different notification delivery service to deliver web push notifications.

Chrome uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), Safari uses Apple Push Notification Service (APNS), and Firefox uses MDN Servers.

Finding a Web Push Provider

OneSignal is designed to help you send notifications and seamlessly manage your user communication across a variety of channels, including web push. We provide built-in support for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other top web browsers and mobile operating systems so you can engage your entire audience across every platform without doing any development work.

Get Started with OneSignal

With OneSignal, you can send web push notifications for free on desktop and mobile devices. The best part? It's free. Create an account to discover why we're the most popular global messaging solution.

Firebase recently announced its plan to terminate the usage of legacy Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) APIs, effective June 20, 2024. As a result, specific APIs will be deprecated to make way for new, more secure, and higher-performing alternatives.

The major consequence of these API decommissions is that FCM users will no longer have the ability to send messages using the Legacy HTTP Protocol API, which will be discontinued in June. In order to continue to send batch messages with FCM, Firebase has outlined a migration process for users to switch from the legacy FCM APIs to HTTP v1.

Which FCM APIs/SDKs will be deprecated?

Server APIs

• Legacy HTTP Protocol
• Legacy XMPP Protocol
• Instance ID Server APIs
• Device Management API
• Upstream Messaging via XMPP
• Batch Send API

Firebase Admin SDK APIs

• sendToDevice()
• sendToDeviceGroup()
• sendAll()/sendAllAsync()/send_all()/sendMulticast()/SendMulticastAsync()/send_multicast()

Client SDKs

• GCM SDK
• JS SDKs (v<7.0.0.0)

Alternatives to Firebase Cloud Messaging

If you’re using FCM to handle your user messaging, then migrating and rebuilding your messaging infrastructure is likely to be a heavy lift — one that you may not be too keen to take on and maintain as you grow. As the deprecation date approaches, now is an ideal time to make the switch to a messaging provider like OneSignal that will manage the backend migration and maintenance for you so you can invest your time and resources into your core product.

OneSignal leverages FCM but is designed to provide even more flexibility and functionality than Firebase’s notification console and API. We support a range of batching mechanisms in addition to features such as Idempotent notifications, Confirmed Delivery, advanced notification personalization and targeting based on real-time user behavior, and unparalleled speed and reliability. All of these features are available on our robust free plan, which has no limits on API calls, push tokens, or push messages. You can check out our API documentation for more details.

In addition to supporting mobile and web push notifications and in-app messaging, our platform has an intuitive UI that empowers even non-technical users to oversee notification strategy and manage multiple messaging channels, including email and SMS, from a single dashboard. For clients that are looking to uplevel their messaging strategy, we also offer a variety of advanced optimization, automation, and analytics features on different plan types to help you scale in an agile and sustainable way.

How OneSignal is Handling the FCM Deprecation

We’ve worked hard to handle the heavy lifting of the FCM migration so that our existing users are able to get up to speed in a couple of simple, quick steps. To make sure you're set up for success when the deprication occurs, follow Step 2: Ensure Firebase Cloud Messaging API (V1) is Enabled in our Android: Firebase Credentials documentation.

New to OneSignal? Our vast documentation library, SDKs, and APIs make setup a breeze, so you can start seeing value immediately. Let us keep your engagement solution running flawlessly, so you never have to worry about handling another messaging deprication or update. Simply create a free account or reach out to us to discuss what plan type is best suited to your needs.

For subscription apps, making the right impression is crucial. The median app-download-to-trial-start conversion rate is just 3.7%. This means 96.3% of users don’t take that vital first step in engaging with the apps they download.  

Not all subscription apps offer a free trial (one-third do not), but the takeaway is clear: subscription apps have to overcome this roadblock if they’re to successfully monetize their downloaders.

Onboarding is one of the most important ways of nudging users onto the right path of trial and conversion. But there is a balance to be struck. It’s essential to educate users about the app’s features during onboarding, but bombarding users with too much information too quickly can overwhelm them and lead to disengagement or abandonment.

On the other hand, if the onboarding process doesn’t adequately educate users about the app's value and features, users may not fully understand the app's benefits. This can result in early drop-offs, as users might not see a reason to continue using the app.

Two-pronged problems often require a two-pronged solution. With the powerful integration between OneSignal and RevenueCat, let’s walk through how to craft an onboarding sequence that reduces user churn specifically for subscription-based apps.

Understanding User Churn

First, let’s get on the same page about new user churn. Churn describes the number of users a mobile app is losing within a given timeframe, commonly measured seven days or 30 days after installation. Every mobile app, subscription-based or otherwise, experiences user churn. In the subscription model specifically, your app's financial success relies on a consistent stream of subscribers. When users cancel their subscriptions or stop using the app altogether, it leads to a loss of recurring revenue (and a decline in long-term sustainability.)

Furthermore, acquiring new users to replace churned ones is costly, making retention of existing subscribers absolutely critical for maintaining profitability and growth.

On average, apps lose 77% of their DAUs (daily active users) within the first three days after installation. Within 30 days, this number jumps to a 90% loss of DAUs.

So yes, user churn is the built-in leaky hole in the boat of every mobile app… but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to make it smaller. A proactive approach to combating user churn can help subscription-based apps identify and address issues before users decide to cancel their subscriptions. By engaging users with personalized content, timely reminders, and tailored incentives, apps can improve the overall user experience from the starting line, boosting retention rates and ultimately enhancing their long-term revenue potential.

Distinguishing User Churn From Subscription Churn

While user churn pertains to the overall loss of app users, subscription churn is more specific. It measures the percentage of active subscriptions that were lost during a given period that have not yet resubscribed. While all subscription churn is user churn, not all user churn is subscription churn. For instance, a user might continue using a freemium version of an app after their subscription ends, contributing to subscription churn but not user churn. According to research, after one year, weekly subscriptions retain about 3%, monthly ones about 11%, and annual ones around 28%.

The Power of Onboarding Messaging

Mobile app onboarding acts as the bridge between user interest and user retention. This process can take various forms, including tutorials, interactive guides, tooltips, and video walkthroughs. Regardless of your mobile app onboarding strategy, one thing does remain constant: Without a proper welcome sequence to pave a path of effortless engagement from the start, users will immediately churn — most likely due to either a lack of understanding of your app or sheer boredom and distraction.

A well-designed onboarding sequence should accomplish the following three actions to drive user interest and jumpstart subscription revenue.

1. Educate – Onboarding should provide clear information about your app's key features, how to navigate, and how to perform essential tasks.
2. Engage – Onboarding should capture users’ attention and interest from the moment they first open your app, enticing them with immediate key value drivers and rewards.
3. Enable – Onboarding should build a foundation for continued success within your app, well after onboarding is complete.

Typically, mobile apps rely on three types of onboarding to give new users traction within their app to promote retention: Function-oriented, benefits-oriented, and progressive onboarding. While there is no end-all-be-all between the three to ensure the least amount of churn, the type of your mobile will most likely dictate which onboarding sequence to lean on the most.

Function-oriented onboarding – Suitable when your app's value is primarily derived from its features, and users need to learn how to use these features to get the most out of the experience. Function-oriented onboarding is best for apps with complex interfaces or features, ensuring that users understand how to navigate through the essentials of the app, without uninstalling or unsubscribing due to frustration.

Benefits-oriented onboarding – Most effective when your app's value proposition is easily understood and appreciated without an in-depth understanding of its features. Benefits-oriented onboarding packs the most punch with apps that provide clear, immediate benefits or solutions to users' problems. If your app’s primary selling features are easy adoption and time-to-value, this onboarding sequence aims to focus on lifestyle improvement over any specific in-app features.

Progressive onboarding – Perfect for attempting to ease users into your app's ecosystem, reducing the risk of overwhelming them and encouraging long-term engagement. Subscription-based apps or apps with a diverse feature set can both benefit from this gradual onboarding sequence.

Crafting the Winning Onboarding Sequence

Step 1: Define Your Onboarding Goals

Before you start designing your onboarding sequence, it's crucial to define clear goals.

How Long Should Onboarding Take?

• You may want to leverage a short-term onboarding process over one to three days to throw users into your app more directly, especially if your app is more simplistic in nature.
• Perhaps seven days is the sweet spot to properly educate new users on key app features.
• Alternatively, you may get creative and use a refresher onboarding sequence to periodically remind users of different features or provide updates on new functionality.

What Metrics Will You Use to Measure Success?

• User Activation Rate: This metric tracks the percentage of users who complete a specific action or set of actions during onboarding. This could mean signing up, completing a profile, or engaging with a core app feature.
• Onboarding Completion Rate: Measure the percentage of users who successfully complete the entire onboarding process and go on to use the app regularly or subscribe to a premium service.
• Drop-off Rate: Analyze the stages of your onboarding flow and identify where users tend to drop off. High drop-off rates at certain points may indicate issues that need attention.
• Revenue Metrics: If the primary goal of onboarding is to drive revenue (e.g., subscription conversion), track revenue-related metrics, such as average revenue per user (ARPU) and user lifetime value (LTV).
• Churn Rate: Measure the rate at which users stop using the app after onboarding. Lower churn rates indicate that onboarding effectively retains users.

What do you want to achieve during the onboarding process? These goals will shape your content, messaging, and overall strategy. Common onboarding goals include:

• User Activation: Encourage users to complete a specific action, such as signing up, setting up a profile, or completing a tutorial.
• User Education: Provide valuable information about your app's features and benefits to help users understand its value.
• User Engagement: Foster early engagement by showing users the most relevant content or features.

Step 2: Segment Your User Base

What you need to start:

• A OneSignal free account (or upgrade to paid for more complex use cases and to access Journeys)
• A RevenueCat account (integrations like the one with OneSignal are part of the standard, free plan)
• Integrated RevenueCat SDK in your mobile app (iOS | Android | React Native | Flutter)
• Integrated OneSignal SDK in your mobile app
• OneSignal integrated with RevenueCat

Not all users are the same, and a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works for mobile app onboarding. Utilize RevenueCat's subscription analytics to segment your user base based on their subscription. This segmentation allows you to tailor the onboarding experience to different user groups.

For example, targeting new users allows you to provide a comprehensive introduction to your app's core features. Targeting free trial users affords you the space to emphasize the specific benefits of upgrading to a premium subscription. You may want to only focus on returning users to highlight what's new since their last visit to re-engage them.

Here is an example of how to segment users who have been dormant for over 10 days:

In your OneSignal dashboard, in Audience, navigate to Segments select New Segment.

This is where you will select your filters (which may be combined to create specific segments.) Select the Last Session filter to target the last time a user visited your app or website.

Set this last session to be "greater than" 240 hours. This will tell us how many users have not returned to the site or app in over 10 days.

Step 3: Create Personalized Onboarding Flows

Your mobile onboarding sequences should be clear and concise, uniform in design, and encourage new users to start succeeding with your app immediately.

To replicate the above example in OneSignal, you'll be using the in-app carousel feature to easily customize your onboarding walkthrough process. In the carousel builder, you can create up to 10 cards containing copy, logos, and your choice of CTA.

You can customize your sequence on a card-by-card basis by editing fonts, specific colors, alignments, linking destinations. When you thin you've got a winner, swipe the in-app message Demo screen to view the card like a real device.

To fully understand the importance of both timing and targeting when it comes to your onboarding sequence, let’s walk through a day-by-day breakdown of an onboarding flow for a hypothetical music streaming app called “MusicWave.” The app offers a 7-day free trial with multiple subscription tiers (Free, Premium, Family).

Day 1: Trial Start Push Notification

Channel: Push Notification

Message: "Welcome to MusicWave! 🎶 Enjoy Premium features FREE for 7 days. Listen ad-free, download songs, and create playlists. Tap to start."

Goal: Engage users at the beginning of their trial and inform them about Premium features.

Bonus tip: You only get one chance at a first impression. Ensure that your first push notification provides a seamless and valuable experience. In the above example, you may direct users to a personalized, curated playlist or a selection of trending songs to immediately showcase the app's value. The more painless a user’s first few taps are in your app, the chances of user engagement and retention increase dramatically.

Day 2: Benefits-Oriented Onboarding

Channels: In-App Message, Email

In-App Message: "Unlock Full MusicWave Experience!"

Goal: Highlight Premium features and encourage users to explore Premium-exclusive content.

Email:

Subject: "Upgrade to Premium for Ultimate Music Experience"

Pre-header: “Take advantage of half off the ad-free experience…”

Goal: Emphasize Premium value and introduce a limited-time offer for subscription upgrade conversions.

Bonus tip: Show, don't just tell. Instead of simply listing premium features, use interactive onboarding to demonstrate how to use them effectively. For this example, you may decide to guide users through the process of creating their first playlist or downloading a song offline. Hands-on experiences help users understand benefits better.

Days 3-4: Trial Expiration Warning

Channel: Email

Subject: "Your MusicWave Trial Ends Tomorrow!"

Body Message:

"Hi [User's Name],

Your MusicWave Premium trial ends tomorrow! 🎵 Upgrade now to avoid interruptions and continue enjoying ad-free music: [CTA Button]: Upgrade to Premium

Stay tuned,

The MusicWave Team"

Goal: Send a reminder about the trial expiration and offer an upgrade option.

Bonus tip: Offer an irresistible incentive. To encourage users to upgrade before the trial ends, provide an irresistible incentive, such as an exclusive curated playlist or early access to new releases. Make sure to highlight this incentive in the email to capture their attention and motivate them to take action.

Days 5-6: Subscription Entitlement ID Targeting

Channels: In-App Message, Push Notification

In-app message:

“This encore is unlimited. Upgrade to premium for just $7.99/month!”

Goal: Use entitlement IDs to target Trial and Free plan users who have demonstrated active engagement with the app. These are users who have listened to music, created playlists, or interacted with the app's content during their trial period.

Push Notification (for Family Plan Users):

Goal: Highlight Family plan benefits and cost-effectiveness. Use entitlement IDs to target users based on their current plan and offer relevant upgrades.

