If you have a phone, laptop, tablet, or other device, you have probably been asked to opt into push notifications at some point or another. Sometimes, these notifications prove to be nothing more than an annoyance, like a game app telling you that you haven’t played in a while. For other apps, these notices are a great way to learn about sales or get important information.
For utility companies, push notifications can provide a vital link between the company and its customers. By implementing push notifications, you can offer your customers the information they need about their accounts and services. To implement push notifications, you must ensure that the option is integrated with your website and/or app and get permission from users to send them.
Inclind works with utilities throughout the United States to help them build efficient, effective websites. Our award-winning collaboration of website designers and developers knows how to build custom integrations for websites and apps to make push notifications a reality for your utility company. If you’d like to learn more, reach out to schedule a consultation with a member of our team.
What Are Push Notifications, and Why Are They Important?
A push notification is a message that can be sent directly to mobile devices, such as a smartphone or tablet, or to a computer via a web browser. They can be sent by an app when a user has that particular application installed or by a website when a visitor is using it. Users have to enable push notifications for the app or website to be able to send these notices.
Push notifications are different from in-app messages or even texts. They can appear on a lock screen or with other notifications (such as breaking news alerts). They can even be personalized with a unique tone.
Types Of Push Notifications
There are three main types of push notifications:
- Banner notifications: Banner notifications are messages that pop up and then disappear. For example, if you have an airline app installed on your phone, you might get a banner notification that alerts you that it is time to check in for your flight.
- Alerts: Alerts are similar to banner notifications but stay on a phone’s screen until the user manually deletes them.
- Badge notifications: Badge notifications are small icons - usually a red flag or number - on an app’s icon. This alerts users of a new message or other content. For example, your podcast app might have a badge notification that lets you know that new podcasts have been downloaded to your device.
Applications For The Utility Industry
Push notifications are an effective way to help users stay engaged with an app - or to re-engage if they haven’t opened an app in a while. They are also a great way to share important information, particularly in an urgent manner.
When these notifications are timely, relevant, and personalized, recipients are more likely to open them. For utility companies, a push notification about discounts for buying energy-efficient appliances sent out at 5 a.m. won’t necessarily be welcome. However, an alert about a planned power or water outage is incredibly important - and something that users will be happy to receive so that they can plan their days.
There are some ways that utility companies can ensure that their app users don’t turn off push notifications. Primarily, you want to ensure that any messages you send are relatively short, personalized, and necessary. A push notification about a bill coming due - sent with enough time for the user to make the payment - is an example of a personalized, relevant, and critical notice.
For utility companies, push notifications can be incredibly important for a few key reasons. Sending alerts about events related to utilities - such as work being done in the area - can help keep customers more informed and less likely to be angry at your company. Notifying customers about things like approaching due dates for bills can also reduce the likelihood of past-due bills and the challenges associated with late payments.
Implementing Push Notifications for Utilities
If you have decided that you want to add push notifications for your utility customers, there are a few steps that you must take in order to implement them. This includes both technical steps as well as legal and practical steps.
Create An Integration With A Push Notification Service
First, you will need to actually create the ability to send push notifications in your app or on your website. There are different push notification services for websites that an experienced website developer can add to your site - or they can build a custom integration to allow your website to send push notifications. You can install a messaging module to perform the same service for apps.
All major browsers support push notifications through application programming interfaces (API). Google uses Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for mobile devices for push notifications, while Apple uses Apple Push Notification Service (SPNS).
Create A Notification Opt-In
Second, you will need permission to send push notifications. Both Apple and Android require users to “opt-in” before app developers can send push notifications. Generally, the third-party platform that you integrate with your website or app will ask users to opt-in to receive these messages.
You can do some things to increase the odds of customers opting into your utility company's push notifications. First, you should make the value of these notifications clear, such as by providing timely information about their account and any disruptions to service in their area. You should also reassure users that you won’t spam them (or send too many notifications) and note that it’s easy to opt-out anytime.
Segment Your Audience
Third, you should understand how push notifications work for your platform - and ensure you follow best practices when sending push notifications. Your app or website developer should have set up a system where each user is assigned a push token, or unique identifier, for marketing purposes. Marketers should then set up segmentation criteria for each notification. When sending out a push notification, the app should identify users who should receive it based on the segmentation criteria. Notably, there are caps on the number of times that you can send a notification to each push token - so that you aren’t spamming users.
Implement Tracking & Analytics
Fourth, you should make sure that you are tracking data frompush notifications to determine their effectiveness. Our measurement and analytics services can help you easily track your opt-in rate, delivery and click rate, and conversion rate. This will allow you to fine-tune your notifications and refine your process for sending them.
Thinking about Adding Push Notifications? We Can Help
Push notifications are a great way to increase customer engagement and share important information. To add them to your website or mobile app, you will need to enable or integrate the appropriate software and get permission from users. Once that is done, you can send timely updates to your customers about everything from account status to planned outages.
At Inclind, we provide development and design services to utility companies throughout the United States. In addition to building and designing smart, user-friendly websites, we also offer services such as custom integrations, conversion optimization, and support and maintenance services. For each of our clients, we work hard to understand your needs and then use the appropriate technology to bring your vision to life.
If you’d like to learn more about our web design and development services for utility companies, we’re available to talk. You can fill out our online contact form or call 800-604-8139 to talk to one of our experts about your website.