Push Notifications: An Essential Marketing Tool For CME Events | eMedEvents

 As a CME provider, it is unlikely that your audience will check your app daily unless they are actively searching for accredited

activities. Therefore, for every app that is not a popular social media platform, it can be difficult to convey updates and product

information to your user base.

That is where push notifications come in.

Push Notifications are brief pop-up messages that mobile apps send to users' devices, even when the app is inactive. These alerts are

intended to catch the user's attention and can include reminders, updates, promotions, and more.

While push notifications may resemble SMS text messages and other mobile alerts, they are only sent to users who have downloaded

the app. This feature is available across all mobile platforms and service providers.

Push notifications allow app developers to engage with their users directly. They don't get caught by spam filters or left

forgotten in inboxes, and their click-through rates are twice as high as email. I hey can also remind users to use an app they have not

opened in a pre-established period.

Some of the many CME marketing uses for push notifications are

Promoting CME events or special offers to increase activity registration

Improving user experience

Converting unknown app users to regular customers

Sending receipts immediately following transactions

Promoting users to. other marketing. channels such as social networks

Push notifications can be customized for specific app users and targeted to certain segments of your user base. when compared too

SMS text messaging is a significant benefit. They do, however, necessitate the maintenance of user-identification data. I hey also

require a specific interface for authoring, targeting, and sending messages.

How do push notifications appear to users?

For the most part, users see these notiñcations as banners or pop-up alerts while they are using their phones or tablets. No matter

what the user is doing, the notification will always appear-even if the device is inactive.

Push notifications are displayed in a single window on most mobile operating systems, though they can vary by brand. For the majority of

devices, notiñcations will appear at the top or bottom of the screen while the device is in use; if the device is inactive, push

notifications will appear directly on the lock screen, similar to text messages

How to get started with push notifications

The capacity to engage with attendees via push notifications should be treated as a privilege, not a right. After all, users can easily

disable a given app's push notifications if the developers fail to provide value through them. In worst-case scenarios, users will delete

the app altogether.

It is critical to construct engaging push notifications that are useful to both registered and potential attendees.

3 types of push notifications

1. Banners-These are brief messages that appear for a set period before disappearing. They can contain the first few

words of a longer message or a concise CME event alert.

2. Badges -They appear in the form of a red circle directly on your app's icon; many badges will be marked with a white number,

which can be used to indicate unread messages or new activities available through your app.

3. Alerts While they appear visually similar to banners, alerts will not disappear until the user manually dismisses them.

4 tips for writing the perfect push advertisement

1. Ask yourself the question: do they need this information right now? Push notiñcations are a tool best used thoughtfully and

judiciously.

2. Keep your messages short, sweet, and snappy.

3. Personalize them for specific users (including elements such as language, time, and specialty).

4. Include calls to action to inform users what to do next

What information is "push-worthy"?

For CME organizers, here are some essential notifications that you may want to consider adopting into your strategy.

Major program changes

This is likely the most important notification you can provide your attendees, as it includes crucial information regarding the CME

activity they have already paid for. However, keep the updates to a bare minimum, and only include important ones such as room

changes or last-minute session cancellations.

Welcome messages

For in-person events, greet your attendees and include reminders for time and location. This is also an excellent opportunity to

provide them with last-minute arrival information, such as instructions on where they can pick up their badge or simple directions to

the location.

For virtual events, you can send reminders about the start of your conference if you are hosting a Livestream. Offer assistance for

navigating the event platform if you have noticed a pattern among your users. For pre-recorded activities, send completion reminders

to users who have not interacted with an in-progress activity for a long period.

Special offers

Allow your marketing staff to capitalize on the close relationship you have with your users. Send out a special incentive for the next

event's registration, or offer current conference attendees a discount on their membership fee.

Post-event surveys

Providing a post-event survey is a great way to keep users engaged, even after your latest activity has concluded.

New events

Provide information on upcoming events and their registration dates, especially to users who would find this specific content useful or

relevant. You can even offer a sneak peek of the program as well as other details about the next activity.

For example, CME organizers can add all of their events and year-round activities to the eMedEvents website and mobile app in one

convenient spot. Notify your users when a new event is added to the platform by sending them a push notification.

Get the most out of your push notification strategy

Higher conversion rates and enhanced user engagement metrics should be the main focus of your push marketing campaign. Establish

your KPIs accordingly and utilize mobile marketing indicators to track the efficacy of your campaigns.

For push notifications specifically, you may want to track user interactions within your app and determine the relationship between

those figures and your push ads. Keep track of the total amount of notifications sent within a given timeframe. Then, for each

marketing campaign, look at your click-through rate and compare it to other campaigns' CTRs to determine an optimal push

notification methodology.

An important factor to consider when it comes to tracking your push notifications is the time of day and the day of the week. Is it

better to send notifications first thing in the morning so that the user sees them when they wake up? Or have you noticed a higher

number of clicks in the afternoon? Is there a quantifiable difference between weekday and weekend push notifications? These must all

be considered when optimizing your push ads.

The dangers of push notification misuse

App users are sensitive to irrelevant and intrusive push alerts. When constructing new campaigns, it is critical to put your user's

experience first. Take care not to let this avenue of communication with your users collapse; after all, once they have unsubscribed

from your push notifications, they are unlikely to opt in again.

You must also guarantee that your campaign workflow is error-free. some apps have sent out incorrect or improper messages to their

whole user base by accident. It is an easy way to damage your brand's reputation, and attendees may lose trust as a result.

When used correctly. push notifications can be endlessly rewarding. However, they can easily cause more harm

than good without due diligence. Remember that each message much have a valid and valuable purpose for your user base.

Conclusion

Sending thoughtful, relevant, and timely notiñcation messages to people who are already interested in your organization is an

excellent method of engagement with your audience. Push notifications can be used to enhance app usage, drive registrations,

influence conversions, and much more. With proper planning and judicious application, the opportunities are truly limitless.