Bonus tip: Leverage social proof. To encourage users to upgrade to a premium plan, consider incorporating social proof elements in your in-app message and push notification. Highlight testimonials or reviews from satisfied Premium users who have experienced the app's full benefits. This instills trust and confidence in the upgrade decision, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Day 7: Trial End Reminder and Grace Period Notification

Channels: Push Notification, In-App Message

Push Notification (Morning):

"Last Day of Your Premium Trial!"

Goal: Remind users that the trial ends today and provide an upgrade link for last-minute conversions.

In-App Message (Evening, After Trial Ends):

Message:

"Your trial is over but it’s not too late! Last chance to go Premium and keep your custom playlists!"

Goal: Use trial end and grace period notifications to prompt users to take action before losing Premium access.

Bonus tip: Create a sense of urgency. In the morning push notification, include a limited-time offer or discount for upgrading. Convey a sense of urgency by emphasizing that it's the "last day" of the trial. Encourage users to act quickly to retain Premium benefits. If you opt for an email reminder instead, consider implementing a ticking countdown clock to capitalize on FOMO.

Ongoing: Post-Grace Period Engagement

Channels: Push Notifications, In-App Messages

Continue engaging users with personalized content recommendations. Use push notifications to highlight new releases and exclusive content with occasional reminders about Premium benefits and subscription options.

Goal: Keep users engaged and interested in the app's content even after the trial and grace period, with the goal of converting them into paying subscribers over time.

Bonus tip: Gamify the user experience. Implement gamification elements to make the app experience more enjoyable and interactive. For example, create challenges, badges, or rewards tied to user activity. Offer special privileges or content to users who complete specific actions or achieve certain milestones within the app. Gamification keeps users engaged, motivated, and more likely to stick around.

Step 4: Implement A/B Testing

A/B testing is the closest thing you will have to a crystal ball for onboarding success. Whether you’re using OneSignal’s A/B testing to compare tone, emojis, images, and sounds or you’re leveraging RevenueCat’s A/B testing to test paywall conversion rates with churn comparisons or refunds… the value of conducting real-time mobile message experiments cannot be understated.

Use these A/B testing examples for inspiration to get started:

• Test variations of your welcome message to see which one leads to higher activation rates.
• Experiment with different incentives to encourage users to subscribe, such as discounts or exclusive content.
• Monitor how changes in the onboarding flow impact user retention and engagement.
• Compare subscription trials and offer types to find out which incentives carry the most perceived value.
• Mix and match how features are packaged and bundled into different pricing plans to hone in on the most cost-efficient ratio of immediate value-to-upsell potential.

And it doesn’t stop there. Your Onesignal ID is connected to Revcat, giving you valuable subscriber history and the ability to look at the lifetime value of your users. Use these LTV benchmarks to help measure the success of your onboarding campaigns over longer periods of time (6 months and beyond.)

Some Things Are Just Better Together

When it comes to mobile onboarding, OneSginal’s messaging reach combined with RevenueCat’s in-app subscription enablement, create a perfect storm of engagement. Rather see for yourself? Both these powerful tools are available for free to start creating onboarding sequences that effectively help extinguish runaway churn rates.

Email is a veteran channel. Unlike channels like push notifications and SMS, email has been around for half a century! As such, the email ecosystem has had ample time to mature and evolve. Today, there are a wide range of modern Email Service Providers (ESPs) to choose from. Choosing an ESP is important because it can either enhance or compromise your email marketing program.

What is an ESP?

An ESP, not to be confused with an ISP (internet service provider), is an email service provider. An ESP is a business that hosts email services and software on independent servers. The best email service providers are a one-stop shop for clients, empowering businesses to send newsletters, distribute surveys, send bulk emails, and more.

Do I Really Need One?

The short answer is yes. If you plan on emailing customers at scale, you need a provider to keep your customer data secure and remain compliant with laws and regulations, at the very minimum. But the right ESP will do more than that — it will meet your business’s unique needs and make your marketing efforts more successful. You’ll want to choose the most appropriate ESP for your business size and functions in order to minimize the time it takes to set up your campaigns, streamline your day-to-day operations, and optimize email campaign performance. With the right ESP, you’ll see savings from major productivity improvements.

What are the benefits of using an ESP?

The right ESP can provide a variety of benefits for you, whether you're a small business or a large enterprise.

Drive Greater ROI

For every dollar spent on email, businesses see an average ROI of  $36, which represents a return of almost 4,000 percent!

Boost Acquisition and Retention

One study shows that 81 percent of small and medium-sized businesses rely on email for customer acquisition and 80 percent use email marketing to retain customers.

Easily Manage Contacts and Audience Preferences

An ESP allows you to manage lists, collect contacts, and evaluate and optimize email campaigns. Some email marketing software are part of an omnichannel solution. Integrating your ESP with other channels allows you to track these contacts and their behaviors across other channels, such as push notifications, in-app, and SMS.

Stay Compliant with Email Laws and Regulations

ESPs also help you stay compliant with international email privacy laws, like CAN-SPAM. If you don’t comply with these privacy regulations, your business can suffer steep fines.

Support Authentication and Security

ESPs help authenticate your emails and protect your email lists from being stolen or hacked. Some ESPs support authentication standards, such as DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.

What to Consider When Choosing a Good ESP

Here are some tips and basic steps for choosing the best ESP for your company.

Be Mindful of Your Main Use Cases

Think about the main types of emails you'll be sending. Are you sending mostly transactional or marketing messages? Are you hoping to send newsletters, dynamic content, drip campaigns, promotional emails, email onboarding sequences, or all of the above? Some ESPs will be better than others for different use cases, whether you're communicating to potential customers or existing ones.

Think About Your Contact List Size

The best ESP for you will depend on the number of contacts you’re sending content to. Often, small businesses with smaller subscriber lists will opt to use providers with a streamlined customer experience, simpler functionality, and a more streamlined feature set. Larger enterprises with huge contact lists and a variety of use cases may opt for enterprise-level ESPs with more advanced features and complex functionality. In addition to contact list size, you should consider your email send volume (a.k.a. the number of emails you plan to send). This becomes a budgetary consideration because some providers charge based on CPMs (Cost Per Mile), or the cost of sending a thousand email messages, while others charge on a subscription basis.

Review Data and Privacy Policies

ESPs store your customers' data, which means data security should be top-of-mind. The last thing you want is for sensitive information to be compromised while en route to its recipient. Consider whether a given ESP meets your security requirements by checking out their data privacy and compliance pages.

Your security needs will also depend on your vertical. If you’re in the healthcare industry, you may need to be HIPAA compliant, for instance.

Consider the types of safeguards a given ESP has for maintaining security, such as firewalls, password policies, and encryption practices. You may also want to think about how accessible your data is, how quickly the database updates, and the given provider’s data storage limitations and costs.

Compare Costs

If you’re on the search for an email provider today, you’re likely aware of the tremendous ROI this medium can have for your business. However, it’s still important to factor cost into your decision. ESPs tend to charge based on send volume or on a subscription basis. Factors that go into the overall cost of this channel include license costs, usage rates, and overage costs. You should also evaluate what a given ESP charges for add-ons.

Are there sporadic billings customers should expect? Also, evaluate your budget based on how much you plan to grow. How much do you plan to grow your send volume and subscriber list over time? If you’re hoping to scale, flexible payment terms and progressive feature access could be useful for your email use case.

Keep in mind that some high-end marketing email providers can get expensive. One million subscribers could cost you $50K+ per year. Transactional email companies are a fraction of the price, but their features may be more limited. Think about what’s best in terms of your use case.

Compare Features

When doing a side-by-side analysis of email providers, think about what capabilities on your wish list are must-haves.

Below are some key email features that good ESPs offer that can help you optimize and scale your engagement strategy:

✅ Deliverability: Ensuring your emails reach your recipients' inboxes is paramount. Look for ESPs with a strong track record of high deliverability rates and a good sender reputation. Find out what factors impact email deliverability.

✅ Email List Management: An ESP should provide tools for managing your email lists, including segmentation, list cleaning, and list growth strategies. Effective list management helps you send targeted and relevant content to your subscribers.

✅ Preference Centers: If you're operating a multichannel engagement strategy, user preference centers are a great way to earn opt-in permission and empower users to control their communication preferences across channels.

✅ Email Templates and Design Tools: Look for a platform that offers customizable email templates and an intuitive drag-and-drop editor for creating visually appealing emails without the need for extensive coding skills.

✅ Automation and Personalization: ESPs should support automation workflows that allow you to send triggered emails, drip campaigns, and personalized content based on user behavior and preferences.

✅ Reporting and Analytics: Comprehensive reporting tools are essential for tracking the performance of your email campaigns. Look for ESPs that provide insights into open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and more.

✅ Integration with Other Tools: Ensure that the ESP can integrate with your existing software, such as CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and analytics tools. This will help streamline your email marketing efforts.

✅ Scalability: Choose an ESP that can grow with your business. It should be able to handle an increasing number of subscribers and email volume as your company expands — without breaking your budget. As you think about scalability, it's worth estimating how much you'll pay as your subscriber base grows and your email strategy becomes more complex. Weigh these costs against your revenue targets and the ROI of your email marketing efforts.

✅ A/B testing: The ability to conduct A/B tests on subject lines, content, and other elements of your emails is essential for optimizing your campaigns over time.

✅ Mobile Responsiveness: Given the prevalence of mobile device usage, it's crucial that your emails are mobile-friendly and that the ESP supports responsive design.

✅ Security and Compliance: Ensure the ESP follows best practices for data security and complies with email marketing regulations such as GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act.

✅ Customer Support: Evaluate the level of customer support and training provided by the ESP. You'll want a provider that offers reliable support when you encounter issues or have questions.

✅ Pricing and Cost Structure: Compare pricing plans and make sure the ESP's cost structure aligns with your budget and anticipated email marketing needs.

✅ Deliverability Tools: Look for features like spam testing, authentication protocols (DKIM, SPF, DMARC), and bounce handling to improve your email deliverability.

✅ API and Developer Support: If you have more complex integration requirements, ensure that the ESP offers a robust API and documentation for developers.

✅ Multichannel Capabilities: Depending on your marketing strategy, you might also consider ESPs that support other communication channels like SMS, push notifications, and social media. Before you get set up with a provider, consider your long-term goals and assess the risks associated with siloing your email software from other channels.

✅ User Interface and Ease of Use: The ESP's user interface should be intuitive, making it easy for your team to create and manage email campaigns efficiently. To ensure marketing and product teams can move quickly without technical support, look for a low-code/no-code solution.

✅ Customization and Branding: Some ESPs offer white-label solutions, allowing you to customize the platform with your branding, which can be important for agencies or businesses with multiple brands. Maintaining a consistent brand experience across email campaigns and other platforms is also important, so it helps to find an email provider that makes it easy to seamlessly incorporate your brand colors, logo, headers, footers, and design elements into messages.

✅ Data and List Segmentation: The ability to segment your email list based on various criteria, such as demographics, behavior, and engagement, is crucial for sending relevant content. Learn more about email segmentation best practices.

✅ Subscription Prompts: Some providers like OneSignal offer pre-built web prompts to help you grow your subscriber list.

By considering these features and conducting thorough research, you can find an Email Service Provider that aligns with your company's specific needs and goals. It's often helpful to start with a clear understanding of your objectives and a list of must-have features to guide your selection process.

Don't Overlook the Benefits of a Consolidated Platform

If you’re managing multiple channels as an app marketer, managing your messaging campaigns and data in one platform can streamline your workflow, be more cost-efficient, promote greater collaboration between channel owners, reduce the risk of over-messaging, and ultimately help you deliver a better UX. Omnichannel engagement solutions like OneSignal will let you send from a single dashboard and API.

The most effective providers will provide a means to auto-tag and segment your target audience across channels based on real-time behavior. Automating these processes will help ensure that your subscriber lists remain clean regardless of where the touchpoint occurs and will empower you to deliver more personalized experiences as you scale without adding to your workload.  

OneSignal's Data Tags feature helps you automatically tag and segment users based on their in-app behavior or engagement with your campaigns. This real-time segmentation will empower you to better guide your users through each touchpoint along your customer journey.

Consider Time-to-Value and Learning Curve Friction

How easy is a given software to implement and get results from? How much technical support is needed? Take a look at the time and resources you’ll need to get up and running with a given ESP and land emails in your subscribers' inboxes. Do some research on how much their support team is available for migration and what API implementation might look like.

Along with ease of implementation, you should also evaluate the size and bandwidth of your email team and the time you have to invest in learning your email provider's abilities. Ease of use may be a higher priority for you if your team has limited time to spend learning the platform.

In addition, you’ll want to consider how much technical support you have for your email design and execution. The right email service provider will have more robust features for non-technical users such as email message builders and a single place to view data.

Check Out Customer Support, Documentation, and Reviews

No matter how intuitive a platform is, you're bound to need support at some point in time, and it's vital that you can rely on your provider to provide it in an efficient manner. When comparing options, read customer reviews to uncover the quality of support offered, and the average support ticket turnaround time. In addition, check out their documentation, resources, and guides to see if you can easily troubleshoot issues with the company’s available resources.

Why Choose OneSignal?

With OneSignal, your brand can get your mailing list's attention, send dynamic email campaigns, and manage your cross-channel conversations from one intuitive platform. We partner with best-in-class ESPs, including SendGrid, Mailgun, and Mailchimp to offer seamless email marketing automation alongside every engagement channel you need. Learn more about how to drive results with OneSignal email, and reach out to us to get started today!

We're proud to empower over two million businesses to send billions of messages daily and always work to ensure their data remains secure and private. As part of those efforts, we’re excited to announce that OneSignal is now SOC 2 Type II certified!

What is SOC 2?

SOC 2 is an auditing standard created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) that sets compliance standards for a company’s security controls. We focused our controls around the Trust Service Criteria for: Security, Confidentiality, and Privacy.

Why is SOC 2 important?

SOC 2 provides third-party validation that an organization has implemented and is operating with security best practices. The certification shows that an organization has deeply invested in maintaining a commitment to cybersecurity. This provides confidence and trust for companies that want to use our service.

What was the process like to achieve SOC 2?

