Push Notifications for Mobile App Re-engagement
Push notifications remain one of the most effective ways to bring users back to your app. Here's what the data shows about timing, frequency and copy — and what we've learned running city and festival apps across the UK and Ireland.
By John Quirke
Push notifications remain one of the most effective channels for re-engaging app users — but only when used well. Here’s what we’ve learned from running city and festival apps across the UK and Ireland.
Why push outperforms email for re-engagement
Email open rates for event and culture sector organisations have fallen significantly since 2019. The average sits around 22–28%, and that’s for audiences who are already engaged enough to stay subscribed.
Push notifications typically see open rates three to six times higher. The reason is simple: a notification arrives on the lock screen, where it competes only with other apps rather than with 50 other emails from other organisations.
What the data says about timing
From our platform data across city apps in Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester, Cardiff, Kilkenny and York:
- Thursday and Friday send times consistently outperform Monday–Wednesday for event-related notifications
- Late afternoon (4–6pm) is the strongest window — people are thinking about weekend plans
- Morning sends (8–9am) perform well for “last chance” messages about events that weekend
Frequency: less is more
We recommend venues start with no more than two to three notifications per month. Users who receive more than five notifications per month from a single sender show significantly higher opt-out rates.
The sweet spot is quality over quantity: a notification about a show going on sale, a “last few tickets” alert, and an occasional highlight of something coming up.
What makes a good notification
The copy rules that consistently outperform:
- Specific over vague — “3 tickets left for A Midsummer Night’s Dream this Saturday” outperforms “Don’t miss our upcoming shows”
- Time pressure works — “Last week”, “This Friday”, “Selling fast” all improve click-through
- Deep link to the right place — a notification about a specific show should land on that show’s booking page, not your homepage
What we’ve seen in the field
One city app partner increased booking click-throughs by 34% simply by switching from weekly digest notifications to targeted, event-specific sends with direct booking links. The notification volume went down; the impact went up.
If you’re thinking about how a push notification channel could work for your venue, book a demo and we’ll show you what it looks like in practice.
See it working for your events
Book a demo — we'll show you the platform with your programme in it.