Marketing trends are constantly shifting—and as a brand, it’s a constant race to capture consumer attention. So what’s one communication method that can influence client behavior, increase engagement, and give your studio visibility in real-time? Push notifications.

Push notifications are an essential, mobile-friendly marketing tool that enables your fitness business to reach a target audience with targeted messaging. By tapping into segmentation and personalization, you can deliver meaningful, relevant, and time-sensitive information with an immediate call to action. You’re encouraging your clients to click through to your preferred destination (seven times higher than email!), driving engagement, and influencing conversions. And with 40% of opted-in users interacting with your studio push notifications within an hour of receiving them, you’re giving your clients a seamless experience on the home screen of their iOS or Android device.

“It’s so easy and simple to streamline client communication with push notifications in Walla,” says Laura Munkholm, President and Co-founder of Walla. “Push is the perfect method for urgent communication and to promote a time-sensitive offer—like a challenge giveaway, exclusive event invite, or limited plan discount, instigating a sense of urgency and driving action, especially when you are able to filter by more recent clients. At the end of the day, it’s about lifetime value.”

When your clients have opted in to and enabled push notifications on their iOS and Android phones via the Walla app and in their device settings, you’re increasing upsell and win-back opportunities and leveraging a new engagement channel. Here are five quick-hit ways Walla’s push notifications come in handy and can influence action (and a positive reaction) when it comes to your selling and marketing strategy. Plus, we are sharing our top push notification best practices tips!

• Elevate client engagement: Unlike long emails that can end up unread and buried in an inbox or SMS messages that are frequently ignored, push notifications are almost impossible to miss. And with an open rate of 90%—which is 50% higher than email—it’s the perfect marketing tool for time-dependent studio communication. 
• Boost studio retention: Push notifications allow you to stay in touch with clients and keep your studio top-of-mind. By sending concise and inspiring messaging to their mobile phone, you’re making it super easy for clients to click through and take action, continuing to book, buy, and discover new ways to achieve their goals with your studio! 
• Higher conversion rates: When a push notification appears, your clients are prompted to perform the requested action. When your message is creative, straightforward, concise, and drives to your direct destination (in-app link, custom URL, or web view)—or is it just plain informative? Now, you’re grabbing attention and boosting open rates, increasing conversion rates, retaining your regulars, sharing motivation, and encouraging new client purchases. 
• Strategic segmentation: Running highly targeted push notification campaigns can see a click rate as high as 30%, beginning with sending the right message to the best audience. With Walla, you can tailor your message, select a specific link (or no link), and filter your studio communication to a particular audience. From everyone enrolled in push notifications to the most recent clients filtered by date and before or after their last visit, sharing targeted communication to a customized audience is a huge win, especially when it comes to newer clients and urgent messaging. 
• Effective upsell and win-back opportunities: Push notifications are an efficient way to sell more, add lifetime value, and leverage a brand awareness channel to touch base with clients who haven’t returned to your studio in a while. Think of push as a gentle reminder for those who might need a little extra motivation to get them back into class. Try utilizing push notifications to notify and sell a new class plan to active clients who work out at least three times a week—or share a friendly “we miss you” message to instigate a win-back opportunity for the clients who might churn. A little mobile love can go a long way! 

A few best practice tips for push notifications to help increase sending success!  

• Time of day: Highest click-through rates are between the afternoon and 7 pm—and Wednesdays are the preferred day for boosting open rates. 
• Try using emojis: Add a relevant emoji to add personality to your push notification! 
• Communicate with new clients: Push is an excellent channel for onboarding! Welcome new clients to your studio and congratulate them on their accomplishments. 
• Don’t bombard your community: Be aware of how often you send push notifications, so your clients don’t feel overwhelmed, annoyed, or ignore future communication. 
• Keep your title and message short and to the point: If you are having trouble doing that, maybe your content is meant for an email! (push title: 34 characters max; message copy 141 characters max). 

Please note, push notifications are sent to clients who have notifications enabled for the Walla app in their device settings and have their app set up to allow notifications from your studio. For additional support articles related to push notifications, read more here. 

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