We first started with a gap analysis to determine what existing controls we had that were SOC 2 compliant and what new controls we needed to implement in order to meet SOC 2 compliance. In total, we put together 79 controls across the organization that meet the requirements set by SOC 2.

With the controls in place and operational, we tackled the Type I point-in-time audit. It was a moment of validation when our auditors confirmed our controls were operating properly.

Lastly, we underwent a six-month assessment period for our Type II audit. This was a significant test as we provided over 400+ pieces of evidence to demonstrate that we were in compliance with SOC 2 standards. All the hard work was worth it when we passed our audit successfully with no deviations discovered!

HIPPA Compliance

Our work in achieving SOC 2 certification has also helped us in our goal to achieving HIPAA compliance. For those not aware, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law that regulates how companies and healthcare providers handle protected health information (PHI) to ensure proper data security. We are happy to say that we now support a core aspect of HIPAA compliance by offering a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to Enterprise Plan customers.

What’s next?

Beyond SOC 2 and HIPAA, we have recently added Single Sign On (SSO) as well, emphasizing our commitment to maintaining a high level of security for our customers. We’re continuing to invest heavily in this area to address our customers' needs. To get a copy of our SOC 2 report or request our BAA, feel free to reach out to us!

If you’re in the marketing bubble, you’ve likely heard the acronym “ASO,” which stands for App Store Optimization.

App Store Optimization is a growing priority for mobile app publishers as the number of apps on the market skyrockets.

Take the following statistics for context:

• In 2023, there are over 2.24 million apps in the Apple App Store and over 3.6 million apps in the Google Play Store
• Searches in the app store drive 67 percent of new downloads
• The mobile app market is predicted to grow by USD 653.91 billion from 2021-2025

How important is app store optimization?

Think about the standard steps app users take in finding the app that scratches their itch. Data shows that the most common way users find apps is through native search.

Most consumers are familiar with the process of opening the app store, querying what you’re looking for, and viewing the top few listings that appear.

To support this, Google reports that 40 percent of phone users search for apps within app stores.

With over five million apps on the market, however, your platform faces tight competition. Ranking high and maintaining an optimal position in app store search results is becoming harder and harder over time.

If you devote thought to ASO strategy now, you can ensure that your platform will naturally continue to grow in the rankings over time.

Benefits of App Store Optimization

Here are some additional key benefits you can expect from ASO.

Increase Discoverability: ASO helps you get noticed by the right users by increasing your chances of appearing high in the search results.

Decrease Acquisition Costs: Rather than over-spending on paid ads, ASO allows you to target users through organic search, which empowers you to optimize your customer acquisition costs and invest further in the customer experience.

Reach Global Audiences: By optimizing your app listing for different regions, you can localize for global audiences who may now better find and appreciate your offering. This will help you expand into new markets.

Increase Installs: Perhaps the most obvious but also the most important benefit of ASO is increasing the number of installs your app receives. The higher you rank in popular stores, the higher the number of downloads you will get over time.

How does app store optimization work?

ASO focuses on driving click-throughs, downloads, and conversions for your app through improved visibility in popular app stores.

The process of creating an ASO strategy consists of taking the time to optimize each important element of your app’s listing. Although ASO is often compared to SEO, the process of optimizing your app for app stores is significantly more straightforward than optimizing for web searches. SEO depends on hundreds of factors, whereas ASO can be narrowed down to a smaller number of components.

The exact steps you take to optimize your app for the Apple App Store and the Google Play store will depend on each store’s unique ranking algorithm.

Each algorithm scores your app in a different way, so you’ll want to do the appropriate research to learn how each works.  Here, we’ll get into some background.

Optimizing for App Store Search on iOS and Android

In the process of developing, testing, and finally launching a mobile app, you’ll want to submit it to the most popular app stores in order to be published.

The two most common app marketplaces are the Apple App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android devices. Each will rank your app according to a slightly different list of factors based on their unique algorithms.

The key differences, which we’ll elaborate on below, include how each store handles keywords, rankings and reviews, and updates.

App Store Optimization Best Practices

1. Conduct Keyword Research

Successful ASO begins with in-depth keyword research. Start by understanding your target audience and the words and phrases they are likely to use when searching for apps like yours. ASO tools can be invaluable for keyword research, allowing you to identify relevant keywords and assess their search volume and competition. Don't forget to incorporate long-tail keywords to target more specific and less competitive search terms.

For both app stores, keywords are the number one component you need to focus on to achieve a favorable rank. Both the Apple and Google app stores will index your app based on keywords, with a couple of distinctions.

The Google Play Store will evaluate your app based on all text elements to rank you for keywords, whereas the Apple App Store gives you an explicit field for keywords. Keyword optimization in Google Play will involve simply optimizing your description and app title.

Research keywords in your category and prioritize claiming those with high search volumes and low competition. The keywords you target will largely depend on your category and your competitors. In general, make sure not to keyword stuff to the point that it compromises the quality of your copy. Example keywords you can target include “fitness” and “weather.”

2. Optimize Your App Title & Subheader

Your app's title is a critical element for ASO.

This is the first field that users see and use to understand what your app actually does. Not only that, but it’s also the biggest ranking factor that algorithms use in placing your app in the search results. It's essential to include relevant keywords in the title while maintaining readability. If your app is well-known, consider including your brand name in the title to increase brand recognition, especially if your brand carries a strong reputation. Try to clearly communicate the value of your app in a concise and user-friendly way.

In both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, you’re limited to 30 characters.  

Examples of Well-Optimized App Titles:

• Spotify - Music and Podcasts: This title includes the app's name, "Spotify," which is well-known, and the terms "Music and Podcasts," indicating its primary functionality. The subtitle, "Discover the latest songs," speaks to the value the app provides and compels action and excitement.

• Clue Period Tracker & Calendar: This title includes the app's name, "Clue," which is less recognizable on its own. "Period Tracker & Calendar" is both concise and indicates the primary function of the app. The use of the "&" instead of writing "and" saves space and helps searchers focus on the keywords. The subtitle, "Cycle, Fertility & Ovulation," captures additional keywords and value props for different types of users (those attempting to conceive and those looking to track and understand their cycle).  

3. Be Thoughtful About Your App Icon

Your app icon is the first visual impression users have of your app. It's vital to create an eye-catching and memorable icon that accurately represents your app's purpose. A well-designed icon can significantly impact the click-through rate of your app.

Attributes of Well-Designed App Icons:

• Simplicity: A well-designed app icon is simple and uncluttered. It conveys the core concept or purpose of the app with a clear and easy-to-understand visual.
• Uniqueness: It's distinctive and stands out in the crowded app store environment. An original design helps users remember and recognize your app.
• Relevance: The icon is directly related to the app's functionality, so users can quickly understand what the app does.
• Consistency: The app icon maintains visual consistency with the app's brand and user interface. This consistency reinforces the app's identity.
• Scalability: It's designed to look good at various sizes, from small icons on the app store to larger icons on the device's home screen.
• Legibility: Text, if used, is legible at small sizes. Avoid cramming too much text or detail into the icon.
• Color Scheme: The color scheme is pleasing to the eye and is consistent with the app's overall branding. Color choice should evoke the right emotions and match the app's target audience.
• Visual Hierarchy: It effectively uses visual hierarchy to guide the user's focus to the most important elements of the design.

Example of a Well-Designed App Icon: WhatsApp Messenger

The WhatsApp app icon is a clean, green speech bubble. It represents the core function of the app: messaging and phone. The green color adds a sense of friendliness.

Attributes of Poorly Designed App Icons:

• Too Much Complexity: A poorly optimized app icon is overly complex and contains too many elements, making it difficult to understand at a glance.
• Generic Design: It looks like countless other app icons and doesn't help the app stand out. Generic icons may result in users overlooking your app.
• Irrelevance: The icon may not clearly represent the app's function, leading to confusion among potential users.
• Inconsistency: It deviates from the app's overall branding or design language, leading to a lack of visual harmony.
• Legibility Issues: Text may be too small or difficult to read, especially on smaller screens. Users should not struggle to make out the app's name or purpose.
• Poor Color Choices: The use of colors may be jarring or unattractive, detracting from the overall aesthetic.
• Visual Noise: The icon may have excessive visual elements that create confusion rather than clarity.
• Lack of Focus: It doesn't effectively guide the user's eye toward the essential elements, making the purpose of the app unclear.

4. Optimize Your App Description

Your app's description is an opportunity to highlight key features, benefits, and what makes your app unique. Make sure to use relevant keywords naturally within the description to enhance discoverability. A well-crafted description can influence a user's decision to download your app.

Example of an Effective App Description:

5. Include Clear Screenshots and App Previews

Visual assets such as screenshots and app previews are crucial for conveying the functionality and benefits of your app. Use them to tell a visual story that entices users. A/B testing different screenshots can help you determine which ones generate the most conversions, so experimentation is key.

Screenshots also give potential users a sneak peek into your app. You have the opportunity to include up to three in your app listing, so choose wisely in deciding what parts of your app to highlight.

You can also optionally include animations or videos in your app store listings. The videos you can display are referred to as app promo videos in the Google Play Store and previews in the Apple App Store. Make sure whatever video components you include clearly highlight your app’s core features and a positive user experience.

6. Earn App Reviews & Ratings

Positive reviews and high ratings can significantly impact an app's conversion rate. Encourage satisfied users to leave reviews through in-app messages or notifications. Check out these powerful strategies to increase app reviews and improve you app rating.

It's also important to respond to user reviews, both positive and negative, to show your commitment to improving the app based on user feedback.

Tips for Responding to Positive App Store Reviews:

• Express Gratitude: Start your response by thanking the user for their positive review. Show appreciation for their support and feedback.
• Personalize Your Response: Personalize your response by mentioning specific aspects of their feedback or the features they liked. This demonstrates that you've read their review and value their input.
• Reinforce Positivity: Reiterate the positive points they've made about your app. Emphasize the aspects they enjoy and appreciate.
• Encourage Loyalty: Encourage the user to continue using your app and to share their positive experiences with others. This can help with user retention and word-of-mouth promotion.
• Provide Support or Assistance: Offer assistance or support, if relevant. If the user has mentioned an issue or suggested a feature, you can assure them that you're working on it or provide guidance.

Tips for Responding to Negative App Store Reviews:

• Stay Calm and Professional: Maintain a professional and empathetic tone in your response. Stay calm and avoid becoming defensive, even if the review is critical.
• Acknowledge the Issue: Start by acknowledging the user's concern or problem. Show that you understand their point of view.
• Apologize and Take Responsibility: If the issue is valid, apologize for any inconvenience or frustration the user experienced. Take responsibility for addressing the problem.
• Offer Solutions or Explanations (Not Excuses): Provide solutions to the issue or offer an explanation if necessary. Let the user know how you're working to resolve the problem or improve the app.
• Request More Details Privately: If the issue is complex or requires more information, ask the user to contact you privately to provide further details. This shows a commitment to resolving the problem.
• Highlight Improvements and Commitment: Mention any recent or upcoming updates or improvements to the app that address the user's concerns. This demonstrates that you're actively working to enhance the app.
• Thank Users for Feedback: Regardless of the review's negativity, thank the user for taking the time to provide feedback. Constructive criticism can help you make your app better.

7. Localize Your App and Your Listing

If you intend to reach a global audience, consider localizing your app. For the app store, this involves translating your app's title, description, keywords, and visuals to cater to different markets. Be mindful of cultural nuances and preferences in various regions to ensure your app's appeal.

Beyond the app store, localizing your app experience can be a powerful and worthwhile endeavor. Achieving a more localized app experience doesn't need to be difficult — localizing your messaging and engagement strategy is a great place to start and see immediate results.  

8. Invest in Regular App Updates

Regularly updating your app with new features, bug fixes, and improvements is essential to keep users engaged. An app that receives regular updates demonstrates that the development team is active and attentive to user needs.

Keep the "What's New" section of your Apple App Store listing up-to-date to showcase your commitment to improvement and get potential users excited about recent changes.

9. Leverage Social and Paid Channels to Market Your App

Beyond ASO, promoting your app through various channels is critical. Utilize social media platforms to reach a wider audience. Consider influencer marketing as a means to leverage popular figures who can endorse your app to their followers, generating more interest and downloads.

10. Track and Analyze the Performance of Your App Store Listing

Monitoring key ASO metrics is crucial to gauge the effectiveness of your strategies. These metrics include keyword rankings, conversion rates, and download numbers. Analyzing user reviews and feedback will help identify areas for improvement, allowing you to make data-driven decisions.

Key App Store Optimization Metrics Include:

• Keyword Rankings: Keep an eye on the positions of your app in the search results for targeted keywords. Monitoring keyword rankings helps you understand how well your ASO efforts are driving visibility in the app stores.
• Organic Downloads: Measure the number of downloads your app receives from organic search results. These are users who discover and install your app without clicking on paid ads or external links.
• Conversion Rate: Calculate the percentage of users who visit your app's store listing and then proceed to download the app. A high conversion rate indicates that your app store page is effective in persuading users to install your app.
• App Ratings and Reviews: Track the average user rating and the number of reviews your app receives. Positive ratings and reviews can significantly impact app conversion rates and download numbers.
• Retention Rate: Assess how well your app retains users over time. A high retention rate indicates that users find value in your app, which can positively influence your app's store ranking.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Measure the percentage of users who click on your app's listing in search results. A higher CTR indicates that your app's icon, title, and visuals are compelling and attractive.
• Cost Per Install (CPI): For paid advertising campaigns, calculate the cost per install to understand the efficiency of your advertising spend. Lower CPI indicates more cost-effective user acquisition.
• App Store Impressions: Track how often your app store listing is shown in search results. Higher impressions can result from improved keyword rankings and an optimized app store page.
• User Engagement Metrics: Assess user engagement within your app, such as the number of sessions, time spent in the app, and the completion of in-app actions. Strong user engagement can positively impact rankings and reviews.
• Localized Metrics: If your app is available in multiple regions, analyze performance metrics for each market. Different regions may have varying levels of competition and user behavior.
• Competitive Analysis: Regularly monitor the performance of competing apps, including their keyword rankings, ratings, and reviews. This helps you identify trends and opportunities in the market.
• App Store Listing Updates: Keep track of how changes to your app store page impact metrics like conversion rate and downloads. A/B testing can be used to determine the effectiveness of different elements on your page.
• User Feedback Analysis: Examine user reviews and feedback to identify trends and areas for improvement. Addressing user concerns can lead to higher ratings and better app performance.
• In-App Analytics: Utilize in-app analytics tools to understand user behavior within your app. This data can inform updates and enhancements to your app's features and functionality.
• App Uninstalls: Keep an eye on uninstall rates to understand why users are deleting your app. Reducing the uninstall rate is important for long-term success.

