Push operation skills: How to push products well

Today we are talking about push, which is the most common means of operation , and there are clear differences between good and bad. It is one of the most efficient channels to reach and influence users. The good thing is that it can instantly improve various operational indicators. The bad thing is that it can easily cause user disgust or even uninstallation.

Many operators are cautious about push notifications, as user experience is like a sharp knife hanging over their heads, and they are afraid of disturbing it. In fact, if the push is done well, it will have a multiplier effect on various KPIs.

Pushed metrics

Let’s first look at the pushed indicators. There are only three core points.

Number of push users

That is, the number of target users for a push is usually based on the number of user devices, not natural persons. We need to consider the situation where a user has multiple mobile phones.

Reach

That is, the success rate of push notifications reaching the user's mobile phone, which can be simply understood as the appearance of a message box. We must make it clear that the reach rate is definitely not 100% and will be limited by various situations, such as offline environment, uninstallation, turning off the push switch, the server having its period, etc.

Open rate

The rate at which users click on the notification bar to launch the app after receiving the push notification. This is the last step in push conversion and the core of measuring whether the push is valuable.

The above is a simple conversion model and statistics for push (if you need to complicate it, you also need to consider how many devices maintain long links, how many notifications are delegated, etc. Many third-party SDKs can provide detailed statistics, so I will not elaborate). To use a common analogy, it is like sending a courier. The operations and product personnel are the senders, the user (APP) is the recipient, and the server is the courier company, responsible for receiving, transferring, and ultimately delivering the message.

If the courier address is filled in incorrectly, the user will not receive the package (usually corresponding to an error in the receiving device). If the recipient changes his mind, he can also refuse to receive the express delivery (usually corresponding to uninstalling, turning off push notifications, etc.).

Push services: APNs and GCM

Here is some technical knowledge to know. The push service of iOS is called APNs, and all push notifications are controlled by Apple's APNs. Android's official push server is GCM. Because GCM is blocked in China, Chinese users cannot use it. Most Internet companies use third-party push services or self-built services to ensure that the APP can receive push messages.

Due to Apple’s closed nature, iOS cannot count the number of arrivals or the number of opens. You can only know how many users the push notifications were sent to, and the rest of the data needs to be estimated by Android. Analysis of operational personnel is more difficult.

According to official and third-party channels, an open rate fluctuation of around 10~15% is considered a relatively good situation.

For operations and products, the core work revolves around open rate.

Push categories

Push can be divided into two categories: system push and operation push.

System push

In conjunction with the regular notifications of the product, the R&D department usually writes this into the program, with a trigger mechanism that is set at a certain time or when certain conditions are met. The most common ones are [your friend replies to your message], [your express package has been sent], or [your physical strength is full] at 12 o'clock in the game app.

We often think that system push only needs to provide reminders. I have also seen some very brilliant systematic push notifications, such as [Your express package has been equipped with little wings and is flying to you very hard, ready for signature]. Even the copywriting is unique and different each time, which shows that it is carefully prepared.

This type of express notification breaks away from the usual cold messages and is sent in a playful anthropomorphic tone, which instantly brings people closer. Let’s think about the user’s perception: Are they happy or unhappy when shopping online? Are you happy during the time when express delivery is delivered? This is to take into account user perception and amplify this perception.

If the user takes a screenshot and posts it on WeChat Moments, the user will make money.

I've seen a lot of mundane system push notifications, let me know when they arrive. People like me would only have thoughts like "Oh, I see" and "Yeah, haha". Over time, I became numb.

Setting up push notifications is not to solve problems, but for operations, even if it is a system push. By analyzing the opening rate statistics, you can continuously optimize or monitor the copy. Do your best.

Operation push:

The operational push mentioned here is controlled by the backend operations personnel. Many operations like to push information, which is almost the fastest way to improve KPI. Common event marketing push, hot content push, etc. The benefits are obvious:

• Improve product activity/ retention rate
• Increase participation and penetration of features/activities
• Recall silent users

The most fundamental disadvantage is that users will be annoyed, and will uninstall, close the app, and become numb.

How to do a good job in operational push

I will talk about how to do a good job in operational push through the following points.

