Lessons Learned from Data-Driven Holiday Marketing 

When it comes to holiday marketing, you want to get a user’s attention without being overly pushy. Analyzing the data from billions of messages sent, marketers can determine the best practices to stay timely and relevant during the busy holiday season, says,  Josh Wetzel, Chief Revenue Officer, OneSignal.

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Are your marketing messages landing during the holiday shopping season, or is customer engagement lacking? As countless brands vie for digital attention from customers during the busiest shopping days of the year, the OneSignal growth team analyzed data from over 118 billion messages sent over a 4-week period, showing the top ways to increase user engagement. 

Learn More: Tech-Driven Marketing: Four Capabilities Marketers Need Today

Here’s some key takeaways from our data: 

• Segments: Messages targeted to specific segments have a 50% higher click-through rate than messages sent without using segments. They enable apps & websites to reach their audiences in a more targeted fashion, sending only the most relevant and personalized messages based on user behavior, demographics, and other signals. 

• Data tags: Notifications sent by apps & websites that use data tags have a 16% higher click-through rate than those sent by apps that do not use data tags, giving the ability to label users with specific pieces of information and then send them messages based on that information. 
• A/B tests: Messages sent with A/B testing to have a 10% higher click-through rate than messages sent without A/B testing, ensuring only the best performing messages are sent to users based on actual engagement by a sample of the intended audience. 
• Images: Messages sent with images have a 9% higher click-through rate than messages sent without images. They allow those messages to grab users’ attention and give them more context about the message more quickly than text
• In-app Messages: In-app Messages (interstitials, banners, pop-ups, etc.) have 18-20 times the click-through rate of regular messages. They appear over app content with relevant messaging, plus they allow apps to reach all users, even those that are not subscribed to notifications
   

Learn More: Research Findings: The Ill Effects of Data Pollution Are Skyrocketing in Marketing Organizations

Target the Weekend Warriors

It might seem like conventional wisdom that apps and websites should send messages to their users on weekdays, particularly near the start of the week, to get the most engagement. Our data shows users actually engage more near the end of the week, particularly on Friday and Saturday, when CTRs are 9% higher than average. Conversely, engagement actually dips mid-week - CTRs on Wednesdays are 11% lower than average.

These findings suggest that companies trying to get the most engagement from their users should consider timeshifting their messages away from the middle of the week, messaging users more at the end of the week when they tend to engage at a higher rate, or doing both. One reason for these trends is that most apps tend to send notifications mid-week, creating greater competition across apps for users’ limited time and attention. Another factor driving the higher engagement rates is that users have more time to spend engaging with apps as the work week winds down on Friday and Saturday.

For Marketers, Here’s the Holiday Lessons Learned  

Once associated with masses of shoppers crowding the doorway of their favorite retailers after Thanksgiving, Black Friday combined with Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday poses new challenges and opportunities in a digital age. 

It’s important to send relevant and targeted offers to your customers since you’ll be facing fierce competition from other companies. With information like purchase history, previous cart abandonments, account types, and other user behaviors, you can then leverage your user tags with segments to create relevant messages for different audiences. 

Learn More: The Need for a Centralized Analytics Team

Taking a data-driven mindset is critical for all marketers looking to cut through the noise during busy seasons. With major retailers, brands, and even small businesses competing for customer attention and sales, marketing teams must rely on technology and think outside the proverbial box to stick out from the crowd.