11. Test, Iterate, and Repeat

It's important to remember that your ASO strategy is not a one-time task but an ongoing process. Continuous learning and adaptation are necessary to stay ahead in the ever-evolving app ecosystem. Based on data and user behavior, continually refine your ASO strategies and optimize your app store presence.

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is highly relevant to ASO as it allows you to systematically compare different variations of your app store listing elements to determine which ones perform best. A/B testing in the context of ASO can help you make data-driven decisions and optimize your app store page for higher conversion rates, increased downloads, and better visibility. Examples of app store elements to test include keywords, app icons, screenshots, titles, descriptions, videos, and subtitles.

12. Study Your Competitors

Competitive analysis is a crucial component of any App Store Optimization strategy, as it helps you understand the landscape in which your app operates and identify opportunities for improvement. When conducting a competitive analysis for ASO, here are the types of analysis you should consider:

• Keyword Analysis: Identify the keywords and search terms that your competitors are targeting in their app store listings. Analyze which keywords are driving traffic and downloads for their apps.
• App Store Rankings: Determine the rankings of your app and your competitors for relevant keywords. This helps you understand your app's visibility and competitiveness in search results.
• App Store Listings: Study the app store listings of your competitors. Analyze how they structure their titles, descriptions, and use of visuals like screenshots and icons. Look for trends and successful elements in their listings.
• User Reviews and Ratings: Read user reviews and ratings for your competitors' apps. Identify common pain points, feature requests, and positive aspects that you can learn from to improve your own app.
• App Updates: Monitor the frequency and content of updates your competitors release. Frequent updates often indicate an active and responsive development team, which can be a factor in ASO.
• App Localization: Investigate if your competitors are localizing their app listings for different regions. Analyze how well they adapt their app's content and keywords to cater to specific markets.
• Promotional Activities: Research the promotional strategies of your competitors. Are they running paid advertising campaigns or using social media and influencer marketing to promote their apps? Learn from their promotional tactics.
• User Engagement: Examine how engaged users are with your competitors' apps. Metrics like the number of downloads, active users, and session durations can provide insights into the popularity and stickiness of their apps.
• App Monetization: Explore how your competitors monetize their apps. Do they offer in-app purchases, subscriptions, or ads? Understanding their revenue model can help you make informed decisions about your own.
• Competitive Differentiators: Identify what makes your app stand out compared to your competitors. Assess your unique selling points and strengths and use this information in your ASO strategy.
• Updates and Iteration: Track changes in your competitors' app listings, such as updates to their titles, descriptions, and visuals. Competitive apps evolve, and analyzing their iterations can provide insights for your own updates.
• Negative Feedback: Pay attention to user criticisms or negative feedback for your competitors' apps. This can help you avoid making similar mistakes and improve your app's user experience.

The goal of competitive analysis is not merely to replicate what your competitors are doing but to gain insights, learn from their successes and failures, and identify unique opportunities that can give your app a competitive edge. ASO is an ongoing process, and staying informed about your competitors is crucial for long-term success in the app marketplace.

App Store Optimization Tools

There are a variety of app store optimization tools on the market that you can consider leveraging if you’d like to invest in a more in-depth ASO strategy. Common services these tools provide include troubleshooting your app store performance, giving you detailed analytics, providing keyword optimizations, helping you monitor competitor performance, and providing ad intelligence.

While many ASO tools and services require a subscription or payment, there are some free tools and resources that can help you get started with optimizing your app's presence in the app stores.

Free ASO Tools:

1. Mobile Action's Free Option: This platform offers ASO keyword analysis and information about the app marketplace. The free version allows you to track 5 keywords and provides recommendations on how to improve and move up in rankings.
2. SearchMan: Is primarily focused on app market intelligence, giving you insight into your app visibility and how you stack up against the competition.
3. Google Keyword Planner: This tool by Google helps you research and find relevant keywords for your app. It can be particularly useful for optimizing your app's presence on the Google Play Store.
4. Apple Search Ads Campaign Manager: If you have an iOS app, Apple provides the Search Ads Campaign Manager for free. It can help you identify keywords and track the performance of your app's search ads.
5. Sensor Tower's Free ASO Tool: Sensor Tower offers a limited free version of its ASO tool, which allows you to track your app's visibility and keyword rankings.
6. Mobile Action's Free ASO Tool: Mobile Action offers a free ASO tool that provides basic keyword tracking and app performance insights.
7. AppAnnie's Free Features: AppAnnie, a popular app analytics platform, offers some free features, including app performance tracking and basic ASO insights.
8. Google Trends: Google Trends can help you identify trending keywords related to your app's category and niche. It's a valuable resource for keyword research.
9. KeywordTool.io: This online tool can help you find long-tail keywords and generate keyword ideas for your app's ASO strategy.
10. AppFollow's Free Plan: AppFollow offers a free plan that provides limited ASO features, such as keyword tracking and review monitoring.
11. ASOdesk Free Plan: ASOdesk offers a free plan with basic ASO tools, including keyword research and competitor analysis.
12. Apptweak's Free ASO Tools: Apptweak offers a limited set of free ASO tools, including keyword analysis and app performance insights.

Remember that while these tools and resources offer free plans or features, they often have limitations compared to their paid counterparts. Paid ASO tools and services typically provide more comprehensive data and features for in-depth optimization. Consider using a combination of free and paid tools to create a well-rounded ASO strategy for your mobile app.

Paid ASO Software:

The top-rated app store optimization tools of 2023 include companies like AppTweak, App Radar, Data AI, AppFollow, ASO Mobile, Asodesk, Appfigures, ASO Tools, Checkaso, SensorTower, and SplitMetrics.

Keeping Users Engaged After Download

One of the biggest problems that mobile apps face is app churn. A whopping 74 percent of users will churn just one day after installing a mobile app. To maximize your CAC spending and ensure that your ASO work pays off, it's important to create a meaningful app onboarding experience and build automated engagement campaigns to keep users connected to your app.

OneSignal is quick to set up and makes it easy to automate onboarding flows and cross-channel engagement campaigns from an intuitive dashboard. Easily build push notification campaigns, send in-app rating requests, execute user surveys to earn meaningful feedback, re-engage churned users, and much more. If you don't have a OneSignal account, you can create one for free and start building campaigns today. Set them up once and continue to reap the rewards as your app grows!

Black Friday and Cyber Monday signal the start of a frenzied few months for more than just shopping and spending. It’s a frenzied few months of urgent engagement across our entire collective lifestyles. What do we mean when we say “urgent engagement?” Family gatherings, decades-long traditions, new recipes, special school events, end-of-year work sprints, and yes, on top of it all, credit card-straining shopping sprees. It’s a variable “circus of things” that runs 24/7, full speed, from November through the New Year.

As our attention spans struggle to focus on our own circus of things, mobile devices have become indispensable tools for helping manage the whirlwind. During the 2022 Black Friday weekend, US shopping apps in particular collectively saw more than 9 million downloads, a record 9% increase compared to 2019. But it’s not just eCommerce — music, cooking, and gaming apps all see download spikes this time of year as people look for ways to set the holiday mood around the house or kill time at reluctantly-attended family gatherings (we've all unfortunately been there.)

As marketers, it’s critical we not only understand the true scope of holiday marketing for mobile apps, but also how to harness it to deliver record-breaking engagement. In addition to lifting revenue, the holidays provide a great opportunity to delight users and express gratitude.

Preparing Your Mobile App for the Holiday Season

As you prepare for the healthy dose of increased traffic resulting from your holiday promos and campaigns, you must make sure your app is up to the task. A sudden, heavier user load can expose previously hidden performance and UX flaws — both of which will throw a sizable wrench in your sales during the most competitive months of the year.

Your due diligence begins with re-examining your app's load times to ensure users have a smooth and responsive experience. This is especially important during the holiday season when people have limited patience for slow apps. You can achieve this by:

• Compressing images and other assets to reduce file sizes.
• Implementing lazy loading for images and content that isn't immediately visible on the screen.
• Minimizing HTTP requests and using content delivery networks (CDNs) to serve content efficiently.
• Caching frequently used data and resources to reduce load times for returning users.
• Utilizing Message Throttling techniques in your engagement strategy to balance incoming app traffic with your server capacity.

What is “lazy loading?”

Lazy loading is a technique that defers the loading of non-essential resources (such as images or content) until the user requests or interacts with them, reducing initial page load times and improving performance.

Your next focus should be on including user-centric features and design elements in your mobile app. Improving your mobile app user experience is one of the best ways to kindle stronger app retention rates. Suppose you have a travel app that helps users plan vacations and explore new destinations. To engage and delight users during the holiday season, you could implement a "Winter Wonderland" promotion. When users open the app, they are greeted with a festive holiday theme, special discounts on winter getaways, and unique travel itineraries for holiday destinations like cozy mountain cabins, warm tropical escapes, or local holiday tours.

Crafting a Comprehensive Holiday Messaging Strategy

You can’t start any journey without a destination in mind. By defining clear holiday marketing goals and KPIs you gain focus, direction, and a measurable way to evaluate the success of your campaigns. Examples of key holiday marketing goals and KPIs for mobile apps include:

Increase Sales

• KPI: Total Revenue – Measure the total revenue generated during the holiday season compared to previous periods.
• KPI: Conversion Rate – Track the percentage of website visitors who make a purchase.
• KPI: Average Order Value (AOV) – Monitor the average amount spent by each customer per transaction.
• KPI: Sales Growth Rate – Calculate the year-over-year increase in sales.

For context, in 2022, mobile conversion rates reached their holiday highest (3.6%) on Cyber Monday.

Improve User Engagement

• KPI: Click-Through Rate (CTR) – Measure the percentage of users who click on your holiday campaign ads or content.
• KPI: Social Media Follower Growth – Monitor the increase in followers and subscribers on social platforms.
• KPI: Time Spent on App (aka Session Duration)  – Track how much time users spend engaging with your mobile app.
• KPI: MAU & DAU
• KPI: App Downloads & Retention Rate (3-day, 5-day, one week, etc)
• KPI: Content Shares – Measure how often your holiday content is shared by users.

Engagement is no easy task! In 2022, the browse abandonment rate for Black Friday shoppers was 86.73% for mobile. To be clear, this is before shoppers even add things to their cart. Browse abandonment rate is the percentage of users who visit an online store or website, view product pages, but then leave without taking any further action whatsoever.

Streamlined Cost Efficiency

• KPI: Return on Investment (ROI) – Calculate the ratio of revenue generated to the cost of holiday marketing.
• KPI: Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)– Measure the cost of acquiring a new customer through holiday campaigns.
• KPI: Ad Spend Efficiency – Assess the efficiency of your advertising spend in generating sales or leads.

After you’ve identified your marketing goals and KPIs, you’ll want to keep a close eye on them over the duration of the holidays. Tracking performance allows you to gauge the success of your campaigns. You can determine which campaigns, strategies, or channels yielded the best results, such as increased sales, user engagement, or brand visibility. This information helps you identify what's working and what isn't.

Data will inform your decisions for future holiday campaigns and your ability to eliminate underperforming strategies, allocate your budget more efficiently, and identify long-term cyclical trends.

Holiday Marketing For Mobile Channels: The More The Merrier

When crafting your Black Friday and Cyber Monday mobile marketing plans, it’s important to use reach and consistency to your advantage. People have different online behaviors and preferences, so using multiple channels allows you to reach a broader audience. Repetition across these multiple channels reinforces your message and increases brand recall. But remember, people are bombarded with messages during this time, so a consistent “quality over quantity” approach will ultimately make your brand more memorable.

The best way to deliver quality messaging is through mobile messaging personalization. If you plan to cut through the (intense) digital noise of Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing, you must create tailored messages and offers that resonate with individual preferences.

Segmenting your audience based on factors like purchase history and engagement behavior enables you to provide highly relevant content. When customers see products, deals, or recommendations that align with their interests and needs, they are much more likely to engage and convert. Personalized reminders, like emails and push notifications that highlight abandoned cart items with incentives help encourage users to complete their purchases.

Different channels cater to different stages of the customer journey. For instance, social media might be used for brand awareness, email for nurturing leads, and in-app messages for maintaining engagement. Using all these channels together ensures your brand remains top-of-mind throughout the funnel. Once you activate users on all available channels, you can really start to get creative with how you cross-promote your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. For example, you can use email to promote your social media giveaways or use your website to highlight email sign-up offers.

Six Ways Squeeze the Most Out of Black Friday & Cyber Monday Marketing for Mobile Apps

1. Building Anticipation through Messaging Campaigns

Urgency – it’s the key psychological driver that powers holiday spending, for better or for worse. Countdowns, such as "12 Days of Deals" or "Hurry, Sale Ends in 24 Hours," create a sense of scarcity and encouragement to snag once-a-year discounts. Shoppers are more likely to make a purchase when they feel that time is running out. Use countdowns to highlight specific deals or events. For example, you can feature a different product or discount each day leading up to Black Friday or include a live countdown timer in a Cyber Monday email campaign.

If you think the end of October or beginning of November is too early to start building anticipation for the holidays, think again. This is the exact moment when you need to be flexing those enticing teasers. Share sneak peeks of upcoming products, exclusive holiday collections, or surprises to pique interest and build anticipation.

Consider stoking curiosity by teasing mystery offers or discounts that will be revealed at a later date. This encourages customers to stay engaged with your brand throughout the holiday season.

2. Timing and Scheduling Messages Effectively

Being the early bird has its benefits. Early campaigns allow you to engage with your audience over an extended period. Instead of a brief, intense burst of activity, you can maintain a consistent presence in the minds of your customers. Starting early also provides the opportunity to educate customers about your offerings, special promotions, and exclusive deals. It gives them time to consider their choices and plan their purchases (part of that anticipation we were talking about!)

