In brief
Push notifications may perform better after 6 p.m., when user engagement appears high despite relatively fewer sends. The analysis links evening engagement to leisure time after work, including app use, social media browsing, and television viewing.
This article examines push notification data from mobile marketing automation tool Leanplum. An analysis of 671 million notifications revealed some interesting trends, with a particular focus on when push notifications are sent.
First, let us look at when marketers send push notifications and how users interact with them. The chart above shows average weekday notification sends and opens in North America, using a sample of millions of notifications. The data uses normalized local time and represents raw sends and opens within a given period. The blue line shows the raw number of notifications sent, plotted against the left axis. The red line shows the raw number of opens, plotted against the right axis.
An interesting trend emerges here: sends and opens generally rise throughout the day, with several small peaks in the afternoon, a slightly larger peak around 3 p.m., and the largest peak in the evening. The trend after 6 p.m. is particularly interesting. Initially, notification opens are at their highest compared with other times, while sends are relatively low. This suggests that apps send large numbers of notifications before the evening. Sending them after 6 p.m. might produce better results, as user engagement appears to be high after that time.
Between 7 and 9 a.m., people wake up and begin their morning routines: eating breakfast, commuting, and starting work. These activities before arriving at the office help explain why engagement with push notifications is low before noon. The video shows an interesting shift in activity around 3 p.m., which also coincides with higher numbers of sends and opens. At this time, people may take a short break, have a coffee, or go for a walk, picking up their phones to check them. Around 6 p.m., most people finish work and begin their leisure activities.
There is also a clear explanation for the higher number of push notification opens between 6 and 9 p.m. With work finished, people may check their phones, open apps, and browse social media. This leisure time continues until around 10 p.m., when most people begin showering and going to bed. Peak engagement with push notifications is closely linked to people's leisure time after work.
Media Usage Across Channels
The analysis above suggests that people are more likely to open push notifications during leisure activities. So what do people do during their leisure time? Daily media usage data across channels published by Flurry reveals some interesting trends.
Internet usage has two main peaks: one at 8 a.m. and another, higher peak at 7 p.m. Around 7 a.m., usage of iOS and Android apps begins, rising throughout the day and reaching its peak at 9 p.m. before declining. Television viewing generally takes place after work, with a major peak between 7 and 11 p.m. This can be compared with a similar media usage chart published in the UK.
These two charts show that television is an important channel during leisure time, especially after work. Voice communication mostly takes place during the day, as does online communication (SMS / email).
Push Notification Engagement vs. Media Usage
By connecting daily routines with push notification engagement, we can infer why people are more engaged in the evening. I believe we all regard mobile devices as a second screen: people use them to interact with push notifications while occasionally watching television. People generally carry their phones with them, allowing them to use apps at any time。
Understanding People's Daily Behaviour Through 670 Million Mobile App Push Notifications