How To Increase Traffic To A News App: 5 Data-Backed Push Notification Strategies
For news apps, push notifications are a key tool for keeping audiences informed and engaged. But what’s the right strategy? Many assume that sending more push notifications leads to higher engagement, while others believe that frequent daily messages impact unsubscribe rates.
To find the answer, Pushwoosh conducted a study to uncover global trends and find out what actually drives traffic — and what doesn’t.
Here, you’ll find five actionable strategies to improve your push notification performance in news apps, backed by real engagement data.
Table of Contents
Send As Many Notifications As You Need, As Long As They’re Timely And Valuable
It’s common to expect that sending more push notifications will automatically increase engagement. After all, more messages should mean more clicks, right?
Not exactly.
Finding: There is no clear correlation between the frequency of news app push notifications and the number of users who actually click.
Some high-frequency apps saw strong click-through rates (CTR), while others didn’t. The same was true for those sending fewer messages.
So, if sending more alerts doesn’t boost clicks, does it drive users away?
That’s another concern — and it’s also unfounded. The study found that push frequency has little to no effect on opt-in rates (i.e., the percentage of users who allow notifications from your app).
Strategy: Each news app needs to define its own ideal messaging frequency, based on its audience behaviour, content focus, and communication goals.
Some publishers thrive by sending a few timely, high-value alerts per day. Others succeed with frequent, real-time updates for breaking news. What matters most isn’t how often you send — it’s whether each message is timely, valuable, and relevant to the user.
Focus on Boosting Opt-in Rates on iOS
Does a higher opt-in rate lead to better push performance?
Finding: The Pushwoosh study revealed a minor positive impact of opt-in rates on CTRs, mostly on iOS. On Android, that relationship showed almost no correlation.
Strategy: Optimise your opt-in process to increase engagement on Apple devices.
To do this, timing is key. Pre-permission prompts should appear when users are already interested — for example, right after they read an article or view a breaking news update.
Make sure the message clearly explains why notifications are valuable: whether they provide timely alerts, exclusive updates, or must-know breaking stories.
This strategy works particularly well for news apps, where users actively seek updates. As Janie Ho, a media strategist with experience at NY Daily News, LinkedIn, CBS, and ABC, explains:
“Unlike most brands, news apps have an audience actively looking for alerts. People want to know what’s happening or be entertained by a particular voice or authority. For brands or companies, it’s hard to engage the audience with promotional or informational pushes when all the customers want is tactical info about their accounts.”
Schedule Push Notifications to Match Attention Peaks
When it comes to engagement, timing matters — a lot.
Finding: By day of the week, Saturday consistently showed the highest CTR, with engagement gradually rising from Tuesday, the lowest-performing day, and dipping slightly on Sunday.
Looking at the hourly breakdown, we saw two key attention peaks:
- Around 7 am, when users are catching up on news first thing in the morning
- Around 11 am, before lunch-hour distractions kick in
Strategy: To improve performance, schedule your pushes to align with these attention windows.
You can also experiment with A/B tests to fine-tune the timing for your specific audience. Even small shifts can have a measurable impact on click-through rates.
Prioritize Topics That Spark Emotion
Not all news drives clicks.
Finding: Sports events consistently result in higher click-through rates than political news.
We analysed push notification performance around major news events and found a clear trend: While major political developments — such as the US election or the Israel–Palestine conflict — received wide coverage, they didn’t achieve noticeably higher CTRs.
In contrast, sports notifications stood out. Events like the EURO 2024 Final, Wimbledon Final, and the Paris Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies generated the strongest engagement.
Strategy: Focus on content that triggers emotion — excitement, suspense, anticipation — to drive clicks. Newsworthy doesn’t always mean clickable. Analyse which content types spark action and prioritise those when possible.
Act Like a Small Publisher – Connect With Your Readers
Big audiences don’t always mean big engagement.
Finding: The highest push CTRs came from smaller apps — especially those with under 10,000 users. As app size increased, CTRs steadily declined across both Android and iOS.
So what gives smaller and mid-sized apps an edge?
Often, they’re more agile. They test faster, segment smarter, and communicate with sharper focus. Their messages often feel more relevant — localised, personal, and timely. That closeness to the user translates into stronger engagement.
Strategy: Don’t chase scale at the expense of connection. Focus on relevance and responsiveness, regardless of your app size.
About the Study
Pushwoosh, an omnichannel customer engagement platform, analysed push campaigns from 213 news apps worldwide — including publishers in the EU, India, Bangladesh, Israel, New Zealand, the Middle East, North and South Africa, the USA, and international publishers. The data covers notifications sent between April 2024 and March 2025. Apps ranged from under 10,000 to over 1 million active users, providing insights across different audience sizes and regions.
______
Meta description:
Related Martech Zone Content