According to SaleCycle, on Black Friday itself, the peak time for online traffic from mobile devices was at 9 p.m.

Email Campaigns: Utilize email marketing to reach your existing customer base. Schedule a series of emails with different themes: "Save the Date" emails, product previews, exclusive offers, and reminders. Consider sending teaser emails at least a week before Black Friday and Cyber Monday to create anticipation. Then, schedule follow-up emails with more details and reminders as the big days approach.

In-App Messages: Use in-app messages to share exclusive sneak peeks, provide tailored recommendations, and deliver abandoned shopping cart alerts. These messages should start creating anticipation well in advance to maximize user engagement.

Social Media: Plan a social media content calendar with regular posts that highlight your Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, engage your audience with interactive content (polls, quizzes), and feature customer testimonials. Schedule posts strategically to align with different stages of your campaign, from teaser posts weeks in advance to real-time updates and reminders on the days of the events.

Push Notifications: Send time-sensitive push notifications on Black Friday and Cyber Monday itself. These should include flash sale alerts, limited-time offers, and updates on the latest deals. Make sure to schedule these notifications to coincide with the start of your promotions.

Customer Support: Make sure your customer support team is adequately staffed and prepared to handle increased inquiries during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period. Consider offering extended support hours.

SMS: SMS marketing is a perfect channel for offering early access to existing subscribers, flash sale alerts, and reminders on the final days leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Send last-minute reminders on the morning of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This serves as a friendly nudge to users who may have forgotten about the event or to notify them of flash sales happening during the day.

To help achieve the precise timing necessary to personally engage users between all these channels will require automation. Other than significantly reducing the manual effort required to execute each aspect of your holiday mobile marketing plan, automated campaigns eliminate the need for constant monitoring and intervention. This streamlines week-to-week workloads, allowing your marketing teams to focus on other critical tasks, like content creation and strategy refinement.

Most importantly, automation allows you to scale. As your user base and campaign complexity grow, mobile messaging automation tools can effortlessly handle the increased volume of messages and interactions. It ensures that every user receives a consistent and timely message, even when dealing with thousands or millions of customers, ultimately maximizing the reach and effectiveness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday mobile marketing efforts!

3. Maximizing User Engagement with Messaging Channels

Gamification describes the process of incorporating mobile app mechanics that highlight interactive elements, a sense of accomplishment, and joyful discovery. But make no mistake, this approach can be used by plenty of non-gaming mobile apps. By offering holiday-specific challenges, rewards, and engagement opportunities, you can enhance user experiences and strengthen customer loyalty during the holiday season.

Consider leveraging some common gaming elements like points, badges, and leaderboards into your app to encourage user engagement for the holidays.

• Holiday Challenges: Create holiday-themed challenges and quests that users can complete within your app or website. Offer rewards or points for completing these challenges. For example, a "12 Days of Christmas" challenge where users can unlock new rewards each day.
• Seasonal Avatars and Badges: Allow users to customize their avatars with festive holiday attire or accessories. Introduce limited-edition holiday badges that users can earn and proudly display.
• Festive Progress Bars: Use progress bars with holiday visuals like snowflakes, ornaments, or stockings to track users' advancement in loyalty or reward programs. Make the journey towards rewards feel like a holiday adventure.
• Holiday Photo Contests: Encourage users to share holiday-themed photos related to your products or services. For instance, a "Best Holiday Decorations" contest where participants share photos of their decorated homes.
• Gift-Giving Points: Encourage users to earn loyalty points by referring friends or family to your business. Award extra points or rewards during the holiday season when gift-giving is prominent.
• Limited-Edition Holiday Swag: Reward loyal customers with limited-edition holiday merchandise like branded holiday mugs, sweaters, or ornaments. These items can serve as mementos of their loyalty and add a festive touch to their celebrations.

If you do happen to have your own mobile game, then we have a guide just for you. Check out these 10 tips for creating engaging and rewarding in-game challenges.

4. Sometimes, Delight is Enough

It’s easy to get caught up in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday marketing sprint for downloads and sales. So much so that many mobile apps lose sight of the value that lies in purely enjoyable branding.

Change your app's icon and splash screen to feature holiday-themed designs that resonate with your brand identity. For example, if you're a travel app, a Santa hat on the logo or a snowy mountain scene on the splash screen can add a subtle touch of festivity without deviating from your core brand identity.

Take this loading screen from Niantic’s hit mobile game, Pokémon GO. No sales offer, just a couple seconds of joy.

Alternatively, think about your existing loyalty programs. If your brand already has a loyalty program, introduce special holiday rewards or tiers. For instance, a coffee shop app could offer a "12 Days of Brew-mas" campaign where users collect holiday-themed virtual stickers with each purchase, earning a free holiday beverage when they complete the collection.

No matter the route you choose, create holiday content that aligns with your brand's core values and messaging. For example, your fintech app may create a series of holiday-themed financial tips or articles that emphasize responsible spending, budgeting for gifts, or even investing in a tax-efficient manner during the holiday season. These tips align with your app's core message of financial responsibility and empowerment while helping users navigate the financial challenges often associated with the holidays.

5. The Power of User Feedback and Interactive Messaging

As much as it can be hard to admit, people don’t trust brands. People trust other people. The holiday season is an excellent opportunity to encourage user-generated content (UGC) and app reviews to bolster social proof and gain user trust. During the holidays, shoppers are more discerning when making purchase decisions, and they tend to place a higher value on authentic recommendations. UGC and reviews from real users not only build trust but also help potential customers feel more confident about their choices.

This Black Friday and Cyber Monday, focus on forging emotional connections. The holidays are a time when people create lasting memories with family and friends. Encouraging users to share these experiences through UGC not only builds a sense of community but also helps the brand become a part of those cherished memories.

Is there a more appropriate time of year for some quality product unboxing content? With the tradition of exchanging gifts during the holidays, users are eager to show off the thought and care that went into selecting or creating these presents. User unboxing content can provide an authentic glimpse into the excitement and joy associated with gift-giving, making it highly relatable (and highly shareable!) Reach out to mobile influencers in your space to look for opportunities to showcase your app via a mobile walkthrough!

Consider users’ mindsets from the point of view of a hesitant downloader. Shoppers often seek inspiration for their holiday purchases, be it a new app for themselves or a gift purchased via-app for someone else. UGC in the form of app reviews and gift guides can serve as valuable resources. These authentic recommendations from fellow users often lead to increased sales and customer satisfaction.

6. Post-Holiday Follow-Up and Retention Strategies

Just because you netted a hard-fought conversion does not mean you keep the user!

When users engage with your mobile app during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it's an opportunity to convert them into loyal, year-round customers. Setting up automated nurture campaigns ahead of time is a forward-thinking approach that can include personalized welcome emails, mobile app onboarding sequences, and post-purchase follow-ups. They help guide new users through their initial experiences with your app, keeping them engaged and informed about your offerings.

By delivering relevant content and offers to these users in the days, weeks, and even months following the holiday rush, you can strengthen their connection to your brand and improve retention rates. It's essential to plan and set up these automated campaigns well in advance, ensuring that they align with the holiday season and complement the influx of new users. This preparation can help you maximize the value of the holiday period by turning one-time shoppers into loyal, long-term customers.

Parting Words of Holiday Wisdom

Before we leave you to your Black Friday and Cyber Monday prep, we’ll leave you with a few final holiday marketing tips for mobile apps to help you write your holiday-themed messages.

Inclusivity in Referencing Holidays

Holiday marketing for mobile apps is about casting the largest net possible, before drilling down to specific user preferences — cast that net far and wide! Acknowledge the diversity of your audience by referring to holidays in a broad and inclusive manner. Instead of focusing solely on a specific holiday, consider using phrases like "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings." This approach ensures that your messaging resonates with users from various cultural backgrounds.

Brand Authenticity

Stay true to your brand identity. If your brand has a humorous tone, inject humor into your holiday messages. If your identity is more serious or sentimental, craft messages that align with those characteristics.

Emotion and Storytelling

Holidays are a time of emotion and storytelling. Share heartwarming stories, ridiculous anecdotes, or user-generated content that relates to the season. This can create a deeper emotional connection with your audience.

Personalization

Utilize data-driven messaging personalization to tailor messages to individual user preferences. Address users by name and recommend products or services based on their previous interactions with your brand.

Holiday Messaging For the Modern Brand

Ready to start building the ultimate Black Friday/Cyber Monday mobile marketing machine? Our Journeys tool makes crafting multichannel holiday campaigns a joy with an easy-to-use visual builder and automation for every channel at any scale.

Marketing is no longer a collection of isolated, digital islands surrounding one-off customers. It has evolved into a single marketing mainland, offering a unified digital experience to long-term users.

The shift is driven by the growing expectations of consumers who demand a seamless, personalized, and consistent experience across all touchpoints with a brand. Instead of approaching marketing in silos, businesses are recognizing the need to break down these barriers and create an integrated ecosystem. While email marketing is considered “traditional” by way of age, we’re here to remind you just how much your ROI relies on this tried and true messaging channel.

The Silo Effect and its Consequences

The "silo effect" in marketing refers to a situation in which different departments or teams within a company operate in isolation, with limited communication and collaboration with each other. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever been part of a marketing team that operates this way, you know exactly how wasteful and inefficient it is. A lack of coordination and synergy among different marketing functions results in missed opportunities and a fragmented customer experience.

Keeping email marketing separate from other marketing channels can have several consequences, many of which make it more difficult to understand your audience and, by extension, more difficult to retain users.

Let’s take a look at how to combat each of these consequences by bringing a thoughtful email strategy into the fold.

1. A Fragmented Customer Experience

A disjointed approach leads to a customer experience that feels disconnected and irrelevant. At a high level, a customer who receives an email offer might expect to find more information about it on your website or social media. If these channels are not synchronized, it can lead to frustration and a potential loss of trust.

More specifically, you may have a mobile game with a loyal user base. You regularly send out email updates to inform players about new features and in-game events. If you send an email to your players announcing an exclusive in-game event with the promise of unique rewards. Players open the email and click on a link to participate.

In a scenario where your email marketing is segregated from your in-game notifications or messaging, players might encounter problems. For instance, they click the link expecting to be taken directly to the event within the game but instead are redirected to a generic landing page or a website not optimized for mobile. This disconnect can lead to repeated disappointments and high churn rates.

Read more about avoiding mobile app user churn to learn the art of sustainable user retention!

Solution: Centralize and Automate With Email

Integrate your email marketing provider with your CRM (customer relationship management) system to collect and centralize customer data. Most popular CRM systems and email marketing platforms offer integration options. This enables a unified view of customer behavior and preferences across all channels.

OneSignal offers full email marketing capabilities alongside other channels, allowing you to synchronize your in-app and push messaging strategies with your email campaigns. Use these partnerships to harness cross-channel optimization with a drag-and-drop email composer designed to maximize conversions.

Connect With an Email Expert to Get Started!

After integration, you’ll want to pay close attention to cross-channel coordination. Align your email marketing campaigns with other marketing efforts. Ensure consistent messaging, timing, and branding across channels to create a seamless customer experience.

For example, if your company is running a week-long social media contest to promote a new product, align your email marketing to support it. Send out an email at the start of the contest to your subscribers, informing them about the contest, its exciting prizes, and how they can participate. During the contest, send reminder emails and push notification updates about the contest's progress, reinforcing the campaign's message. This coordinated approach ensures that your audience receives consistent messaging and a unified experience across both email, push, and social media, encouraging participation and cementing engagement.

Lastly, you’ll want to use email automation to address various customer interactions on multiple channels.

Setting up automated email workflows involves creating sequences of pre-defined email messages that are triggered by specific user actions or behaviors. For instance, when a customer abandons their shopping cart on your website, an automated workflow can send a series of reminder emails over a few days, encouraging them to complete the purchase. With OneSignal Journeys, you can use email alongside push, in-app, and SMS notifications to create a cross-channel “rescue effort” to help high-intent shoppers complete their purchases. Automating cross-channel messages in a single workflow avoids fragmenting the customer experience by communicating with customers as they move across different platforms throughout their week.

These workflows save time and enhance efficiency by delivering relevant content to users based on their actions, nurturing leads, and driving conversions without manual intervention.

Get started learning how to create better cart recovery emails, if you think you’re ready to tackle this!

2. Missed Opportunity for Personalization

Mobile messaging personalization is a key trend in marketing. An isolated email marketing strategy may not leverage insights from other channels to create highly personalized email campaigns tailored to individual customer preferences and behavior.

Disconnected systems often result in incomplete user profiles, making it challenging to gather a comprehensive understanding of a customer's preferences and behavior. This lack of data cohesion leads to inaccurate targeting, causing users to receive irrelevant content and offers. It’s one of the quickest ways to destroy your customer engagement.

Solution: Use Email to Truly Get Personal

To address incomplete user profiles, use email engagement data to fill gaps in user information. Encourage users to update their profiles through email campaigns, offering incentives like exclusive content or discounts in exchange for completing their profiles.

Without integration, it's also difficult to synchronize user interactions across various channels. As a result, marketers miss opportunities to send tailored messages that acknowledge a user's actions on other platforms. For instance, an e-commerce customer who browsed specific products on your website might receive generic emails that don't reflect their interests.

To combat this, send emails that react to users' interactions on other channels. For example, if a user browses products on your website but doesn't make a purchase, use email to follow up with tailored product recommendations or exclusive promotions based on their website activity.

We’ve collected some email segmentation best practices to help you understand just how powerful email can be as a tool to make your users feel heard with relevant information.

A note on user preference centers:

User preference centers allow customers to customize their interactions with your brand by choosing their content preferences and desired communication frequency. Unifying your messaging strategy makes it much easier to manage preference centers because it centralizes customer information, allowing you to ensure that the preferences set in one channel, such as email, are reflected consistently across all other touchpoints. By allowing each individual user to choose their level of engagement with your brand, you effectively streamline the process of delivering tailored content and respect user choices — both of which enhance customer satisfaction and relationship-building.

