Getting players to tap on a notification or click an email can seem like an impossible task in the world of notifications. But, personalizing your push notifications is a great way to entice players to engage with your content, leading to increased click-through rates. It adds something different to the mix and shows the player that you’re paying attention to them and that you value them playing your game.
The most important thing to consider when sending a personalized push is the goal of it. For most CRMS in a free-to-play game, your goal will likely be to retain players but also up their play time - moving them from core to VIP, or even risk to core (more on those categories of players in our article on the Player Lifecycle here).
There are also business goals to consider of course, such as increasing revenue (which can be achieved by focusing on DAU - we covered important KPIs here, if you want more info on that.)
Tailoring your messaging for the audience is always in fashion. (“Shop Sign” by John Sullivan, 1938)
Whatever your goal is, personalizing pushes is easy, effective, and a great thing to dive into and better understand. We’ll walk you through 4 of our favorite suggestions for tailoring messages that we’ve seen work.
TACTIC #1: Use copy to your advantage ✍️
Whenever you can, it’s smart to utilize the copy fields of any push notification to call out something about the player and group you’re targeting.
Sending a generic notification that is too broad won’t appeal to a player, especially one who spends a lot of time in your game. At the other end of the spectrum, it may turn off a player who is at risk of churning because they won’t see the appeal in tapping through and playing.
Instead, use what you know about your audience to your advantage. With your core players, you are focusing on repetition and those daily rewards. Meanwhile, for Risk players, the messaging should try new strategies, like focusing on what’s new in the game, as a way to entice them back. Think something like “Have you checked our latest slot? Here are some free coins for a spin!”
Don’t forget though: always keep it simple and don’t overcomplicate messaging. Get straight to the point of the notification.
TACTIC #2: Reward based on spend and balance 💎
Providing rewards based on how much players spend in your game is a great way to get high-spenders to come back more often. You may see some pushback from your team about giving players who spend more free coins. However, at Teak, we frequently see that giving to this segment of players rewards doesn’t negatively impact their spend. Instead, it often leads to them playing more.
Let’s say a player spends on average $5 a day in your game. Giving them a 20% bonus of their daily spend, so $1, will extend their playtime and have them coming back for more. This can also be a very effective way to move players into higher playing tiers, such as VIP.
Another effective way to personalize based on spend is to monitor balance and reward based on that. For example, if a player is usually a high spender but you notice they currently have a pretty low balance, you can use that information to surprise and delight them by refilling their balance.
You don’t need to be overt about this type of personalization. It’s enough that you are providing the right incentive at the right time. A message like, “Coins to take a few extra spins!” is exciting when a player knows their coin balance is low. For VIPs, “It’s your lucky day! Free coins for our top players!” is a nice way to mention their status without it being the focus. As always, run tests to hone in on the right wording.
However, a very important call out here is that the reward needs to be on par with the player’s level of speed and engagement in your game. If the reward doesn’t appropriately scale with the copy you’re writing in the push, the strategy could backfire. (See our How to Tier Rewards by Spend doc for a step by step guide.)
TACTIC #3: Reward based on level in the game 📈
Similar to the above, sending a reward that’s personalized based on the level a player is on in your game is a great way to encourage more play. For example, you could reward a player with coins to help them reach the next level and then call out in the notification what happens in the next level of game to entice them to keep playing. Something like, “Hey, you’re at Level 20! Did you know at Level 21 you unlock _____?” Or even “At Level 21, you unlock ____. Use these free coins to get there!”
When editing in Teak, click the @ button to see the properties and tags that you can template into your copy.
For even more personalization, if your game has unique names for certain levels of phases of the game, call that out as well in the push. Any opportunity to show players that you are tuned into their progress in the game is a good one.
TACTIC #4: Use their name…sparingly 👋
Using a player’s name can be a great way to personalize a push notification and make a player feel special. On Teak, you can set up a notification that uses the player’s name on any platform - from Facebook to email to iOS or Android. However, we would caveat this advice with a few things you should consider when setting up a push using a name.
First off, where are you pulling the player’s name from? If it’s from Facebook, it’s likely their real name. But in other circumstances, it could be a username. Consider this when setting up the push and make sure to write your copy accordingly.
Second, don’t go too overboard on using their name. The use of names in email newsletters and marketing in general has become so frequent that at times it can come across as spammy. Use their name only when you think it will really add something to the push and get them to click.
We would recommend A/B testing using player names to get an accurate read on whether it is something your community responds to. You may discover your community loves being addressed by their name or username - you never know. So definitely give it a try if you’re curious!
Personalizing Rewards is Good for Gameplay
As we said above, taking opportunities to show players that you are invested in their game progress is easily done through personalization. When you directly call out something unique to their current progress in the game, the player will notice and appreciate it. And that in turn encourages them to play more often and for longer periods.
We’d love to hear if you use these tactics and if you notice anything interesting when employing them! Let us know. We’re here to help.
Erica + Teak Team