Web Push Notifications (often called Desktop Notifications) are essential tool to help software as a service applications drive engagement with their users. The opportunities to use web push notifications are as varied as the world of Software-as-a-service itself, but here are examples from two extremely popular apps, Slack and Gmail, on how they use Web Push notifications to alert users to what is going on in their accounts and drive application usage.
NOTE: Slack and Gmail do not use Prompty to deliver these notifications. This is just meant to show how Desktop Notifications can be used by SaaS application to engage their users.
Slack
Slack in a popular group chat application. Many companies use it to share information with each other directly or in groups. Slack has a web-based login version of their app and users who login can choose to receive Web Push Notifications. If they do so they will be notified when new messages arrive for them.
NOTE: These screenshots below are taken from Prompty’s actual Slack account.
- After signing up for a Slack account, the user is given a subdomain at slack. For example: userdomain.slack.com
- Slack asks the user at the “enable desktop notifications”
- When the user clicks to enable, they will get Push Notification optin box
- If the user enables push notifications, when you get a new Slack message, the user will receive it in on his / her desktop
- The user can control your desktop notifications via the Notification preferences page
Gmail
Gmail is one of the world’s most popular email readers. Users can setup Gmail to deliver to them a desktop notification when they receive a new (or an important) email. If a user opts into this notification, when a new email arrives and web push notification will pop out and it will
- Under “Settings” you can manage your Desktop Notifications and turn on “New mail” notifications or “Important mail” notifications
- When you receive a new or important email, Gmail will send you a Desktop (Web Push) notification.
- When you click on the Gmail notification it open Gmail, driving adoption.
Conclusion
Web push notifications, often called Desktop notifications, can be a vital part of giving information users need in a timely fashion. It’s a true extension of the application and the application would not be as effective (or the same) without it.