Our Guide to User Preference Centers has everything you need to know!

At the end of the day, disconnected systems make it nearly impossible to deliver highly personalized and timely content. As a consequence, users often receive generic, one-size-fits-all messages that may not resonate with their unique preferences and behaviors. Email is one of your strongest allies in segmenting your audience based on their interactions and interests, and then delivering personalized email content accordingly.

Remember, relevancy is the backbone of engagement and eventual conversions!

3. Wasted Resources

Operating email marketing in isolation can lead to duplicated efforts and wasted resources. You might create content and campaigns for email that could have been repurposed or aligned with other marketing initiatives.

Separate systems often lead to redundant content creation efforts. Teams create similar or identical content for different channels, wasting time and resources. Beyond simple redundancy, maintaining separate systems requires ongoing data migration and synchronization efforts. This can be time-consuming, error-prone, and resource-intensive.

Solution: Email Gives You More Bang For Your Buck… Take Advantage!

Email can be used to repurpose campaigns created for other channels, effectively multiplying the mileage of your carefully created content. For instance, blog posts, social media updates, or longer-form eBooks can be shared with email subscribers, reducing duplication of content creation efforts. The cherry on top? Email is a historically cost-effective communication tool.

Email has been proven to return $36 for every $1 spent.

By centralizing customer engagement through email, you can dramatically reduce the costs associated with managing multiple platforms and fragmented systems. It pays to be organized!

4. Data Blind Spots and Limited Insights

Email is a rich source of data on customer behavior, but without integration, this data may remain separate from the data collected on other channels. You can track the performance of individual links within your emails. For instance, if you have multiple product links in an email, you can see which product received the most clicks, helping you understand what interests your audience.

Keeping your email provider segregated from the rest of your channels often limits the collection and analysis of user behavior data. When email is isolated, it quickly becomes challenging to gather comprehensive insights about how subscribers interact with emails beyond open and click metrics.

Solution: More Synchronization = More Data

Introducing email into the unified marketing ecosystem allows for seamless data integration. By including email, you can track user interactions, open rates, click-through rates, and conversion data in one centralized system, providing a comprehensive view of user behavior.

The integration of email with other channels also facilitates more efficient user tracking. You can follow a user's journey as they move across different touchpoints, enabling you to understand how they engage with your brand at various stages.

Ready to fully dive into what it takes to cater to the mobile user app journey in 2023? We got you covered.

5. Over Messaging

There is nothing worse than being bombarded by a buzzing phone and countless disjointed notifications. In fact, it’s one of the biggest reasons for mobile app user churn.

Segregating messaging channels can lead to accidentally over-messaging users because different teams or departments may not have visibility into the messages sent via other channels. This lack of coordination can result in users receiving multiple, possibly redundant messages, leading to information overload and a poor user experience.

Solution: Same Platform, Same Page

Unifying your channels in one platform makes it easier to have visibility into what other teams are doing and synchronize your efforts to create a better user experience. With centralized oversight, teams can coordinate messaging schedules, content, and user preferences more effectively, ensuring a harmonious and non-intrusive user experience.

By unifying email with push or in-app messaging in a centralized platform, these teams can coordinate their efforts. They could, for example, schedule the push notification to coincide with a flash sale email campaign, creating a more streamlined and coordinated user experience. In this example, users are now informed about the promotion through two different channels, but without causing confusion or frustration due to simultaneous messaging or nonsensical timing!

OneSignal Makes Email Simple… Without Sacrificing Impact

Sending dynamic email campaigns in harmony with the rest of your mobile marketing strategy doesn’t need to be a headache. OneSignal was built as a single, intuitive platform to give you a holistic messaging platform without the overcomplicated and expensive alternatives that have come to bloat the market today. Our segmentation editors, best-in-class automation features, and customizable web prompts help you collect user data and use that data to skyrocket engagement. At the end of the day, we simply believe in messaging that works.

We recently announced the winners of the 2023 Customer Engagement Awards, showcasing our industry's most impactful campaigns, journeys, and displays of forward-thinking marketing. If you missed the awards, don't worry, you can still catch up with the winner's announcement!

Now, let's look at some specific messages our award winners are most proud of AND some winning advice for all of you to learn from the best in the biz!

Saturn

Push + In-App: These are the push notifications and in-app message Saturn uses to successfully onboard new users. They are optimized for their users’ typical behavior.

Winning Advice

“Have a point of view with respect to your user activation moments and health -- ideally the product should compel users naturally to discover value and retain, but - both to accelerate this and as a safety net - you should also have a comprehensive scheme of both user-initiated and scheduled message touchpoints across lifecycle milestones."

FoodHero

In-App: This message was designed to drive reviews of their app after a certain threshold of orders have been made.

Winning Advice

“Customer Engagement 101… prompting your customers to become advocates! As we brought control of the customer journey back in-house, we saw a major gap in the advocacy stage: asking our users to review the service after a threshold of orders. That's why we launched our "Calling All Superheroes" journey, urging our customers to share their love for our app through app store and Google reviews. The results have been astonishing – a remarkable 292% surge in our Google Reviews. It's a testament to the power of direct engagement, and we're excited to see our FoodHero community grow as we continue our mission to fight food waste together.”

Zenni

Push: This push for Zenni’s Summer Frame Sale was the culmination of numerous A/B variants optimizing copy, emojis, and images. It generated the highest CTR of the quarter and brought in significant revenue. We plan to continue iterating on all components of our push notifications keep learning new things about our users and how to make the most of the OneSignal platform.

SMS: We have over 71k text message responses from our customers, and our subscribers are incredibly engaged with the brand. It was very important to us to leverage this data to personalize our messaging strategy and guide the user down the proper path based on their message. Based on the words and sentiment we saw users replying with most, we implemented 56 personalized autoreplies! We are hoping to continue to improve the relationship with our customers through this personalized conversational messaging approach.

Winning Advice

Be data-driven AND empathy-driven. Since we provide a health care & accessibility product, empathy is truly at the core of everything we do. We always start with what the data is telling us but listen to our customers to understand what they want and need from us.

Quero Delivery

In-app: “This was the first in-app message sent to our Quero Lovers (users) with the purpose to complete a survey, and it broke participation records.”

Push: “We used the lyrics of a popular song at the time to promote our product, and this push broke sales records.”

Winning Advice

“To keep your clients engaged, remember: prioritize the "cliché" over elaborate plans, have a deep understanding of your public target, listen carefully to your users in social media, and be ready to adapt to your clients constant and evolving needs. But, we always emphasize that the key to maintain engaged clients is to know your public target. This means to understand their needs, preferences, behavior, and wishes to be able to create messages and experiences that resonate in a significant way with them. This knowledge allows you to personalize interactions and guarantee that your strategies are aligned with the expectations and interests of your clients, which will increase engagement and satisfaction.”

SpinX Games

In-App, Email: One of SpinX's banner image messages, a simple push message, and an email.

Winning Advice

"At SpinX Games, we believe that to boost engagement, a company must strategically time message delivery, segment players based on their tiers for personalized communication, and stay ahead of the curve with innovative approaches. This includes incorporating dynamic visuals, engaging content, and appealing imagery to showcase product availability effectively."

Genopets

In-App: Using OneSignal in-app and email features has allowed us to deliver the right message at the right time to our players to optimize for engagement. This is especially useful for product updates that are often delivered via email or broadcasted on social channels, but as a game that is ever evolving and shipping new updates frequently being able to segment users by their device, what version they are on, or when they last were active has been really helpful to keep our retention and engagement high.

Winning Advice

I would suggest mapping out a user's journey in your app and to create triggers at all the optimal moments so you can have them at your disposal over time to send out targeted messaging.

Award-Winning Messages Require an Award-Winning Messaging Platform

Feeling inspired? OneSignal offers a robust digital sandbox to craft, segment, and automate your mobile messaging strategy all under the same powerful marketer-friendly umbrella.

But don't take our word for it – read our G2 reviews and see what our community has to say!

OneSignal serves over 2 million users and sends 12 billion messages every single day. This means a couple of things. First, we’ve seen it all. Second, and more importantly, we’ve seen the best of the best. From explosions of new subscriber growth to near-100% click-through rates — we’ve had the opportunity to witness the power of mobile messaging in the hands of some truly innovative industry leaders. The 2023 Customer Engagement Awards leveraged OneSignal’s bird’s eye view of the mobile marketing landscape to showcase these organizations and celebrate their genuinely inspiring successes.

Above all else, we want to thank you, the OneSignal community, for your enthusiasm and relentless ingenuity. We wouldn’t be OneSignal without every one of you.

Without further ado… your best-in-class of 2023!

Most Impactful Campaigns, EMEA

Taptap Send - Traci Trang

Taptap Send helps people send money back home to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and South America quickly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost. The team at OneSignal is thrilled to see their rapid growth as Taptap Send carry their mission to users across different markets. Using Journeys, Traci has led the global impact of Taptap Send central campaigns on increasing conversions and user retention. Her skillful personalization and optimization of journeys are key to engaging users across multiple channels.

Best Customer Journeys, EMEA

Zigzag Puppy Training - Ed Williams, Emily Heath

Zigzag Puppy Coach, the app dedicated to puppy training, has shown exceptional prowess in converting free trial subscribers into paying customers. Their thoughtful use of Data Tags to segment and engage their audience demonstrates best practices for customer engagement. By customizing notifications based on their users’ progress and the need for encouragement, Zigzag ensures that each milestone in the training journey is relevant and timely, ultimately driving high customer engagement and well-trained puppies.

Forward Thinking Marketing, EMEA

Bitcoin.com - Alun Stern

Bitcoin.com is an all-in-one platform enabling users to buy, sell, trade, and invest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies securely. Bitcoin.com’s messaging, which consistently drives transactions, delivers industry updates, and re-engages users with their platform, includes a mix of beautifully designed Push and In-App notifications. Their continuous exploration of new use cases for OneSignal is key to their success and has allowed them to develop a highly refined messaging approach through testing and experimentation.

Best Message Design, EMEA

Candivore, Yarin Ben Yakov

While push notification design may seem simple, small tweaks can make a huge difference in performance. Candivore, a pioneering mobile multiplayer gaming company, consistently delivers messages that serve as a best-in-class example of push notification design for gaming. Carnivore’s dedication to perfecting the craft is evident in every notification they send.

Best Environmentally Friendly Engagement, NAMER

FoodHero - Matthew Bienz

FoodHero is an app dedicated to reducing food waste by selling and delivering unsold grocery items near their "best date." When it comes to developing environmentally friendly practices, developing habits is key. Their adept use of OneSignal for Push, In-App, and Email plays a crucial role in raising awareness about making eco-conscious choices and contributes to a greener, more sustainable future.

Forward-Thinking Marketing, NAMER

Zenni Optical - Auri Pope, Martin Refsal

Zenni, an online retailer of affordable prescription glasses and sunglasses, is rapidly carving its niche in the e-commerce landscape. Leveraging an omnichannel strategy, Zenni seamlessly integrates Email, SMS, Push, and In-App messaging for both transactional and marketing campaigns. Their rigorous A/B testing underscores a commitment to enhancing the customer journey and staying ahead in messaging technology.

Best Customer Journey, NAMER

Saturn - Max Baron, Dylan Diamond, Rob Dearborn

Designed to help high school students manage their complex schedules, Saturn is a rapidly growing social networking app that has won a coveted spot in the top charts of the App Store. Key to Saturn’s success has been a thoughtful, beautifully designed onboarding Journey, which combines Push and In-App messaging to ensure users hit critical milestones, reducing time to the “aha” moment and ensuring users get the most out of the app’s functionality.

Best Message Design, NAMER

Monarch Gaming (GenoPets) - Jay Chang

Genopets is a game that rewards players for living an active lifestyle. Players customize and evolve their pet with the steps they take every day. The team consistently delivers outstanding in-app messages with strong, brand-aligned designs and beautiful graphics to keep their players informed and engaged. Genopets has seen great success in activating their players to try new features of the game using OneSignal messages – a challenge in the mobile space.

Best Customer Journeys, APAC

SpinX Games - Carmen Turcanu

SpinX Games has skillfully crafted an omnichannel Journeys strategy that exemplifies automated customer engagement best practices. Their Journeys include a "beginners' quest" message and level-up messaging, as well as a player re-engagement Journey that brings back churning players using a combination of Push Notifications and Email. The outstanding success they've achieved is a testament to the team’s exceptional ability to engage and guide users throughout their gaming experience.

Forward Thinking Marketing, APAC

HK01 - Dick Tang

HK01 provides news and lifestyle content online and via a mobile app. HK01’s engagement strategy uses highly personalized push notifications to provide up-to-the-minute news updates tailored to their users’ interests. Their refined approach to personalization is a stellar example of using best practices in personalization and consistently delivers high open rates for all their messages.

Strongest Debut, LATAM

Senff - Michelle Santana & Vitor Santos

Brazilian bank Senff is fairly new to OneSignal, and have seen huge subscriber growth in a short period of time. Since they became customers in December 2022, their already high push notification subscriber totals have nearly doubled due to their thoughtful campaigns and timely messages.

Forward Thinking Marketing, LATAM

Quero Delivery - Lucimara Nascimento, Ed Santos

Quero Delivery is a purchasing and delivery application for ordering meals, food, medicines, and various products from numerous local stores. The team skillfully employs Push and In-App messages to keep their users informed and engaged with the app. Quero Delivery stands out for its proactive approach to customer engagement – the team prioritizes maintaining a deep understanding of their customer’s behavior, and they use this knowledge combined with strategic messaging campaigns to achieve outstanding results.

Best Customer Journeys, LATAM

GoodMeal - Adriana Garcia, Maximiliano Acosta

GoodMeal partners with consumer-facing businesses to offer surplus food to their users at significant discounts through the GoodMeal app. Their customer engagement strategy includes three omnichannel Journeys for onboarding, increasing purchases, and re-engaging customers. With a strong focus on leveraging automation to streamline their efforts and careful implementation of Data Tags to personalize their messaging, GoodMeal has driven high engagement and revenue growth.

