New research published in an EyeforTravel sponsored white paper finds that 63% of push notifications are missing the target

The smartphone is a highly personal device and for data driven marketers the opportunity is huge. However, app push notifications are often failing to maximize their effectiveness, with 63% being sent at the wrong time, says new research from mobile marketing automation platform, Leanplum.

According to Leanplum, app managers are frequently sending push notifications when users are not engaged, or otherwise overwhelmed by competing messages. In an analysis of over half-a-billion push notifications, Leanplum found that the best times for engagement vary widely between weekdays and weekends, and also by region.

…the best times for engagement vary widely between weekdays and weekends, and also by region

For example, open rates at the weekend in EMEA are highest late in the evening, reaching a peak at 9-10PM, but in Asia-Pacific peak weekend engagement is across the morning.

Leanplum suggests that behavioural analysis, A/B testing and adaptive algorithms are the best methods to improve push notification effectiveness.

"Some of what we're seeing is marketers failing to leverage simple tools that account for time zones,” says Leanplum CEO and co-founder, Momchil Kyurkchiev.

Marketers should stagger push notifications by factoring in user locations

Kyurkchiev suggests that marketers should stagger push notifications by factoring in user locations.

To take things further they should consider personalisation – essential when it comes to mobile. “Users don't respond to generic blasts – they respond to messages that recognise their individuality,” Kyurkchiev says. He advises deploying tools that use machine-learning algorithms to analyse past behaviour and automatically send messages when users are most likely to open.

For more insights from this data - including when mobile users open push notifications and how to optimise messages to get the best results head to EyeforTravel and download the whitepaper