Brands Fail Because of 'Noisy' Apps: Survey

Is your app too “noisy”? According to Leanplum, a San Francisco-based multi-channel engagement platform provider, the primary reason people delete apps is incessant and insignificant notifications from brands.

The Leanplum survey of 1,000 cell phone users in the United States, “Inside the Best Mobile Communications Brands,” found brand apps primarily flop because consumers hear message sounds from them too much, yet brands like Facebook, Wells Fargo and Bank of America are the best at communicating with their users.

From the study: “The #1 reason users delete apps is because they receive too many notifications, especially if these messages are irrelevant. Across all generations, the most common reason to delete an app was because of copious and pointless notifications. Over 75% of millennials are deleting apps that pester them with unnecessary notifications. Brands must consistently navigate the fine line between keeping users informed while being sensitive to over-communication.”

Apps linked to social media companies or financial institutions tended to get higher marks from respondents, who cited Facebook, Wells Fargo and Bank of America as the best at communicating. Users who consistently disregard and are unenthusiastic about notifications found financial and social media brands send the most helpful notices. Over 30% reported they like to receive notifications for financial alerts and more than 25% think Facebook does the best job at communicating with their users.

Perhaps most interesting, respondents indicated that email is not dead after all. In fact, 46% prefer to receive notifications in the form of email, while only 15% prefer push notifications. The report suggested even across generations, email is the most liked form of communication for brands on mobile devices: 43% of millennials prefer to receive emails from brands compared to 28% of Gen Zers. 

“Through our research, we are finding more and more that email is stronger than ever before,” Momchil Kyurkchiev, CEO and founder of Leanplum, said. “Because email is so accessible on our phone, it is being used in combination with push notifications, allowing for brands to craft communications with their users that are thoughtful, personalized and based on the unique characteristics of each customer.”

Other interesting statistics include:

• Forty-nine percent of respondents found financial/banking alerts helpful.
• Fifty-four percent said they are most likely to open emails from messaging companies, and 41% are likely to open financial emails.
• The least annoying push messages to receive were from financial apps (only 13% found these annoying); and email/messaging apps (9%).
• Sixty percent have a preference for what time of day they receive notifications. Of those who have a preference, the split between morning (27%), afternoon (38%) and evening (34%) was fairly even.
• Seventy-two percent of Gen Z (compared to only 43% of Gen Xers) like to receive messages/updates from friends/followers on social media.