The toughest part of publishing online today isn’t writing good stories or getting clicks. It’s getting people to come back for more. Readers have endless choices and shorter attention spans, which means a single click isn’t enough. They read, they leave, and they often forget you exist.
If you want a loyal audience, you have to build habits, and this is where push notifications help. When used the right way, they’re not annoying pop-ups. They’re timely reminders that bring readers back, post after post, until checking your content becomes something they do without thinking.
Building Good Content as the Foundation
You can send all the pushes you want, but if your content fails to engage, it’s unlikely people will come back. Habitual readers start with the essentials: content that feels smart, meaningful, and even personal.
Also, any habit starts with value. People return to the things that make them think, teach them something, or simply feel worth their time. That’s the real foundation.
Once you have that, layering additional formats gives you leverage. For instance, Murf’s AI voice generator allows users to convert articles into audio with fine control over pitch, speed, pauses, emphasis, and pronunciation.
This works because readers who prefer listening to content (while driving, walking, or doing routine chores) can still consume your content. And that’s how building a habit can be encouraged.
Similarly, iZooto’s News Hub allows readers to consume the breaking news during a session. Further, tools like Canva and Adobe Express can help you turn stories into visuals that are easy to share and skim.
These are just a few of the many ways to turn your articles into multiple engaging forms, like text, audio, and visuals. This way, your push notifications always have something compelling to promote.
6 Ways to Build a Successful Push Notification Strategy
Push notifications can either make your audience loyal or push them away for good. Most readers don’t unsubscribe because they hate notifications. They do so because most notifications are irrelevant, too frequent, or poorly timed.
If you want yours to actually work, here’s what you need to focus on.
1. Choose the Right Time to Ask for Permission
Most publishers rush this step and pay the price. Asking for notification permission as soon as someone lands on your site can backfire instantly. That’s because people haven’t seen enough of your content yet to decide if they want more of it.
A better approach is to wait until they’re clearly interested. This could mean until they’ve read a full article, clicked through to a second story, or spent a few minutes scrolling. That’s when they’re more likely to get on board.
And when you do ask, explain what they’re signing up for. A line like “Get notified when we publish our biggest stories” works far better than a generic pop-up.
2. Send Notifications That Offer Real Value
The quickest way to get muted is to send push notifications that don’t matter. The last thing you want to do is interrupt your reader’s day by announcing an article irrelevant to them. It’s not enough incentive for them to invest their time. Instead, say something that they’ll find genuinely useful. Also segmenting the audience becomes crucial to help deliver the right notification to the right audience.
For example, give them breaking news that can have an impact on their day-to-day life. Or, provide a holistic summary of the week’s most-read stories or links to trending articles. You could also recommend pieces of content based on their reading history.
Basically, every message you send should make them feel like they’d miss out by ignoring it. Bring them valuable reads to keep them interested and invested.
3. Personalize Based on Reader Behavior
Your readers have different interests, reading habits, and preferences, and they expect you to pay attention to that. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work anymore. So what will?
Start with simple segmentation. If someone reads every piece you publish about politics, send them more of that. If another person engages with opinion pieces, give them updates on new ones.
You could also consider sending out memorable welcome messages that focus on the reader. Even this kind of basic personalization shows that you understand your readers. Once they feel understood, they’ll be much more likely to tap on something that feels tailored to them.
4. Keep the Frequency Balanced
Sending too many notifications too frequently can become an annoyance. But send too few, and you’ll probably be forgotten. The key here is to strike a balance.
Watch your engagement data closely. If open rates dip or unsubscribes go up, you’re probably overdoing it. Break down notifications by type. For example, try sending breaking alerts immediately, but hold feature stories for a weekly roundup. The idea is to stay top-of-mind among your readers without overwhelming them.
5. Make Your Message Clear and Direct
The thing about using push notifications is that you only get a few seconds to convince readers to opt in for your alerts. If they find your message vague or confusing, they’ll ignore it and move on. This is why it is important to send messages that are clear and directly convey what readers can get when they open it.
For example, a message like “3 key takeaways from today’s budget report” sounds a lot more genuine and helpful compared to something like “You won’t believe what happened,” which sounds more like clickbait.
6. Track Results and Keep Improving
Push notifications aren’t something you set once and forget. What works today might fail next month. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye on your metrics. We’re talking opt-in rates, open rates, clicks, and unsubscribes.
Use this information to tweak your approach where necessary. Embrace trial and error. Try sending your messages at different times, test new types of content, or adjust your tone. The goal is to keep learning and improving based on how people respond.
4 Common Push Notification Mistakes to Avoid
Here are a few mistakes that most publishers end up making in using push notifications (and how to avoid them).
1. Asking Too Soon for Notification Access
If you start pestering readers for permission as soon as they land on your page, they’ll probably never come around. We recommend waiting until they develop trust in your content and have read through some of it. Send your requests after showing them a good experience, and they’ll sign up without hesitation.
2. Not Explaining Why Notifications Matter
Your readers will likely not opt in for your messages if they don’t have a solid reason to do so. Telling them about what’s in it for them can encourage readers to subscribe. For instance, “Get notified about the biggest stories of the day” or “We’ll alert you when new opinion pieces go live” can work as incentives.
3. Sending Too Many Notifications
As mentioned, bombarding someone’s phone with notifications is a one-way street to unsubscriptions. It’s better to send fewer but valuable messages. Make every notification feel intentional by focusing on quality over quantity.
4. Sending Irrelevant Notifications
A common practice among publishers is to send notifications to their entire subscriber base. And that is a sure way of lapping up unsubscriptions. While the attempt here is to get the notification to everyone subscribed, not everyone cares about it. If you send a finance notification to a subscriber who is interested in sports content, well that will most definitely lead to an unsubscribe. Maybe not at the first instance, but eventually.
Investing time into segmenting the audience and tailoring notifications for them is guaranteed to not only retain subscribers but to also improve your CTRs.
Conclusion
Push notifications can work well in building habitual readers when used the right way. Of course, it all begins with quality content creation above everything else. Notifications can support content when they are well-timed, relevant, and deliver on their promise. Clear messaging and personalization can work wonders in keeping readers coming back for more.
All in all, the right blend of good content and an effective push notification strategy can ensure that your messages aren’t just a broadcast tool, but a conversation builder.