Scenario-based

This is a mistake that operations people often make. The push personnel are sitting at the computer and operating, which makes them out of touch with reality. Every time you push a message, you should imagine where you are and what you are doing at this moment if you are the user of the message. Whether commuting on the subway or working. What happens if I receive a push? Unless there is a natural disaster such as an earthquake or flood, do not disturb them in the middle of the night. If it is a weekend, don't push at 7 o'clock in the morning. The most profound push I have ever encountered was in Tibet, taking into account the time zone of Tibet, because it does not get dark until 9 p.m. in Tibet. Many push notifications are pushed back from the regular time periods: what to eat tonight will only be pushed at 19:00.

Hot copywriting

When Wang Jianlin made 100 million yuan from a small thing and it went viral on WeChat Moments, my friends who encountered financial products responded quickly and immediately adjusted today’s copy to make a marketing push. This is qualified. The faster the reaction time, the better the effect. In addition, you also need to consider the relevance of the hot spots and products, and avoid following the hot spots in a direction that goes in the opposite direction.

Personalization

There are two types of personalization: one is the personalization of push strategies, and the other is the personalization of copywriting parameters. We put the push strategy into the context of user grouping, and personalize the copy by adding custom parameters.

If you want to invite users to participate in an event, do you think the copy should be [Dear user, we hope you blabla] or [Dear Mr. X, we hope you blabla]? The former uses the pronoun "user", while the latter highlights titles such as Mr. Wang and Ms. Li. No one likes a blunt mass message. Obviously, the latter is more friendly and respectful, isn't it? Mr. Wang and Ms. Li are our personalized parameters.

User Group

Anyone familiar with Taobao knows that it pushes different content based on our purchasing behavior, browsing behavior, and interests, which are different for each person. Cosmetics, clothes, shoes and hats are pushed to girls, while electronic digital products and game peripherals are pushed to boys. This is user group push and the basis for precise operations.

Many operators do not push messages accurately and just mindlessly send messages to all groups. I have used multiple mobile phones to verify the push logic of many products. Sending a full batch of messages is not a good operation strategy. After all, we cannot guarantee that every user will like this push. If we increase the frequency in order to make more users like it, it will go against the idea of ​​not disturbing users.

The basis for pushing information to user groups is user portraits or data indicators. There are countless strategies through the combination of different dimensional granularities. If it is a product where content is king, it is normal to have dozens of precise push notifications a day.

User Experience

Push should start from the human perspective. Taking Zhihu as an example, I have received push notifications for content I have browsed more than once. For example, a certain topic will be pushed again the next day. Judging from the operational data, Zhihu may think that I am browsing and interested in this topic, but I have already read it, and it would be very disturbing to push it again.

From the perspective of browsing time, if I only browsed this topic for a dozen seconds, it is reasonable to push it again, because I didn’t finish reading it. But if the reading time is dozens of minutes, then I have basically read all the answers, and I haven’t clicked to follow, so don’t push it, let me be a handsome man quietly.

Thinking from another angle, you can also change the text to [There are new and exciting answers under the topic of "XXXX", so hurry up and pay attention to it! 】. This is also another technique.

Push Pool

We can create a push pool for products. Users are all in this pool, and the goal is to push the corresponding content to the right people every week.

Operations are pushed through user portrait tags. Hey, this is a new user, so we will push content to attract attention. I have a group of old users. I recommend content A to those who have been interested in content A, and content B to those who like content B. Another group of users haven't opened the product for a long time, so we quickly launch something new and interesting to attract them back.

Then set up a user experience mechanism, for example, users receive a maximum of three pieces of content a week to prevent them from being overly disturbed. This is the concept of a pool.

Data analysis

How do you measure the quality of your push? Are the above techniques useful? We are going to use data analysis. I have already talked about the open rate. The open rate can indirectly indicate whether the user is interested in this push. Then the open rate can measure the effectiveness of the execution of various push points.

Good operations require recording the data of each push effect, constantly finding patterns, and continuously optimizing. For example, is there any difference in the opening rate between 8 o'clock and 9 o'clock under the same conditions? Are there any differences in the open rates of different copywriting? Are people like me interested in this content? Even push notifications can be combined with data mining to increase the effect exponentially.

Everyone should remember that the open rate data is not our goal, but a measurement process. Don’t create clickbait titles just for the sake of open rate. As a result, users find that the content is just so-so, which is not worth the effort.

Summarize

We have talked about the common points about push notifications. Now we can open our phones and see how many red dots there are on the APPs on the interface that we have not opened; open the system settings and see how many push notifications we have turned off; finally, think about how many times we have been annoyed by push notifications and then uninstalled them. There is still a long way to go.