Most Impactful Campaigns

aiqfome - Larissa Lindner, Victoria Almeida

Have you ever heard of a 97.5% click-through rate? No? Well, now you have. Meet the aiqfome team, the first online delivery platform in Brazil and currently the second largest in the country. In addition to being delivery app pioneers, they are also innovative in their use of in-app notifications to engage their customer base – affectionately called ‘fominhas’ – having managed to achieve the incredible CTR mentioned above. This exceptional engagement proves their talent in creating and executing campaigns that truly impact their clients.

Do You Have a Customer Engagement Award in Your Future?

OneSignal has been a part of the mobile messaging game since the start. Our founders began as mobile game developers looking for a better way to communicate with their audience over every available mobile channel. Finding no solution to get the job done right, they created their own. Today, OneSignal offers an industry-leading mobile marketing platform that unifies email, push, in-app, and SMS into a powerfully connected mobile ecosystem.

Whether you simply need a hand automating your mobile onboarding sequences or you’re ready to start scaling with custom multi-channel Journeys flows, we take pride in offering something for everyone. And that starts with access to OneSignal for free.

Data is the lifeblood of modern organizations. Companies rely on a variety of data sources to power effective messaging, meaningful customer experiences, and strategic business decisions. While OneSignal currently offers many ways to analyze data within our platform, we’re also supportive of making our data easily accessible to the rest of your tech stack. That’s why we are excited to announce our new partnership with Snowflake.

Snowflake is a leading cloud-based data warehousing solution. Data warehouses are centralized repositories that store data from various sources, such as your CRM, CDP, third-party tools, and more. Snowflake also offers additional capabilities, such as analytics and governance features.

We chose Snowflake as our first data warehouse integration to partner with the industry leader. With this new OneSignal integration, you can now seamlessly sync OneSignal message events data for push notifications, email, in-app messages, and SMS with the rest of your business data to boost your decision-making analyses and drive growth.

"OneSignal's Snowflake integration allowed us to connect our life cycle marketing efforts data with other internal data, aiding the assessment of our communications and helping us gather crucial insights."

-Baris Girgin, Senior User Acquisition Manager, Gram Games

Save Time and Automatically Centralize Your Data

Most companies want to consolidate their data for easier access. However, data usually is siloed across tech stacks in different tools, back-end systems, and databases. This forces your teams to manually copy and move data or build custom data connections to move data between systems, which is time-consuming, costly, and difficult to maintain.

Now, OneSignal and Snowflake have joined together to break down those barriers. Automatically and securely sync your OneSignal data to Snowflake so all your data is accessible in one place. Improve cross-functional collaboration and cut down on the back-and-forth by ensuring the right teams are using the right data.

Understand the Value of Your Messaging

Companies need data to make informed decisions to grow their business successfully. Unify OneSignal messaging engagement data with the rest of your demographic, browsing session, conversion, and purchase data to gain a more complete view of your customer and their user journey. Analyze your full-funnel data to understand how everything works together, tease out cause and effect, and make your data actionable.

Add OneSignal data to your analyses to help answer important questions such as:

• Which messaging channel drives the best results?
• How much revenue did this promotional campaign generate?
• How effective was this message at driving paid upsells?
• What is the right messaging frequency before seeing an uptick in unsubscribes?
• Did the A/B test differences in this campaign also reflect in down-funnel conversions?

Unlock More Data Insights

Not leveraging your data to improve your business has real consequences, from disappointing customer experiences to lost revenue. Currently with OneSignal, you can access your engagement data in multiple ways, including delivery reports, CSV downloads, and notification APIs. This integration provides granular data fields across message events data, subscription information, and device details to unlock deeper messaging insights.

Get Started with OneSignal & Snowflake

OneSignal and Snowflake will help you identify what works, optimize your messaging, and stay ahead of the competition. Follow our documentation to get set up for success and make your data actionable.

This integration is available exclusively for our annual plans, including Professional and Enterprise. Contact Sales to understand if an annual plan makes sense for your business. Snowflake is just the start.

Interested in other integrations? Contact us at bd@onesignal.com to let us know which ones you’d like to see added to OneSignal.

Have you ever opened an email and wondered if it's genuinely from your favorite brand or just another clever phishing attempt? Well, that split-second hesitation can be the difference between an email open and an “instant gloss-over.”

Now more than ever, email security and trust are more critical than ever, and that's where BIMI logos come into play. These tiny visual cues are making big waves in the world of email marketing, helping brands stand out in crowded inboxes and giving recipients the confidence they need to click, open, and engage. Grab your virtual magnifying glass, and let's unravel the secrets behind this small but mighty email marketing tool.

What is a BIMI Logo?

BIMI stands for "Brand Indicators for Message Identification." In essence, it describes that small brand logo next to new messages in your email inbox, rather than the generic brand initials set against a random pastel-colored circle.

BIMI is an email authentication and verification standard designed to improve email security and help recipients verify the authenticity of emails sent by a particular brand or organization.

Sometimes the biggest psychological comforts come in the smallest packages.

How Does BIMI Help With Email Authentication?

It’s a valid question, especially if you thought BIMI was merely visual eye candy for email marketing. BIMI email logos play a crucial role in both email authentication and building lasting trust with your user base.

Email Authentication

BIMI is closely tied to email authentication mechanisms, such as Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).

• DMARC alignment ensures that the "From" domain of an email aligns with the DKIM signature, providing a consistent and trustworthy sender identity.
• DKIM, on the other hand, helps verify the authenticity and integrity of email content, which is essential for BIMI to display logos alongside email messages.

These authentication mechanisms being so closely tied together helps contribute to a more airtight email ecosystem. It ensures that only authorized senders can use BIMI email logos, reducing the risk of email spoofing and phishing.

Learn more about how to set up DMARC for email marketing.

Domain Verification

Before a brand can use BIMI email logos, their domain (e.g., example.com) must be verified by a trusted third party, typically a Certificate Authority (CA). This domain verification process confirms that the organization owns the domain and has the right to use BIMI for that domain.

Logo Hosting

The sender is responsible for hosting the BIMI logo on a publicly accessible web server. A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC), issued by the CA, links the logo to the sender's domain. This VMC contains information about the logo's location and the associated domain.

Phishing Mitigation

BIMI helps reduce the risk of phishing attacks by making it more difficult for malicious actors to impersonate legitimate brands in email communications. Recipients can visually identify trusted emails based on the presence of BIMI logos.

How Does BIMI Help in Email Marketing?

Brand Visibility

The recurring visual element of your brand logo helps your recipients quickly (and instantly) recognize and identify your email campaigns. The consistent presence of your brand logo reinforces brand recognition while making your emails stand out in a crowded inbox.

Brand Credibility

People are also more likely to interact with messages from sources they trust. When recipients see a recognizable logo next to your name or email address, it increases their confidence that the email is legitimate. This credibility is an essential ingredient in driving click-through rates and habitual email campaign engagement.

What are the Requirements of a BIMI logo?

Is BIMI necessary for every single organization that sends emails? No. Is BIMI worth it? Usually, yes. Consider the volume of emails your organization sends. BIMI is likely to have a more significant impact if you send a substantial number of emails to a large and diverse audience. It becomes especially beneficial if you want to ensure that your recipients can easily identify your legitimate emails in crowded inboxes.

To use a BIMI logo and have it displayed alongside your email messages, you must meet specific requirements and follow a set of guidelines. Here are the key requirements for a BIMI logo:

• Domain Ownership: You must own the domain associated with the email addresses you are using. BIMI is intended for organizations to display their logos, so you need control over the domain's DNS (Domain Name System) records.
• DMARC and DKIM: Implement DMARC and DKIM for your domain. As mentioned above, these email authentication mechanisms help verify the legitimacy of your email messages and are often prerequisites for BIMI.
• Verified Mark Certificate (VMC): Obtain a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) for your domain from a trusted Certificate Authority (CA). The VMC is a critical component that links your domain to your logo and provides information about the logo's location. The CA will verify your domain ownership during this process.
• Logo Hosting: Host your logo on a publicly accessible web server. BIMI requires that your logo be retrievable from a specific URL that is referenced in your DNS records. Ensure that the logo image is in a suitable format (e.g., SVG) and adheres to BIMI's technical requirements.
• DNS Records: Create and configure the necessary DNS records for your domain.
• BIMI Record: Add a BIMI record to your domain's DNS zone. This record specifies the location (URL) of your logo and references the VMC that links the logo to your domain.
• SVG Hash: Calculate a hash of your logo file using the SHA-256 algorithm and include it in your BIMI record. This hash helps ensure the integrity of the logo.
• Logo Usage Guidelines: Follow BIMI's logo usage guidelines, which typically require that the logo represents your brand, is not misleading, and adheres to specific size and aspect ratio requirements.
• HTTPS: Ensure that the URL where your logo is hosted uses HTTPS (SSL/TLS). Secure hosting is a best practice for BIMI.
• Validity Period: Be aware that VMCs have a validity period, usually one year, after which they need to be renewed. Ensure that your VMC remains valid to continue using BIMI.
• Email Client and Provider Support: Verify that the email clients and providers used by your recipients support BIMI. BIMI adoption may vary among different email services.

How to Implement BIMI

BIMI implementation involves several steps to ensure that your brand's logo is displayed alongside your email messages in recipients' inboxes. Let’s unpack a step-by-step guide to help you stand out in your recipients’ inboxes.

1. Prepare Your Logo

Ensure that you have a high-quality version of your brand's logo in a suitable format, typically SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics), which is recommended for BIMI implementation. While there is no strict minimum size specified for BIMI logos, it's a good practice to ensure that your logo remains identifiable when displayed at small sizes.

2. Domain Ownership and Control

This one is easy! Ensure that you own and have control over the domain associated with the email addresses you will be using for sending emails.

3. Email Authentication

Implement and configure email authentication mechanisms, specifically DMARC and DKIM, for your domain. Make sure that these mechanisms are correctly set up to protect your domain ownership and email communications.

To set up DMARC, you need to create a DNS TXT record for your domain with your DMARC policy and reporting email address, specifying how email receivers should handle messages that fail authentication checks.

For example: "v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; rua=mailto:dmarc@example.com." Then, publish this record in your domain's DNS settings to enable DMARC enforcement and reporting on email authentication.

To set up DKIM, generate a pair of cryptographic keys, a private key for signing outgoing emails and a public key for publishing in your domain's DNS records. Configure your email server or email service provider to use the private key for signing messages, and add the corresponding public key as a DNS TXT record for your domain, specifying the selector and key data.

4. Obtain a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC)

Contact a trusted Certificate Authority (CA) that supports BIMI and apply for a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). The CA will verify your domain ownership during this process, establishing a trusted link between your domain and your brand's logo and enhancing email security.

5. Logo Hosting

Host your logo on a publicly accessible web server. Ensure that the logo file is in SVG format and adheres to BIMI's technical requirements. You will need to provide a URL where your logo can be retrieved.

6. HTTPS for Logo URL

Ensure that the URL where your logo is hosted uses HTTPS (SSL/TLS) for secure hosting. BIMI implementation requires a secure connection to retrieve the logo.

7. Generate a Logo Hash

Calculate a hash of your logo file using the SHA-256 algorithm. This hash will be included in your BIMI DNS record and helps ensure the integrity of the logo.

8. Create DNS Records

Add the necessary DNS records for your domain:

Create a BIMI DNS record that specifies the location (URL) of your logo, the VMC reference, and the logo hash. The format of this record will look like:

Replace "example.com" with your domain, and replace "YOUR_LOGO_HASH" with the calculated SHA-256 hash of your logo.

9. Monitor and Maintain

Regularly monitor your BIMI implementation to ensure that your logo URL, DNS records, and VMC remain up-to-date and compliant with BIMI requirements. Renew your VMC as needed.

10. Test and Verify BIMI Implementation

Send test emails to verify that your BIMI logo is correctly displayed in email clients that support BIMI.

Verify that the email clients and providers used by your recipients support BIMI. BIMI adoption may vary among different email services.

Overcoming Common BIMI Challenges

Setting you up for success with BIMI goes beyond tackling what to do right. It also hinges on your ability to handle some common email marketing roadblocks that have been known to get in the way of BIMI implementation. Here are three of the most common BIMI challenges and how to handle them.

Challenge: DNS Configuration Issues

Issue: Incorrect or incomplete DNS configuration can hinder BIMI implementation, leading to logo display failures or inconsistencies.

Solution: Carefully follow BIMI DNS record formatting guidelines, ensuring that your BIMI record specifies the correct logo URL, Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) reference, and logo hash.

Use DNS verification tools or consult with DNS experts to confirm that your DNS records are set up accurately.

Challenge: Logo Design and Scaling

Issue: Designing a logo that remains recognizable and visually appealing when dynamically scaled for various email clients can be challenging.

Solution: Opt for a simple and clean logo design with legible text and graphics to ensure it remains identifiable at smaller sizes. Design your logo in a vector format like SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics). Vector graphics are resolution-independent and can be scaled up or down without losing quality or clarity. This ensures that your logo looks sharp regardless of its size.

Ensure that your logo's design is clear and not overly detailed, as intricate details may be lost when the logo is displayed at smaller sizes. Simple, easily recognizable logos tend to work best!  Lastly, make sure you preserve the original aspect ratio of your logo. It's crucial to keep the proportions consistent to ensure that your logo appears as intended without distortion. If your logo is originally square, it's best to keep it square in the BIMI implementation.

Always test your logo in different email clients and devices to assess how it appears when scaled. Make design adjustments as needed.

Challenge: Limited Email Client Support

Issue: BIMI adoption varies among email clients and providers, and not all recipients may see BIMI logos.

Solution: Focus on reaching the largest portion of your target audience. Prioritize BIMI implementation for email clients with broader support, such as major webmail providers. Apple (iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura 13 or later, and iCloud.com), Gmail, and Yahoo are a few examples of email clients that support BIMI logos.

Continue to monitor BIMI adoption trends and update your implementation strategy as support grows among email clients.

Measuring the Impact of BIMI

How do you know if BIMI is working for your email marketing goals? Use these KPIs as a starting point for determining your BIMI success rate.

