How To Engage Users On Game Apps Via Push Notifications

Push notifications are one of the trending tools in marketing arenas. No arena has been left untouched by the tool- after engaging users brilliantly on an e-commerce store, it’s the turn of the gaming app push notifications.

The gaming industry has evolved and taken a higher plunge since the number of mobile users has increased. Back then, people were only stuck to their Television screens where they got the advantages of playing games and watching out their favorite shows.

Mobile gaming apps have gone too far popular in today’s arena so much so that mobiles have been developed specifically for the game, consisting of the hardware that would meet the demands of the users.

On the one hand, the Indian mobile gaming market is crossing millions and billions of turnovers.

Sixty-two percent of Mobile users download mobile apps within some days of purchasing their phones, such as the astonishing popularity of game apps.

According to the recent statistics, gaming apps are the most popular category on mobile phones consisting of 25 percent of the IOS apps and 21 percent of the android apps.

Although the user acquisition rates are much higher in the gaming apps, one challenge the marketers usually face is retaining the users- How can you engage the users more that they hook to your apps.

Prior to the mainstream app deployment, a mobile game soft launch can be an effective way to gather feedback and learn how to retain users.

In such a scenario, you just need a strategy that can help you engage and re-engage the users at the same time- Push notifications are the critical solutions for such challenging times.

What is the importance of push notifications in gaming apps :

Push notification is essential to redefine any marketing strategy where you can engage your users with personalized messages. It becomes a lot more relevant in the gaming industry because if you do not engage a customer regularly, someone else will grab them.

How push notifications play a vital role in gaming apps :

• Update the users: Push notifications have the capability to bring the users back to your app. Also, if a player is stuck somewhere in the game, you can pull him back so that they can make progress to the next level. Besides, you can inform your users about the latest updates via push notifications.

• Draft concise notifications: Remember, if you draft push notifications with unclear messages and agendas, users will not respond to them. Therefore, be concise with your push messages.

How to engage your users in your gaming app with push notifications :

Launching a gaming app is easy, but engaging and retaining users is a bit difficult. You can improve retention rates by 15 to 20%. Let’s make it easy with push notifications :

1. Convince users to opt-in:

Persuade your users to opt-in for the push notifications for your gaming app. There is more than 60% of users opt-out of push notifications.

Therefore, you can ask for their permission before receiving these notifications. You can also explain to the users how opting in for push notifications will render them more benefits.

For example, you can offer them free points, some extra lives, and other in-app benefits, which they will probably not acquire if they are not opting in for push notifications.

2. Add fun elements in push notifications:

Informing your users about how other players are beating them in their favorite games adds a fun element altogether.

It not only creates curiosity in the users,’ but it motivates them to score higher. It’s known as Gamification. You can use this feature when a player is not in the session or is playing the game. 

3. Create location-specific push notifications:

Many non-gaming apps use game app push notifications for engaging users, so why do gaming apps be far behind! Your users might be playing games while travelling back home or going to their workplaces.

You can surely take advantage of their travelling by picking up their locations and getting them back to your game app.

See the below example of the pokemon go app, where you can notify the user in advance of the lures in their locations. You can create a sense of urgency through game app push notifications.

4. Get straight away with your notifications:

Sometimes, it’s good to get to a point to engage your users. Engaging them with direct messages will help them know what your real agendas are. Such notifications are great for regular users. You can create a sense of urgency through such notifications.

Suppose a player has reached a certain level of the game. You can send him the notifications, such as what all he needs to complete that particular level of the game.

5. Inform them about the new updates:

Have you recently upgraded your gaming app or added a level to it. If yes is the answer, then your users must know about the new changes. Non-gaming apps like amazon also update the users about the latest developments in the app.

6. Reward your users:

Rewards are priceless possessions your users would love receiving. You can ask users to complete the level and get rewards in return, such as cheating codes and extra points, which help them go to the next level.

It enhances their motivation spirit to a significant degree. Also, if your game apps need modifications as users have to buy to get to the next level: Offering them discount codes is one such attractive trick.

7.Connect with your friends: 

A lockdown period has raised the distance between friends and relatives. But you users can still play games by keeping their friends and relatives closer to them.

It rejuvenates their enthusiasm and enlivens their spirit. You can send notifications to the users to invite their friends over the app and have a fun time competing against each other.

Who are the top gaming app companies which use push notifications :

Many gaming apps have used push notifications and have seen amazing results. Let’s see who they are and how they used game app push notifications for engaging users.

1. Wordscapes:

It is a popular gaming app that not only excels in great user onboarding and marvellous designs, but it engages users well with push notifications.

The cross-word puzzle lovers must agree to it. Let’s see what elements of push notifications do this app use which makes it magnetic :

• Finish the daily puzzles: The app uses the notifications in a quirky way to motivate the users to complete the daily puzzles.

• Use of notification emojis: The app uses useful emojis relevant to the information they are putting across the users. It evokes an emotion amongst the users to read the whole message.

• Occasional hints: Many times, users uninstall the apps when they find it tough and challenging or are not able to complete them. Wordscape app engages the users to return them to the app by sending them occasional and random hints via push campaigns.

2. Candy crush:

Candy crush is the most popular and most downloaded app on app stores. Apart from having a magnetic UI as a robust marketing strategy, it keeps users engaged and updated through game app push notifications.

• Straight-away messages:  The app sends straight away messages to the users to complete the level so that they can earn more rewards.

• Creating a sense of urgency: The app continuously updates the users to refill their lives via notifications so that they can go to the next level of their game. Additionally, as hybrid casual games that blend elements of hype casual and mid-core experiences continue to gain popularity, developers can leverage personalized push notifications to engage players and promote new content or in-game events tailored to this emerging genre.

3. Dream 11:

The app nudges the users to create their virtual fantasy team of real-life players. The users get the opportunity to earn points based on the performance of the players who perform in actual matches.

The app has seen massive growth in a minimal time of five months, and one primary reason behind its success is to push notifications.

See how the app engages the users :

• Creating a sense of urgency: The app creates a sense of urgency through push notifications. It informs the user about the deadlines to create their teams as early as possible.

• Personalized notifications: The app goes personalized while congratulating the teams on their win.

• Cross-app messaging: The app works in sponsorships with many other famous apps such as Hotstar. Therefore, push notifications to help out in covering the customer base of both the apps.

The app also reminds the user about their previous victory before the next match to nudge the users to relaunch the app.

Conclusion

Push notifications are not only necessary for upgrading your e-commerce or digital marketing business. It is inevitable for engaging users to relaunch gaming apps also. You must have got some fantastic tips from the blog to launch your gaming app and how to engage users with push notifications. Well, go and try these tips.

Read more:

• How Do E-commerce Websites Use Push Notifications to Target Customers?
• 15 Best Push Notification Software & Tools in 2022 {Compared}
• How To Re-Engage Customers? Use Push Notifications for Customer Re-engagement
• Push Notifications: Ideal Marketing Tactics