Poq Platform Release: Pulsar has Landed!

By Chris Long
Senior Product Manager, Poq

Pulsar is here! Our newest platform release will enable Poq clients to drive a higher opt-in rate for push notifications, as well as provide a new web tool for managing their app’s onboarding screens.

In earlier releases, we have focused on integrating with a range of different push notification providers that our clients can use for more targeted and personalised communication with their customers. Push notifications are a great way to talk to your customers, with engagement rates much higher than email or SMS. Internet Retailer reports that once opted in to push notifications, consumers engage with the app an average of 26% more often each month than those users who do not receive such messages. 

As with any marketing channel, we need the user’s permission to make the most of this high performing channel. The industry average for opt-in rates for iOS users is 43.9% according to Accengage. Our latest iteration on our Onboarding feature aims to improve opt-in rates on our platform.

Onboarding v2

Our new web tool aims to make setting up your onboarding much easier, with a responsive interface. You’ll choose from two pre-defined templates, one with a banner image and text focusing on informing the user about important features and the benefits of your app, and one with a rich full-screen image for a more visually appealing look.

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Push Opt-In Flows – iOS

We’re changing both when we present the user with the prompt to allow push notifications and how we present the prompt. Using the new onboarding feature, we will be able to ask users for permission shortly after downloading the app, alongside information about what the user can expect from push notifications. It’s a great opportunity to tell them it’s the best way to find out about the latest product launches and the best sales.

We’re also presenting our own prompt before showing the Apple dialogue. This means if a user chooses “Not now”, we can ask them again later, they might be more likely to accept in another scenario. We have a flow in place to ensure we don’t annoy the user. They won’t be prompted again for another 30 days, and we’ll ask a maximum of 3 times.

For users who have already declined push notifications previously, we will trigger a similar prompt, but the user will be directed to the settings app to be able to opt-in. This is great for our existing clients who already have a large user base. 

This feature is iOS only as currently Android has an opt-out policy and therefore you don’t prompt for push permissions in an Android app.