• Logo Display Rate or Open Rates: Monitor the rate at which your BIMI logo is displayed alongside your emails. This metric indicates how often email clients that support BIMI actually show your logo. Many email service providers and domain hosting platforms provide BIMI-specific reports that indicate whether your logo was successfully displayed in recipients' inboxes. Alternatively, you may utilize email analytics and tracking tools to monitor open rates for BIMI-enabled emails.
• Click-Through Rates (CTR): Analyze the CTR for BIMI-enabled emails versus non-BIMI emails. If the presence of your logo positively influences recipient behavior, you should see higher click-through rates.
• Conversion Rates: Measure the conversion rates for email campaigns that use BIMI. Assess whether BIMI contributes to higher conversion rates by enhancing recipient trust and engagement.
• Brand Recognition: Conduct surveys or assessments to gauge whether recipients recognize and trust your brand more when they see your logo in emails. You can track improvements in brand recognition over time.
• Phishing Mitigation: Monitor the effectiveness of BIMI in reducing phishing incidents. If BIMI helps recipients distinguish between legitimate and phishing emails, you should observe a decrease in phishing-related issues.

Email With OneSignal

Looking for more ways to boost email campaign performance in harmony with your other messaging channels? OneSignal’s unique approach to omnichannel marketing gives businesses a way to leverage time-based triggers and sophisticated segmentation to deliver email campaigns that look as good as they are relevant to users.

Try it out for yourself — your first 5,000 email sends are on us!

Think about the last time you were bombarded with phone notifications for a product or service completely unrelated to your lifestyle. It might as well be a reminder to unsubscribe, right?

The challenge with mobile marketing, as you likely already understand, is making users feel heard as their interests and needs continuously change. Addressing these interests requires you to deliver unique content over a variety of channels, two of the most effective being email campaigns and push notifications.

Does certain content perform better over email than push? Absolutely. Can push notifications out-pace email when it comes to crucial marketing KPIs? Most definitely.

Deciding when and how to use email vs. push is a great place to start optimizing content. But these are merely complementary tools in your mobile messaging toolbelt. Superior user engagement can only begin when you combine these two powerful channels together.

How to Use Push Notifications and Email Together

By using push notifications and email in harmony with one another, you create a well-rounded communication strategy that leverages the strengths of each channel while compensating for each other’s limitations.

Let’s look at three scenarios where email and push notifications shine brighter together.

Onboarding and Activation

Let’s use a real-world example. Say you have a new fitness app that helps users track their workout goals.

You want to ensure that users complete their initial setup and avoid churning immediately after download. Here's how you can use email and push notifications together to promote active app engagement with your fitness app.

Step 1: Welcome Email

• As soon as a user signs up for the app, send them a welcome email. In this email, provide a brief introduction to your app's features and benefits.
• This email includes a clear call-to-action (CTA) encouraging users to complete their profile setup and start adding their fitness goals.

Step 2: Push Notification #1 (Same Day)

• If the user hasn't completed their profile setup within a few hours, send a push notification with a reminder.
• This push notification is concise and attention-grabbing, such as "Don't forget to set your fitness goals! Tap here to complete your profile."

Step 3: Profile Setup Email (Next Day)

• Send an email with a more detailed guide on setting up a profile and adding fitness goals. This is also a fantastic place to incorporate your value-add. Why should users care about adding their fitness goals?
• Include screenshots or step-by-step instructions to make the process as easy as possible. Your email subject line is compelling and promotes immediate action, "Get the Most Out of Your Fitness Journey: Complete Your Profile Now."

Step 4: Feature Showcase Email (2 Days Later)

• Send an email showcasing some of the app's key features, such as tracking workouts, setting nutrition goals, or joining challenges.
• Include success stories or testimonials from other users to inspire engagement.

Step 5: Push Notification #2 (2 Days Later)

• Send a push notification highlighting one specific feature of the app, such as "Track your workouts and see progress in real-time!"
• Include a direct link to the app's relevant section. Read up on deep linking best practices to unpack this in more detail.

Step 6: Goal Achievement Email (3 Days Later)

• Send an email congratulating users on completing their profile and setting their fitness goals.
• Mention the benefits they'll receive from using the app consistently.

Step 7: Push Notification #3 (3 Days Later)

• Send a push notification encouraging users to log their first workout or meal using the app.
• Use motivational language like "Start your fitness journey strong – log your first workout now!"

Step 8: Ongoing Engagement

• You have engagement momentum! Continue to use email and push notifications to encourage users to track their progress, participate in challenges, and engage with the app's community.
• Provide regular updates, tips, and personalized content to keep users engaged and motivated.

Takeaway: Email and Push Give the Gift of Complimentary Content (that keeps on giving)

Email provides space for much more comprehensive content, including detailed product descriptions, images, and links to various resources. Push notifications, with strict character limits, are better for quick, attention-grabbing updates or calls to action. Combining both channels is key to balancing both brevity and depth in your ongoing messaging strategy.

Sending push notifications the same day as emails, and then sticking to a short, daily follow-up sequence ensures campaign visibility while giving users time in between notifications to complete their onboarding. Remember, your daily reminders only continue if users are not completing their activation steps. This is merely a framework for a jumping-off point — Start thinking about ways to apply this scheduled format to your onboarding sequence.

For example, you may wish to substitute the “Feature Showcase” email (step 4) with a “Getting Started Guide” where you provide a step-by-step guide or checklist to help users get started with your app. This type of email can be particularly useful for complex or multi-step processes.

Further Reading

• What to Include in a User Onboarding Email
• How to Write Better CTAs
• How to Personalize Push Notifications

Promotion and Reminders

Sticking with the above fitness app example, let’s say you’re running a special sale on premium subscription plans. You want to inform users about the promotion, create a sense of urgency, and encourage them to upgrade. Let’s create a powerful 1-2 punch with email and push notifications designed to engage.

Step 1: Sale Announcement Email

• Send an email to all app users announcing the sale on premium subscription plans.
• Include details about the discount, benefits of the premium subscription, and a clear CTA to upgrade.

Step 2: Push Notification #1 (Same Day)

• Segment a push notification to users who haven't opened the email yet.
• Make it attention-grabbing with a message like "🔥 Flash Sale Alert! Get Premium Access Now at a Special Price."

Step 3: Sale Reminder Email (Next Day)

• Send an email as a reminder of the ongoing sale, emphasizing its limited duration.
• You incorporate visually appealing graphics, images, or GIFs that showcase the value of your app’s premium features.

Step 4: Push Notification #2 (Next Day)

• Send a push notification with a countdown timer, highlighting that the sale is ending soon.
• Your message highlights urgency, creating a sense of FOMO:  "⏰ Hurry! Only [X] Hours Left to Grab Premium at a Discount."

Step 5: Exclusive Offer Email (2 Days Later)

• Send an email to users who haven't upgraded yet, offering an exclusive deal, such as a free fitness eBook or a one-month meal plan subscription, upon upgrading.
• You also add a dynamic countdown timer to the email to emphasize the limited time remaining in the sale.

Step 6: Push Notification #4 (3 Days Later)

• Send a push notification in the afternoon, emphasizing that it's the last chance to secure the discount and exclusive bonus.
• Use an urgent message like "Final Hours! Last Chance to Secure Your Premium Access Before It's Gone!"

Step 7: Post-Sale Follow-Up

• After the sale, send a thank-you email to users who upgraded during the promotion.
• Continue to engage and retain premium subscribers with personalized content, workout plans, and updates.

Takeaway: Email and Push Maximizes Messaging Coverage

Push notifications provide immediate visibility, appearing on a user's device screen even if they aren't actively using an app. Email, on the other hand, remains in an inbox until the user checks it. This combination ensures that important messages are seen promptly and aren't accidentally glazed over throughout the day.

Further Reading

• How to Grow a Subscription-Based Business
• Promotional Messages vs. Transactional Messages
• 6 Cross-Channel Optimization Tips to Boost Engagement

Cart Abandonment Recovery

Users often add fitness equipment and accessories to their cart but abandon them before completing the purchase. You want to recover these abandoned carts and encourage users to finalize their orders by leveraging multiple touchpoints through email and push notifications.

Step 1: Abandoned Cart Push Notification (For empty carts over one hour)

• Send a push notification as a gentle reminder. Include a message like "Don't give up! Your cart is waiting for you."

Step 2: Abandoned Cart Email #1 (Same Day)

• Follow up with a cart recovery email including a list of the items in their cart, high-quality images, and their total value.
• Add a clear CTA button that reminds them how easy it is to jump back in and finish shopping: "Complete Your Order Now."

Step 3: Cart Reminder Push Notification (Next Day)

• Send another push notification the next day to re-emphasize the importance of completing the order.
• Use a message like "Don't miss out on your fitness essentials. Finish your order today!"

Step 4: Abandoned Cart Email #2 (2 Days Later)

• Send a second email that includes a reminder of the items in the cart, but this time, add a limited-time discount or offer to sweeten the deal.
• Create urgency with a subject line like "Exclusive 10% Off: Your Cart is About to Expire!"

Step 5: Final Cart Reminder Push Notification (2 Days Later)

• Send a final push notification, emphasizing that it's the last chance to complete the purchase and use the discount.
• Use an urgent message like "Last Day: Redeem Your 10% Discount Before It Expires!"

Step 6: Post-Recovery Engagement

• After successfully recovering a cart, send a follow-up transactional email thanking the user for their purchase and providing order details.
• Encourage users to explore other features of the app, such as workout plans or nutrition tracking that directly augment their original purchase.

Step 7: Order Update Push Notification

• Send a follow-up push notification with important delivery updates such as when their item has shipped or an estimated time of arrival.

Takeaway: Email and Push Create a Perfect Storm of Urgency

Because of their immediate deliverability and visibility, push notifications are ideal for conveying time-sensitive or urgent information, such as cart abandonment recovery, flash sales, breaking news, or appointment reminders. Emails are better suited for detailing the value behind the urgency, along with rich media assets (like countdown timers) to visually drive the point home. Using both channels allows you to create a sense of urgency for users while utilizing longer-form content to provide important context for your campaigns.

Further Reading

• How to Write More Effective Cart Recovery Emails
• 3 Ways to Automate Abandoned Cart Notifications
• Abandoned Cart Recovery for Shopify eCommerce Stores

Avoiding Communication Overload

The key to success with combining email and push lies just as much in strategy as it does in understanding what not to do.

While you should feel comfortable crafting cross-channel messaging journeys, be wary of message fatigue. Bombarding users with too many messages can lead to irritation and frustration, ultimately driving them to disable notifications, or uninstall altogether. Additionally, excessive messaging can dilute the impact of important updates, causing users to ignore or overlook genuinely valuable content. To mitigate these risks, it's crucial to strike a balance, respect user preferences, and carefully segment and tailor messages to ensure they provide meaningful value and relevance to each individual user.

Use the following strategies to avoid message fatigue and preserve quality engagement with your users:

• Segment Your Audience: Divide your user base into segments based on preferences, behavior, and engagement levels to send targeted and relevant messages, reducing the risk of overload.
• Opt-In and Preference Controls: Provide users with clear opt-in choices and preference settings, allowing them to customize the frequency and type of messages they receive. When you’re ready to really start reducing opt-outs, you can optimize your user preference center to allow users to choose exactly where and how frequently they wish to receive messages from you.
• Consistent Schedule: Maintain a consistent communication schedule, so users know when to expect updates. Avoid excessive messaging outside of the established schedule.
• Content Relevance: Ensure that every message adds value and relevance to the user. Avoid sending redundant or generic content that may contribute to overload.
• Feedback Mechanisms: Encourage user feedback and act upon it to fine-tune your communication strategy. Listen to user preferences and adjust messaging accordingly to strike the right balance.

Check out 7 Easy Solutions to Mitigate the Risks of Over-Messaging to help reduce user churn and promote user retention!

The Best of Both Worlds With OneSignal

Elevate your messaging strategy with an easy-to-learn visual workflow builder dedicated to multi-channel mapping. OneSignal Journeys takes the simplicity of a click-and-drag builder and powers it with custom triggers and precise moments to amplify engagement… across all channels. Start crafting your email and push Journeys with OneSignal’s Pro Plan to see what the hype is about!

Messaging is vital in providing a direct line from companies to their audience, but with great power comes great responsibility. After all, even large corporations can mess up and confuse their audience - see Starbucks’ seank or HBO Max’s intern. Messaging mistakes have real consequences, from bad press to a cascade of dreaded unsubscribes.

That’s why it is important to be purposeful in making sure your users have the right permissions. Companies often have various teams working on different projects. Perhaps you’re a global company with multiple teams operating independently in various geographies. Or you’re a gaming company managing a portfolio of games. Or you’re an agency managing multiple clients. In each case, you likely want more control over who can do what.

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is a common safeguard for companies to restrict system access based on role types. Here at OneSignal, we offer three role types at both the app and organization levels to help improve your account security.

Benefits of Multiple Roles

• Restrict who can send messages to guard against accidental sends
• Control access to account credentials and keys to protect against hacked accounts and publicly exposed API keys
• Increase access and visibility to more people in your company without worrying they might mess something up
• Prevent different teams or regions from accessing each other’s instances
• Exercise more oversight over new employees that are getting up to speed​​

Admin Role

The Admin role has full control. Admins can change important account information such as user management, API keys, platform settings, and integrations. Organization Admins also have the ability to manage apps, security, and billing. This role is well-suited for account owners, developers, and trusted users that need full access.

Editor Role

The Editor role has control over messaging, including creating and sending messages as well as updating any live messages, such as those in Journeys. This also includes managing user Data Tags, which affects the target audience. This role is well-suited for day-to-day users that are trusted to manage campaigns, including content writers, external contractors, and designers.

Viewer Role

The Viewer role permits read-only access to view user and notification data. These users just need simple access to see campaigns and associated data. This role is well-suited for interns, data analysts, or consultants.

If you’d like to dig deeper, you can find a more granular chart breaking down differences between roles in our documentation.

Ready to improve your account security? All paid plans can assign Viewer roles, while Editor roles are available for Professional and Enterprise Plans.