The short answer: Yes!

The long answer: Despite some initial scepticism over push-notifications and the amount of users that opt out of receiving them, they are now becoming an increasingly effective way to increase engagement and retention of mobile apps.

Image source - Flickr

Push notifications are automated messages which are delivered to a users home screen from an app, they can notify users of special offers, updates on purchases or leader-board changes in game apps for example. If used correctly they can be an invaluable marketing tool for mobile apps, however they can become an irritation when used incorrectly or too frequently and have an adverse affect.

Naming no names, there are a number of high-profile apps who use push notifications on a daily basis to repeat the same message, this will only serve to turn users off and many, rather than simply disabling the messages, will delete the app without a second thought.

Yet, research shows that when used correctly mobile app messaging can increase engagement four-fold. It’s easy to understand why, with hundreds of thousands of apps available for users to download consumers can be overwhelmed with choice and amass great numbers of apps on their phones that a easily forgotten. Receiving a message every once in a while, with a targeted, relevant message will not only serve as a reminder but also give the user a reason to access the app again.

Some other key facts relating to the rise of push notifications:

• Apps without push notifications have half the retention rate of those with the functionality
• Mobile and tablet screens are now seen as more valuable than TV screens by marketers and advertisers
• If they aren’t already doing so, it will soon be the case that consumers spend more time looking at the tablet or smartphone screen than at a TV screen

One mobile engagement specialist, Urban Airship has delivered more than 2.3 billion push notifications across the iOS, BlackBerry and Android platforms, as of March 3, 2011. That’s about 8.5 million a day and that number is growing rapidly, so it’s clear that the acceptance of such notifications, both from an end user and marketing prospective, is growing too.

Finding out what works for you and your app users will be key to the success of push notifications and it is important to consider how often you use the feature as smartphone spam is not cool!